Entertainment

Here's How To Listen To Rihanna's New Album

by Jennifer Still

Rihanna, how I love thee, let me count the ways. Actually, I can't even count the ways because there are too many of them. She's just that good. And if you're anything like me — and I think you probably are — you're probably desperate to know when she's going to release her new album. RiRi's last release was 2012's Unapologetic, and while I'll still bump "Diamonds" like it's brand new, I'm in need of some updated Rihanna in my life. The good news is that a new Rihanna album is coming; the bad news is that when is anyone's guess. Ugh, torture! The other bad news, where to listen to Rihanna's new album is also sort of a mystery.

Here's what we sorta know: Ri's album is (maybe) titled R8, and it (probably) includes the tracks she's released as singles in the past couple of months, like "FourFive Seconds," "Bitch Better Have My Money", and "American Oxygen." She's also teased snippets of several other unnamed tracks via her Instagram page, and released a portion of a song called "Higher," as well. Beyond that, we don't really know anything except that it will apparently be out sometime later this year and should be "worth the wait."

While we might not know when we can expect Rihanna to drop the full album on us, we can at least prepare ourselves to listen to it once it's out there, and there'll be a ton of places to do it.

iTunes

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Pretty much everyone is on iTunes, and Rihanna is no exception. Her lengthy back catalog is already listed on her iTunes artist page if you want to pre-game the new album, and it's probably safe to assume that the new album will be up for pre-order once the release date is announced.

TIDAL

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Since Rihanna is part of Jay Z's Roc Nation family, it was a no brainer when it came to including her in his new premium music streaming service. In fact, in the few weeks since the service launched, Beyonce and Rihanna have both released exclusive content via TIDAL, so if you're thinking you want some extras/deluxe tracks with the new RiRi album, this might be the place to look.

Spotify

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As of now, Rihanna's Spotify page is up to date with all of her releases, including "Bitch Better Have My Money," so you should be good to go when it comes to streaming the new album, though it might appear on a bit of a delay. If you're insistent on getting the record on the day it comes out, the other options might be better, but if you're a cheapskate like me and like something for nothing, you might be willing to hold out an extra few days for the album to appear on Spotify.

Amazon

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Amazon offers both hard copies of CDs if that's still your thing, or MP3 downloads, which offers immediate gratification. Like iTunes, Amazon should allow you to pre-order the new RiRi album when a release date is decided upon, and if you opt for the physical CD, they guarantee it'll be to you on the same day it comes out, which is pretty sweet.

Images: Getty Images