Rihanna hasn’t been hiding, but she has been really quiet since giving birth in May. Of course we’ve seen her but we haven’t heard from her – up until yesterday she hadn’t posted on social media since she and A$AP Rocky welcomed their child. What a way to make a comeback. 

 

Rihanna has long been on the list of potential halftime performers and had previously declined the invitation a few years ago in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. But with Jay-Z producing the show, it was a matter of time. And the time is now… 

So does that mean new Rihanna music is on the way, too? 

It’s been over six years since the release of her last and best album, ANTI. The people have been waiting! She knows they’ve been waiting. And the Super Bowl is the ideal launchpad for new work, if there is new work. Because Rihanna could quite easily do halftime on the strength of her existing catalogue – there are SO many hits. 

“Diamonds”, for sure, will be part of the performance. “We Found Love” as well. And “Umbrella”. And “Don’t Stop the Music”. And “Pon de Replay”. All of those are perfect bangers for the occasion, and I nominate “Love on the Brain” to slow things down midway through to catch her breath, because there are so many more songs, which brings me to my next point? 

 

Like is she sharing the stage? According to TMZ, “there have also been discussions with another performer, but it's not either/or -- in other words, there would be at least 2 performers on stage”.

You watched JLo’s documentary, Halftime, right? And the whole issue with Shakira? And the challenge for each artist to condense their performance time by half so that they could both get their time? It has literally been years since we’ve seen Rihanna singing and dancing on stage – I’m not sure why she has to share it. 

What’s also interesting is that the Super Bowl Halftime Show has a new sponsor: Pepsi is out, Apple is in, which aligns well for artists considering that they can cross-promote with Apple Music. They’ve already announced that sneak peaks and other bonus features will be shared on their platforms leading up to the Super Bowl. That, too, is reason to think that, maybe, Rihanna’s involvement here is in service of a new album. 

Still, some people remain unconvinced since it’s been so many years and their hopes have been unfulfilled for so long. As usual, Twitter came with the jokes. And I feel like Rihanna would be laughing along, too. She has a great sense of humour. She understands how this works, she’s one of the few artists who are clowned with love. And this is, in its own way, a loving mock. Here are some of my favourites. 

 
 

And, of course, Blue Ivy has to be a part of it.