In the words of Rihanna, “The wait is over.” Rihanna finally released her long awaited eighth studio album "Anti." When I got the email from Samsung I started jumping up and down from excitement. The excitement ended when I found out that I had to be a member of Tidal to access the album. By Friday, January 28th, the album was out for everyone and my excitement was back!
The album features only two credited features, Drake and SZA. Rihanna starts the album off with a mid-tempo song called “Consideration,” in which she sets the album up by asking the music industry to let her grow as an artist. What seems like a typical Rihanna album is more. Yes, she sings about sex and smoking, but it’s not the pop Rihanna we are used to from past albums. In this album, Rihanna delivers a R&B album that showcases her soul in ballads like “Love on the Brain” and “Higher,” as well as an island vibe with a song like “Work” (featuring Drake). She also uses old school styles from the 50s-80s.
Topic wise, Rihanna also sings about love, relationships, ex’s, finding yourself, getting hurt, and needing someone. Basically, the album is anti-Rihanna. There are no club and dance songs on "Anti" like her previous albums: there is only soul. I think this album is everything that Rihanna wanted "Unapologetic" to be if you take off songs like “Phresh Out the Runway” and “Pour it Up.” She wanted to create an album that is “real” and “timeless” and I think she did just that.
From the first listen, I fell in love with this album. Rihanna sounds amazing! Vocally, this is Rihanna’s best album. “Love on the Brain” is hands down the best she has ever sounded. As I listened to that song for the first time, I had to throw my hands in the air and scream out “Yass!” I felt every word of that song.
After listening to the album about ten times, I’ve concluded that every song is my favorite. It’s a little early for me to pick one favorite because each song has something special about it. I can say that this album was worth the wait. Thank you, Rihanna, for finally giving us what is possibly the best album of 2016.
