Rihanna Responds To Shaggy's Claims That She Wanted Him To Audition For Her New Album

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It appears that one thing is certain about Rihanna’s ninth studio album, and it is the fact that Shaggy will not have anything to do with it.

The 51-year-old reggae/dancehall legend decided he will not appear on the upcoming project of his 31-year-old colleague, mainly because it was required from him to compete for his role with other artists.

Shaggy, whose real name is Orville Richard Burrell, claimed that Rihanna’s people indeed contacted him for an eventual appearance on her album.

Still, he rejected the invitation, since he did not feel the need to audition for the record and preferred to leave the chance for other, younger guys.

He said: “They approached me for the Rihanna project, yeah. There’s a lot of great people involved, but for me, I didn’t need to audition to be on the record, I’ll leave that to younger guys.”

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Rihanna’s rep denied the claims made by Shaggy in a statement that read: “We are working on an album, not a talent show, so why would [Rihanna] require Shaggy or any other artist to audition?”

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It continuued with: “After Rihanna had already gathered all the material for the album, Shaggy contacted her asking to be a part of the album. She explained to him that the album was pretty much completed, and they were just working on mixing, mastering, and deciding which songs to actually use. However, she invited him to submit some materials so she could see if it fits with the flow of the album. That was by no means asking for an audition, and it was more going out of her way to get him on the album.”

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Fans of the “Shut Up and Drive” performer have been waiting a long time for the release of her ninth album, as the diva first announced that its arrival would be in 2019.

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However, Rihanna later stated that her project might not be completed yet and withheld the release for an indefinite time.

According to past statements of the singer, the long-awaited album would be heavily influenced by the reggae genre, but it would still be unusual.

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The star has elaborated further by stating that elements of the genre could be felt in all tracks of the album, even though she explored other types of music as well.

In May 2019, the musician also addressed the ongoing speculations about whether Lady Gaga or Drake would appear on some of the upcoming tracks.

Back then, Rihanna claimed that she did not see such collaborations happening anytime soon.