– Slow, psychedelic, and explicitly sexual. A cousin to The Weeknd’s Trilogy . She’s in total control, whispering threats and promises.
The production is intimate . There’s vinyl crackle (“Consideration”), muffled vocals, and space where a beat should drop. It sounds like you’re listening to a cassette tape in a dimly lit basement. This is not a stadium record. It’s a headphones record. 1. “Consideration” (ft. SZA) – A mission statement. SZA’s wounded yelp opens the track before Rihanna declares, “I got to do things my own way / Darling, you should know.” It’s a middle finger to expectations, set to a stuttering, militant drum line.
– A near-cover of Tame Impala’s six-minute psychedelic odyssey. Rihanna makes it her own by stripping the urgency and adding languid, auto-tuned regret. It’s a bizarre, brave closer for the standard album.
Artist: Rihanna Album: ANTI (Deluxe Edition) Released: January 28, 2016 Genre: Alternative R&B, Pop, Soul, Dancehall, Trip-Hop Label: Westbury Road / Roc Nation The Context: The Anti-Pop Star By 2016, Rihanna had nothing left to prove commercially. With eight consecutive #1 singles and a decade of relentless chart dominance, she could have easily released Unapologetic Part II . Instead, she made us wait. Three years after her last album, through false starts, scrapped sessions (including a rumored dance-pop opus), and a very public war with Kanye West over a sample, she delivered ANTI —a deliberately weird, unpredictable, and deeply personal left turn. Rihanna - ANTI -Deluxe- -2016-Album-
Absolutely. ANTI is the sound of the world’s biggest pop star burning down her own throne and walking away from the flames with a smirk. Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5/5) Best Tracks (Deluxe): “Kiss It Better,” “Needed Me,” “Desperado,” “Sex with Me” Skip if… you need clear hooks or upbeat dance jams. Listen if… you want to hear a legend get gloriously, recklessly weird. “I got to do things my own way, darling.” – And she did.
– The best 80s power-ballad Prince never wrote. A razor-sharp guitar riff, a vulnerable but defiant vocal, and lyrics about sex as emotional suturing. “What are you willing to do?” she purrs. It’s erotic and wounded.
– The most aggressive track. A distorted, trap-infused kiss-off to an ex. She sounds genuinely venomous: “You ain’t shit.” It’s ugly, petty, and perfect. – Slow, psychedelic, and explicitly sexual
– A cold, iconic takedown. Over a floating, synth-laced beat, she reduces a lover to a one-night stand. “You was just a nigga on the side.” The Deluxe version hits harder with its extended outro. This is post-breakup empowerment as quiet assassination.
– A 78-second weed-and-R&B interlude. Dreamy, wasted, and gorgeous. It sets the album’s hazy mood perfectly.
No. It’s indulgent, messy, and at times, frustrating. The production is intimate
The Deluxe edition adds three additional tracks to the standard 13, but more importantly, it completes the album’s thesis: freedom is messy, and so is this record. Gone are the EDM bombasts of We Found Love and the glossy Caribbean-pop of Work . ANTI is a grimy, sample-heavy, genre-bending collage. Executive produced by Rihanna herself alongside Jeff Bhasker (Kanye, Bruno Mars), the album pulls from 70s soul (Tavares’ “It Only Takes a Minute” on “James Joint”), trip-hop (a haunting interpolation of Tame Impala’s “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” on “Same Ol’ Mistakes”), and gut-punch ballads.
– The unavoidable hit. A dancehall-inflected loop that feels hypnotic and slightly annoying (intentionally so). Drake’s patois is laughable, but Rihanna’s detached repetition of “work, work, work, work, work” becomes a mantra for exhausting love. On the Deluxe, it flows into…
– A Western-tinged escape fantasy. Sparse, menacing bass, and Rihanna playing the outlaw bride. “I need a desperado / I need a partner in crime.” This is the underrated gem of the album.