“Every artist, every producer, every songwriter in Jamaica or of Jamaican descent has been working on [Rihanna’s album] and has little snippets of publishing or production credits on it,” another source close to the project says. “I think they’ve got eight songs,” he continues, “but her A&R is still asking for records.” “They’re looking for one more [song],” adds a third source with knowledge of the album-making process.
Through a rep, Rihanna declined to comment on the new album.
If Rihanna’s team likes a submission, they will do “some tweaking,” according to a second producer. “I didn’t even get the final [version of the song I turned in],” the producer adds. “I got the semi-final, and then I got the contracts. They ask my opinions, but you wouldn’t expect Rihanna to work with people that don’t do good work – they did some good work on it.”
But another producer who submitted material for the album worries the star is diluting the Caribbean aspects of the music. “Their whole thing was, ‘Yo, we’re gonna make this [album] real dancehall, [real] Caribbean,’” says the producer. “Rihanna is Bajan, so let’s make this a full project like that. To me, it hasn’t been going that way. They’re kind of mixing it up, putting in the pop. If the reggae artists and producers won’t get the chance on the pop album, at least let us survive on the dancehall album. They’re changing up the direction continuously.“
But most of the singers and producers who have submitted material to Rihanna’s team believe that Jamaican music and Jamaican artists will benefit from being involved with such a high-profile release. “If the Rihanna album sells great numbers, faith will be restored in the [dancehall] genre as something to be invested in,” the second dancehall producer says.
A third producer who has “done quite a lot of stuff” for the album says labels have started reaching out to him “asking if I had any songs that [Rihanna] didn’t take.” “People are already gearing up to go in that direction [towards dancehall] because somebody as big as her is doing that,” he adds. “If an artist like Rihanna comes out and does [an album influenced by Jamaican pop], that’s definitely going to shift the needle.”
Article Appeared @https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/inside-rihannas-upcoming-dancehall-album-700930/