Rihanna’s New Album Coming In December? Latest Rumors Suggest December Release Date For ‘Anti’

Rihanna may be keeping fans eagerly awaiting the arrival of her eighth studio album, Anti, but it appears the latest round of rumors surrounding a release date for Rihanna’s new album suggests an early December release for the highly anticipated project.

Rihanna fans were met with disappointment earlier this month after Rihanna’s father, Ronald Fenty, suggested that Rihanna has still not completed work on Anti despite a nearly three-year hiatus.

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Rihanna’s dad dished to The Sun that Rihanna is “unhappy” with the sound of Anti and is still searching for “fresh material” despite having teased the cover art for the album weeks ago.

“It’s been three years now since her last album and she wants this to blow everything else away, no competition, because she’s calling it her ‘first album.'”

Similarly, Rihanna seemed to echo her father’s claims when she bowed out of her scheduled Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show performance in order to continue working on Anti.

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An alleged source close to Rihanna revealed to Page Six that Rihanna was not ready to perform her new material for the taping of the show, which occurred earlier this week.

Rihanna’s source argues, “She’s still working on some stuff and [the music] isn’t to a point where she wants to perform it.”

However, another source close to Rihanna suggests that Rih “couldn’t take the time to rehearse and perform and finish the album,” prompting Rihanna to have to back out of her appearance at the last minute.

Now, new rumors regarding an Anti release date have surfaced suggesting that Rihanna’s new album is expected to drop during the first week of December.

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Hits Daily Double alleges that Rihanna’s new album will be released first on Jay Z’s Tidal service on November 27 given Rihanna’s agreement with the streaming company and that Anti will make its retail debut the following week on December 4.

The latest rumor regarding a tentative release date for Anti comes on the heels of reports that suggest Rihanna is trying to avoid battling it out with Adele for album sales in November.

Rihanna has historically released her four previous albums, including 2012’s Unapologetic, in November, leading fans to anticipate a late November release date for the album. However, with Adele planning to drop her highly anticipated comeback album on November 20, Billboard alleges that Rihanna may be trying to avoid competing with Adele’s 25.

Rihanna further fueled speculation regarding an imminent release for Anti earlier this week after she took to Snapchat to share a brief snippet of her Rated R-era track, “Wait Your Turn,” which repeats the phrase “the wait is over” during the hook.

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While Rihanna fans took to Twitter to speculate whether or not Rihanna was teasing Anti‘s imminent arrival, Rihanna neglected to comment further on the meaning behind her brief video.

Most recently, MTV pointed out on Friday that Rihanna was spotted donning a chic new hairstyle while partying it up at 1Oak nightclub in Los Angeles.

Rihanna spotted with a new bob hairstyle at 10ak nightclub in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/VJuQ64NWqj

— Rihanna Files (@RihannaFiles) November 13, 2015

While Rihanna is no stranger to changing up her hairstyle, the site points out that Rihanna has historically made drastic changes to her hairstyle and color to honor each new album release. Rihanna famously donned a sleek bob-style haircut for her Good Girl Gone Bad album in 2007 while opting for her signature red locks to honor 2010’s Loud studio release.

While a December 4 release date for Rihanna’s Anti album is nothing more than speculation at this point, it appears Rihanna’s fans are eager to entertain any news regarding the status of Rih’s new album.

Do you think Rihanna will drop Anti in December, or will she wait until 2016?

[Photo by Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images]