RIHANNA DIVES DEEP INTO DANCEHALL?

Rihanna is in the final stages of assembling her Dancehall-focused new album, according to a report by Rolling Stone.

According to multiple sources, producer Supa Dups—who crafted Drake's island-vibey tracks "Controlla," "Signs" and "Too Good" which featured RiRi— has a significant role in the music. But equally notable is the recruiting of every key songwriter and producer in the dancehall and reggae music worlds for the project, with majors like Ricky Blaze, Stephen “Di Genius” McGrego, dancehall artist Kranium, producer-writer duo R. City and reggae singer Chronixx, among many others, named to be contributing.

Anybody even remotely connected to any Rihanna album will tell you the writing camps and song searching on her behalf is an intense artistic endeavor that continues for extended amounts of time and borders on manic; apparently this album is no different.

“[Rihanna’s team] have, no lie, 500 records for this project [from] different producers and writers,” one producer told RS.

Sources also said Roc Nation has about eight songs they like but are looking for two more to complete a 10-song set, with superstar producers like Skrillex and Boi-1da also involved.

There's no word of course, on when this album is slated for release. Rihanna has kept busy in the two and a half years since she dropped the Westbury Road/Roc Nation set ANTI, launching the successful makeup line Fenty Beauty, a lingerie collection (SAVAGE X FENTY) and starring in the film Oceans 8 as the character Nine Ball, a computer hacker sporting a thick set of dreadlocks.

Rihanna has proved time and again that pairing her natural authenticity with her savvy tastemaker talents creates supreme amounts of vibe.

If it's true, how will her new direction fare in the marketplace? Stay tuned.