Rihanna's giving a masterclass on how a savvy business mogul can rile fans up with just a T-shirt

• Rihanna wore an "I'm retired" T-shirt while she was out and about in New York on Thursday.

• It's unclear if the pop star meant anything by the fashion choice, but it sure spooked some fans.

• The billionaire and pop star's last album "Anti" came out in 2016.

Rihanna fans have spent years begging the "Umbrella" singer to release new music, and the pop star has responded.

Well, sort of.

The Barbadian singer was seen wearing a T-shirt with the phrase "I'm retired, this is as dressed up as I get" emblazoned on the front while she was out and about in New York on Thursday.

To be sure, Rihanna is most certainly not retired. The 36-year-old singer and businesswoman — born Robyn Rihanna Fenty — has her hands tied running her own cosmetics brand, Fenty Beauty.

Rihanna's musical and entrepreneurial endeavors have proven lucrative for her. She was declared a billionaire by Forbes in 2021. According to the outlet, Rihanna's net worth is an estimated $1.4 billion as of June 2023.

And even though her last album came out in 2016, Rihanna hasn't stepped out of the limelight entirely. The Grammy Award-winning singer has continued to make waves with the few public performances she's given.

In February 2023, Rihanna wowed audiences when she headlined the Super Bowl halftime show while pregnant.

Most recently, in March, she gave a concert-length performance at the pre-wedding party of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of the Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

So what gives?

For one, Rihanna's T-shirt may just be a tongue-in-cheek response to her fans' calls for new music.

Speculation surrounding Rihanna's ninth studio album has been simmering for a while, with the pop star saying last year that she hoped her album would be out in 2023.

"I want it to be this year. Like, honestly, it'd be ridiculous if it's not this year," Rihanna told Vogue UK in February 2023.

Then, in April, she claimed that the sequel to 2016's "Anti" is "gonna be amazing," per Extra.

"It has to be — that is the only reason it's not out yet," Rihanna told the outlet. "There should be a show of growth, right? I want to play, and I feel like music is a playground, and I want to have fun with it and show truly where I am at."

That said, an eight-year lapse in album releases doesn't mean Rihanna hasn't been hard at work. The multi-hyphenate is set to launch her own hair line, "Fenty Hair" next week.

If anything, teasing her fans accomplishes another important goal for Rihanna — a PR master in her own right — staying in the spotlight.

Representatives for Rihanna didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

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