Rihanna refuses to drop “R9” until it’s well prepared.

The 9-time Grammy winner and entrepreneur stuns as the latest Harper’s Bazaar cover girl, and in the accompanying article, she explains why her ninth album is still cooking. Her eighth album, “Anti,” was released in 2016, and out of multiple Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year for “Work,” the singer didn’t take a trophy home.

In the article, Rihanna reacted to the prediction that her next album would be reggae-focused, calling it “Way off!”  “There’s no genre now. That’s why I waited,” she continued. “Every time, I was just like, ‘No, it’s not me. It’s not right. It’s not matching my growth. It’s not matching my evolution. I can’t do this. I can’t stand by this. I can’t perform this for a year on tour.’”

“After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears,” Rihanna added. “It has to count. It has to matter. I have to show them the worth in the wait. I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more.”

Rihanna’s last solo single was “Lift Me Up” from the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” official soundtrack, which also featured her follow-up song, “Born Again.” The artist worried fans last November during a Fenty Beauty event in Barbados when she gave a speech discussing that “God had other plans” for her besides music.