Keri Hilson said earlier this year she planned to finally release new music, and while it has yet to happen, she’s now saying she’s ready.
The singer appeared on a new episode of Tank and J. Valentine’s R&B Money podcast published on Saturday (October 14), and explained the long delay in a new body of work since 2010’s No Boys Allowed.
“It took a second; a lot of things happened that prevented it,” she said. “I blame it on one thing, but really it was years of a struggle. I fought through that, but I’m free, and I’m ready.”
She continued: “We’re starting to take meetings to figure out how we want to do this thing [and] where we want to do this thing.”
Back in February, Keri Hilson said on the Behind the Mask podcast that fans just might be getting her long-awaited third studio album in 2023.
“I can say that [the new album] answers questions,” Hilson said. “I can say that I’m proud of it. And I can say that there were a couple of false starts. They were not all me! There was some like, I don’t know, fake PR or like fans would craft fake press releases and tweets.
“But there have been false starts and right before my dad died, that was definitely one that I was responsible for because that’s what I was planning to do and then that happened,” she continued. “But I feel like I’m closer now.”
While Keri Hilson didn’t give an exact release date, the “Pretty Girl Rock” singer said she strongly believes “this is the year” the project will drop.
“Lately, I’ve been wondering if I want to go back in and record some more,” she added. “I’ve been considering whether or not I want to freshen and liven it up a little bit. I’ve been inspired to write…”
No Boys Allowed was executive produced by Timbaland and Polow da Don, with features from the likes of Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Kanye West, J. Cole, Nelly and Timbaland himself. The project debuted and peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 with 102,000 copies sold in its first week.
