Rihanna may be stuck at home, but she’s been busy with work work work work work to help out during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Rhi’s Clara Lionel Foundation previously announced that it donated $5 million to the COVID-19 rapid response efforts in the United States and across the globe.
“CLF is supporting on-the-ground partners working on the frontlines of disaster response especially those focused on protecting and serving marginalized communities – helping the most vulnerable in the United States, the Caribbean and in Africa prepare for what is to come,” a statement read. “Over the past five years CLF has been one of the first organizations to respond to some of the world’s most devastating natural disasters, and they have seen firsthand the profound and unintended consequences of not being prepared.”
Just a few days later, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed on Twitter that Rihanna is also generously helping the state. “I want to thank @rihanna and the Rihanna Foundation for donating Personal Protective Equipment to New York State. We’re so appreciative of your help and that of so many others who have stepped up,” he wrote.
Then, she teamed up with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to help those affected by domestic violence as a result of the COVID-19 Safer at Home Order in Los Angeles.
“We’re joining forces with Twitter/Square CEO @Jack today by co-funding a $4.2 million grant to the #MayorsFundforLA to address the current crisis for domestic violence victims in Los Angeles as a result of the COVID-19 Safer at Home Order,” the foundation announced. “These funds will provide 10 weeks of support including shelter, meals and counseling for individuals and their children suffering from domestic violence at a time when shelters are full and incidents are on the rise.”
But, because Rhianna is just that amazing, she also wants to help the underserved and marginalized communities in New York, New Orleans and Puerto Rico.
In conjunction with Dorsey’s #startsmall initiative and JAY-Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation, Rhi’s CLF announced on Wednesday (April 15) that a joint-fund of $6.2 million will be going into grants aimed at supporting COVID-19 rapid response efforts in the U.S. and abroad.
Local organizations that will benefit from the grant include Give Directly, The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, Covenant House New Orleans, Total Community Action, World Central Kitchen, The Hispanic Federation and Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans & Acadiana. Some international organizations will also receive funding – like Doctors Without Borders, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, and Team Humanity, among others.
To fans eagerly awaiting the release of her highly-anticipated album, be prepared to wait. Girl’s got her priorities straight: “trying to save the world” comes first.
On an Instagram Live on Friday (April 10), Rihanna snapped back at fans asking about R9.
“If one of y’all mother–kers ask me about the album one more time when I’m trying to save the world,” the GRAMMY winner said.
However, she has previously revealed that she has been “very aggressively working on music.” She still “can’t say” when she will drop R9 though.
She also teased about her in her cover story interview for British Vogue. “I don’t want all my albums to feel like themes. There are no rules, there’s no format, there’s nothing. There’s just good music and if I feel it, I’m putting it out.”
“I feel like I have no boundaries. I’ve done everything,” she continues. “I’ve done all the hits, I’ve tried every genre. Now I’m just, I’m wide open. I can make anything that I want.”
Her last update on R9 was in an Instagram story back in February, when she shared a snapshot of a soundboard that looks like it was taken inside a recording studio.
“Gang. back in the STU,” she captioned the photo.
The Insta Story also appears to give clues on who she’s working with – The Neptunes, a.k.a. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo’s production team.
Rhi also revealed that she’s working with Pharell on new music.
“I’m going to be in the studio. I’m so excited actually. I can’t say who I’m working with, but it’s somebody I’ve been wanting to work with for a long time,” she told The Cut, before adding, “Okay, I’ll tell you. [It’s] Pharrell.”
She did spill some juicy deets about her album to Vogue last November.
“I like to look at it as a reggae-inspired or reggae-infused album,” Rihanna says. “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,” she continues. “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. Even though I’ve explored other genres of music, it was time to go back to something that I haven’t really homed in on completely for a body of work.”
Plus, she also teased that she’s already in the “discovery stage” of her 10th album!
“We always went into the music this time around saying that we were going to do two different pieces of art,” said Rihanna. “One was gonna be inspired by the music that I grew up listening to. And one was gonna be the evolution of where I’m going next with music.”
In the meantime, Rhi did make a small return to music last month, joining PartyNextDoor on his new single “Believe It.”
