DJ Akademiks Theorizes That Rihanna Hasn't Dropped Music Due To A Poor Record Deal

BY Gabriel Bras Nevares 6.6K Views
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NBA: Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers
Oct 25, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Recording artist Rihanna watches the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports via Imagn Images
Whether RiRi's in a bad record deal or not, she's certainly making bank elsewhere.

Why hasn't Rihanna dropped an album in almost ten years? Fans have spent countless hours trying to figure this question out, and most of the answers land on her highly successful extracurricular endeavors and her family with A$AP Rocky. But DJ Akademiks has a different theory. The media personality recently posited that RiRi hasn't dropped new music because of a bad record deal. "I would love to see Rihanna's music contracts," he stated. "What I've realized in life: anytime rappers or musicians don't put out music, it's never because they don't want to. Their contract sucks. [...] Rihanna's very obvious choice to not even try to go back to music with this much anticipation... I got to see her music contract.

"There's nobody who just walks away from music," DJ Akademiks continued regarding Rihanna. However, he acknowledged that there are some open questions in his theory, since she continues to find massive success and the label would probably pressure her to drop even more if she's really in a restrictive or negative record contract that caters to the label's whims. Also, Ak posited that her ownership of her business ventures is far more profitable than her discography or any additions to it. "She could never make the money that she's making now off of music," he theorized.

DJ Akademiks' Rihanna Theory

While fans and haters alike will probably have their fair criticisms of DJ Akademiks' theory, this is the music industry we're talking about. Good record deals land once in a blue moon, even for artists as massive as Rihanna. Still, that doesn't mean that this is really the reason why she hasn't dropped anything in a long time, or at least, that doesn't mean that the label is directly responsible for that.

If Rihanna never comes out with music again, she would still probably rank among the most streamed artists in the world year after year thanks to her already legendary catalog and continued dominance when it comes to public visibility. In other words, it seems like she has all the leverage in the world to do whatever she wants. But the rumors won't stop, and the Navy will always want to hear more from their fav.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.

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