Rihanna producer lifts the lid on what it’s like to work with the singer after she FINALLY confirms new music

After Rihanna confirmed that new music is coming, producers were left scrambling to be featured on her much-anticipated ninth album. 

But it isn’t the most reassuring process, with producers often left in the dark until the album is completed before finding out if their work has made the cut.

Among those hoping to get a credit on her next body of work is Chuck Harmony, who previously worked with the pop star, 37, on Anti. 

‘You don’t really know if your name is on the album, and you definitely don’t know until the very end,’ the Grammy nominee told DailyMail.com.

‘I’m sure a lot of people are hopeful to be on the record.’  

Unlike the long list of other potential collaborators, the Nashville-based creative feels his ‘history’ with the billionaire will work in his favor.

‘What separates her catalog from most people is that her taste in music always evolves – none of her albums sound the same,’ Chuck said. ‘She’s always going to another direction or another level, and it’s based on her taste level and where she is in her personal life.

‘You’re working with one of the biggest rock stars of all time.’

Chuck said the Barbadian singer is hands on with the songs and that ‘she knows what she wants’.

They previously worked together on the dark pop song Russian Roulette, which was the lead single on her 2009 album Rated R. 

Rihanna dropped the vulnerable single following her high-profile domestic violence case with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. 

The songwriter was originally connected to Rihanna by Ne-Yo, who had a session with the Fenty Beauty founder. 

‘I had a conversation with Ne-Yo about where we thought that she should go after the incident that involved the Chris Brown scenario,’ Chuck said. ‘She was just blown away by not just the song, but the direction.

‘I felt like she needed a new, kind of fresh take on music, and so that’s what I was able to provide for that album.’ 

Now, Chuck, who has also worked with Britney Spears, Jessie J, Jennifer Hudson, and Keri Hilson, has sent the Disturbia singer song options for her ninth studio album, which is officially underway.

‘I think Anti was actually her best record,’ Chuck admitted, adding that he believes Rihanna’s next release will be a ‘continuation’ of the 2016 sound. 

He thinks she’s going to pick up ‘where she left off with Anti, with some heartfelt songs and some sparse production that’s meaningful’.

‘I feel like songs like FourFiveSeconds, that get to the heart of the matter, and you can hear the grit in her voice – I feel like that’s where she is,’ he told DailyMail.com, referencing her superstar collaboration with Paul McCartney and Kanye West in 2015. 

As for why she returned now, Chuck believes that while some people feel like when they have the kind of success that she has in other arenas, like makeup and fashion they can ‘put music to the back burner’. 

‘But musicians are musicians, and you always have a burning desire to express this.’

He thinks that following the Super Bowl and with rumors of a residency she ‘wants to be a musician outside of the brand’.

The Umbrella singer certainly sounded confident when she told Harper’s Bazaar she ‘just cracked the code’ on her ‘next body of work’, much to the delight of her impatient fans and she’s ‘actually feeling really good about this’.

Rumors were particularly pervasive that Rihanna, who just enjoyed a Caribbean getaway with her partner A$AP Rocky following his legal victory, would be trying out reggae, but she clarified ‘there’s no genre right now’. 

One reason for the long wait is because the Umbrella singer told the fashion publication she ‘cannot put up anything mediocre,’ adding: ‘After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more.’ 

Chuck clarified that ‘there’s always pressure when you’re a musician and you take a long time off’, because you ‘don’t know where your fanbase is, mentally or musically, and so there’s a guessing game that has to take place’.

Still, her former producer promised: ‘It’s gonna be like she never left.’