When it’s time to look back at 2019, it could be considered the year of Rihanna, based on all she’s accomplished.
The singer’s latest feat surrounds her last album “Anti,” because it’s made her the first Black woman to be on the Billboard 200 chart for 200 weeks, according to Chart Data.
“Anti” dropped on Jan. 28, 2016, and opened up at No. 27 before it landed in the No. 1 spot one week later.
The record-breaking news comes about seven months after it was announced that the 31-year-old’s Fenty line became a part of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, making her the first Black woman to own a line under the French luxury goods conglomerate.
But despite how busy Rihanna is these days, her fans have still been begging her to release the forthcoming album “R9,” a title that she introduced over a year ago on Instagram.
“I like to look at it as a reggae-inspired or reggae-infused album,” she told Vogue about “R9” earlier this year. “It’s not gonna be typical of what you know as reggae. But you’re going to feel the elements in all of the tracks … Reggae always feels right to me. It’s in my blood. It doesn’t matter how far or long removed I am from that culture or my environment that I grew up in, it never leaves.”
“It’s always the same high,” Rihanna continued. “Even though I’ve explored other genres of music, it was time to go back to something that I haven’t really honed in on completely for a body of work.”
Besides joining LVMH and breaking the Billboard 200 record, Rihanna also raised $5 million at her fifth annual Diamond Ball for her Clara Lionel Foundation in September.
According to its website, the foundation “Supports and funds groundbreaking and effective education and emergency response programs around the world.”
