Kanye West Working With Rihanna For New 'R8' Album

Kanye West has confirmed that he will be the executive producer of Rihanna's upcoming album "R8."

West announced the news on the Grammy Awards red carpet, adding that "R8" is about to drop soon, according to a report from TIME.

A few weeks ago, Rihanna released the first song of the album titled "FourFiveSeconds," which also featured West and Paul McCartney. Vox reports that the track showcased RiRi and West's alternating lead and background vocals, while McCartney played the acoustic guitar.

Rumors have been going around for a long time now regarding Rihanna's eighth studio album. Despite the lack of an official release date, speculations surfaced on the Internet about the album's potential release dates and song leaks. Alleged collaborations with other artists were also announced.

A report from Pop Dust states that Rihanna teamed up with various musicians such as Ne-Yo, Natalia Kills, Keisza, and DJ Mustard for "R8."

Digital Spy also reports that Rodney Jerkins, Sia, and David Guetta are involved in "R8." The latter's contribution in the album could sound "more chilled than expected" if we are to base on his latest album "Listen," which was a stark contrast from the dance floor beats Guetta is known for, the outlet further revealed.

"There's one that I just gave to Rihanna," Sia previously stated, as quoted by the news outlet. "Like, as soon as I played it for her manager, he flipped over it."

Digital Spy added that Sam Smith also hinted that he has been in the recording studio with Rihanna, as well as singer-songwriter Alicia Renee, who "got emotional hearing Rihanna record a song she had written for her." If the rumors are to be believed, Renee could provide "a spot of traditional R&B-pop to the table, meaning that R8 seems to be yet another nice mix of genres."

Rihanna, Kanye, and Paul's Grammy Performance

As if to further excite fans for "R8," Rihanna, West, and McCartney performed "FourFiveSeconds" in the recently concluded 2015 Grammy Awards held at Los Angeles.

According to a separate report from Rolling Stone, "The former Beatle passionately strummed the tune's propulsive riff, as the singer and rapper sang their verses, joining in on the choruses. The majority of the performance took place in front of a white-light backdrop, until it lifted up to reveal dark curtains."

On the red carpet special, West explained how the collaboration came along.

"I'm executive producer of Rihanna's album, and I said I'd done a few songs with Paul McCartney and she couldn't get past this record," he revealed, as quoted by the news outlet. "She had to have it on her album.... So now we at the Grammys doing it."

The trio also released a black-and-white video clip where they were all "sporting denim looks," Rolling Stone noted.

Listen to the track below.