After damn near a year and a half of anticipation, waiting, and hoping the #RihannaNavy has been gifted with #ANTI and we are totally here for it! Our favorite badgal dropped the link for us to go cop the album via Instagram on Tidal, where it is available exclusively for the first week. This is Rihanna’s 8th studio album and with each album (or era) she has continued to break barriers and walls like no other artist has…ever!
While this era is closely related to her ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ which is dark…this era is a little bit more dark but with a cynical twist of fun to it too! While Rihanna took some time off for what seems like a decade, it has been rumored that she has been working on her vocals, but by the looks of her snapchat we can tell she smokes a joint or two on a regular basis. Let’s get into this album…
Rihanna introduces new sounds to the Rihanna Navy that have been unheard of. In the first track, Rihanna and SZA play a tag team duo that is supreme and sounds beautiful. Rihanna barges in with strong vocals and a crisp, fresh sound which is something that we have been missing from Rihanna.
I got to do things, my own way darling
Will you ever let me?
Will you ever respect me? No
Do things my own way darling
You should just let me
Why you will never let me grow?
The beginning of the album is something more what you hear on the radio. Rihanna’s lead single track, Work, featuring Drake, Rihanna opens about her Caribbean side. When you first listen to it, you might be feeling it a little because the beat is bananas, but when you listen to it the second time you might be questioning is she speaking in tongue or is she worshiping the devil. Don’t fret! Rihanna is speaking in a Jamaican dialect that is used throughout the Caribbean.
Work, work, work, work, work, work
He said me haffi
Work, work, work, work, work, work!
He see me do mi
Dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt!
So me put in
Work, work, work, work, work, work
When you ah guh
When the track called Woo plays. Rihanna starts to show the sound that she has taken so long to put out. With the help of Travis $cott, she showcases how valuable she is an artist and also how flexible she can be. The sound is gritty, unmatched, and should leave you wanting more.
As the album progresses we start to hear more of that gritty sound, but with Rihanna’s style attached to it.
I’ve been thinking bout ya late night
I’ve been fiending on the yayo
Ain’t nothing left to talk about
Boy show me what you wanna do
These days you been feeling like
Yeah I been feeling lonely too
Towards the end of the album, Rihanna opens up and starts to sing about love and how her significant other makes her feel. My favorite part about Rihanna. In her Higher track, Rihanna is screeching practically, but the shit sounds fucking amazing. The screeching helps how her boo takes her on an emotional high, he lights her fire. It’s one of the shortest tracks on the album, but it should have been the longest in my opinion.
This whiskey got me feelin’ pretty
So pardon if I’m impolite
I just really need your ass with me
I’m sorry ’bout the other night
This album is crazy and it is what we have been waiting for. I wills say that I don’t appreciate how it was released, but sometime we can’t control everything in life. This album gets a 10/10 from me. It’s a fresh, new sound and Rihanna never fails to deliver! it is an album that is growing on me in the long run.
CaDarius B. | IG: @cadarius_ | Twitter: @cadarius_
