Don't be rude boy because Rihanna is not here for it.
Early Wednesday morning, the superstar took to Instagram to apologize for being MIA recently. (You know, because she's been busy perfecting her multi-million dollar empire.) "To all my friends/family/coworkers who I have yet to get back to in the past months...please forgive me," she wrote to her 76 million followers. "This year has been quite an overwhelming one, and I'm working on that ish called Balance. brb."
While some applauded her candor—"Love u ! We Def get that," wrote singer Lyrica Anderson—others seemed to miss the memo. "Where's the album heaux?!!!" commented her stylist and Fenty's junior creative director Jahleel Weaver.
And the "Diamonds" singer was none too pleased. "I don't need this kinda negativity in my life!" she quipped in the comments. "BLOCKT." (Don't worry, we assume these two are still on good terms despite the epic clap back.)
Back in 2016—that's almost four years ago, fwiw—Rihanna teased she had already started working on her ninth studio album. Then, in December of last year, she made dreams come true by confirming it would be released in 2019. But, as we quickly approached the new year, fans can't help but wonder what is going on.
"It really does suck that it can't just come out, because I'm working on a really fun one right now," she told Interview in July. I'm really happy with a lot of the material we have so far, but I am not going to put it out until it's complete. It makes no sense to rush it, but I want it out. I've gotten to the point where I'm like, 'Even if I don't have the time to shoot videos, I'm going to put an album out.'"
And though she's been focused on her thriving fashion and beauty brands, music will always be part of her life.
"Me the designer, me the woman who creates makeup and lingerie—it all started with music," she said in an October interview with Vogue. "It was my first pen pal–ship to the world. To cut that off is to cut my communication off. All of these other things flourish on top of that foundation."