Three years after the release of her chart topping album, Unapologetic, Rihanna returns to the music industry with her latest success, ANTI. Rihanna’s first single off the album, Work (featuring Drake). was released Wednesday, January 20, and the album was released at midnight on Friday, January 22 on iTunes. The album was available for preview on Tidal on Wednesday, January 20 for free download and it was RIAA certified platinum in a few days due to it getting over a million downloads.
Speculation of a new album from Rihanna began back in January of 2015 when she released the song Four Five Seconds and began using the hashtag “R8” on her social media posts. This hashtag was symbolic because Unapologetic was the seventh studio album from Rihanna, which meant that the next album would be the eighth.
October 8, 2015 was the day Rihanna debuted the album cover as well as the name and a little over a month later, on November 23, 2015, Rihanna announced her Anti world tour. These reveals confirmed the new album’s existence. As of February 7, 2016, the album has claimed its spot on the top of Billboard Top 200 Albums chart only three weeks after its release. It debuted at number 27 but rose from spot 27 to the number one spot in just a week. This is her second album to become number one (Unapologetic was her first, in 2012) as well as her eighth album to be in the top ten of the Billboard 200. ANTI sold 165,000 copies within its first week of being on the market.
The first song off the album Consideration (feat. SZA) is a powerful track in which Rihanna criticizes and commands her critics. The first line of the chorus states “I got to do things my own way darling.” which instantly attacks the people who told her to keep doing her music and albums the same way. This track is Rihanna’s way of stating that she is done with being controlled by the critics and that she is going to do things her own way. With a loud, popping beat, it was the perfect choice for an opening song.
Work (feat. Drake) is currently the most popular song off the album. This song supposedly details the relationship problems that Rihanna and Drake faced. She sings, “All that I wanted from you was to give me something that I never had, something that you’ve never seen, something that you’ve never been.” She continues by saying, “But I wake up and act like nothing’s wrong.” This song was an instant relief to the fans who had been confused about Rihanna and Drake’s relationship. This song has a good beat with a repetitive chorus that can be radio friendly and the support from Drake is what drove this song to debut at number six on the Billboard Top 100.
Mixed in with the energetic pop songs, Rihanna displays her range of tones on songs like Love on the Brain and Higher. The first of the two is a more vintage styled song. Rihanna had previously stated that she wanted to create timeless music, and this is definitely a timeless song. She sings the lyrics beautifully with her pitch changing from soprano to alto throughout the song. Supplemented with the classic beat and the keyboard that mimics a soul song, Love on the Brain is the most classic and timeless song off of this album. Higher is the song in which Rihanna takes her vocal range to a new high. “You take me higher, higher than I’ve ever been bae.” is the line in which she sings a pitch that had previously never been on any song she made. Higher was the definite showing of Rihanna’s talent as a singer.
ANTI is definitely a depart from Rihanna’s past style of music. Unlike the songs off her prior albums, ones that could be played in clubs due to their infectious beats, ANTI employs a more soulful tone to it. In this album, she is done with just creating music to create music. This album is the manifestation of that very aspect. Rihanna demonstrates that she can sing and it is proven throughout the vocal variety of the songs. For the people in Rihanna’s fan base (also called the Rihanna Navy) this album is a perfect follow up to her past work. It may have taken almost four years to release, but it was worth all the wait.
