It’s been 4 years since Rihanna’s last release. In this new segment we’ll take a look at each of her albums leading up to her highly anticipated R9, rumored to release this year.
With today being the four year anniversary of the album let’s start with ANTI.
Some background: I’m honestly not going say much here since we all know this is when Ri switched labels and became more creatively liberated, “honest music” in her own words. Despite her switching companies she did manage to get a hold of her masters which is such a blessing.
1. Consideration ft. SZA – I still remember the first day this album came out (keep in mind I hadn’t heard any singles at this point) and this song was the opener I was in for a surprise. The overproduction experimental mishmash in her previous albums had turned into this nice mellow flowy-vibing song. I had this song on repeat for months and still do at times. SZA and Rihanna’s voice work so well together, they just play beautifully off each other. Love everything about this. Lyrics, production, vocals everything. A lazy head-bobbing song. Mandatory lyric mention: “Let me cover your shit in glitter, I can make it gold.”
Overall – 10/10
2. James Joint – The intro to this song hits straight in my uterus and just makes it skip a beat. Then the vocal layering happens and it is like lemme breathe for a second. The lyrics are more Rihanna than the occasional generic badassery songs. Short but a very good track. The song is named after long-time collaborator James Fauntleroy which is sweet.
Overall – 9/10
3. Kiss It Better (single) – Whenever she does songs like this it constantly makes me think she has a secret insane love for synth-rock. This easily could’ve been a song on Rated R. Her signature tone starts the song and then her lower octaves in the chorus hit you in a place tha’ts unexpected. The lyrics are almost dark? A mess of another relationship that they both want to feel better in.
Overall – 9/10
4. Work ft. Drake (single) – Okay, I’ll be honest. I was the person that when I first heard this song, I was like, “What is this garbage?” I never hearted it on my Spotify until now. I dunno what changed, I think its my overall appreciation for the way her weird songs work for me, but I fucking love it and have now hearted it. The whiny vocals are such a good addition to the light production. Her Caribbean influences shine in her lyrics again. Drake’s feature on the song honestly is perfect, it doesn’t take away nor does it add it just flows with what shes creating.
Overall – 9/10
5. Desperado – Oh my lord. I cant even tell y’all how much I love this. It’s got such a deep, deep, bass sound, almost haunting piano notes, that mix perfectly with her vocal layering. It’s probably one of my top 5 favorite Rihanna songs. The attitude she’s singing with is so, so, perfect. The lyrics match with the production so beautifully, she doesn’t know if the man will run with her or away from her and leave her behind. It’s a song about contemplation in the most casual mind-numbing way. Yes this is another song that will be getting its own post.
Overall – 10/10
6. Woo – Ugh, I don’t even know how to describe my love for this song. Everything from start to finish is literally perfect. There is zero flaws. And when she starts singing “send for me,” I can’t even verbalize how sonically exceptional it is. I’ve had this song on repeat every couple of months since this album came out. And most of the time I can’t even pay attention to the lyrics because the way the whole song is structured is literally perfection, even though I never saw myself loving something like this so much. Underrated in my opinion. Also something I never would picture a mainstream artist performing, but this is Rihanna after all.
Overall – 10/10
7. Needed Me (single) – We are in that part of the album where every song is immaculate. Its just one masterpiece after another. The synths that people are using these days are really over done and seem to overshadow the entire song, but Rihanna’s use of synths is this song is more to enhance her own vocals. They’re not taking center stage and it works so well. It’s the one song on her album that’s the mandatory talk about not taking sexual encounters seriously and just taking what she needs. Her humming at the end of the song, I can just picture her closing her eyes, head swaying, and just vibing. Side note: we all remember that performance, lets all just pretend it didn’t happen.
Overall – 10/10
8. Yeah, I Said It – Like I said we’ve hit that sweet spot in the album where there’s nothing that isn’t less than perfect. Put this song on, and just close your eyes and sway with her. Its nothing over the top, its nothing extraordinary special, but I’m not sure why it feels so fresh and different to anything mainstream, maybe it has to do with the amount of experiments she’s doing with her voice. Another underrated gem. I did not know Timbaland had anything to do with it, but he has delivered once again. Just another descriptive sexcapde song by Rihanna, nothing to see here. Underrated.
Overall – 10/10
9. Same Ol’ Mistakes – What a perfect cover for the album. The genre production is so perfect for the whole flow of the record. The only part that really sucks is she didn’t give credit where credit is deserved. A COVER OF TAME IMPALA for those of you that didn’t know. I actually see no discerning differences between the two versions, Rihanna’s version almost sounds identical to Tame Impala’s to me. I’m fond of both. Theres a lot of people that haven’t heard the original and are thrown off completely by that tempo change in the bridge. If you’ve heard any messy Rihanna song you know she loves doing that, just trust the process because at the end each song that sounds like a trainwreck always comes together.
Overall – 9/10 only because she didn’t credit the original otherwise its an easy 10
10. Never Ending – A little break from the edgy techno synths and back to the sweet guitar acoustics. “Ghost in the mirror, I knew your face once. But now it’s unclear,” just take a minute to digest those words with the almost uplifting chords. Dichotomy is quite present as usual in her music. I kind of want do a deeper dive into this one. It’s got to many deeper moments. I actually prefer these kind of heart breaking tracks vs her iconic ballads, but that’s just me, these type of songs feel like she’s just talking to us as realistically as she can about her life.
Overall – 10/10
11. Love on the Brain (single) – This is going to be the one song that is going to give me flack. Again please remember its just an opinion and not a professional review. Overall its a good song, its one of her stronger vocally resonant songs. I don’t know what it is but everything before the hook and chorus always make me think where is this going. It just feels a little generic compared to what shes known for. Like she was trying to create another Stay? Its not a bad song, it works in the flow of everything, I just know it could’ve been a lot better.
Overall – 7/10
12. Higher – God yes. The sounds and techniques Rihanna has used this entire album is a gift to all of us. The passion, the hint of a growl is so prominent in this song and just shows these aren’t just words shes singing. The only complaint is I wish there was another verse. The lyrics embrace that feeling when you’re so in love, your so tipsy and high, that you just want to lay out all your feelings because you feel like the shit. The happiness in her voice is so contagious.
Overall – 10/10
13. Close To You – The slow piano keys with that higher octave intro just tell you right away what song this is. This is my preferred ballad on the album vs. Love on the Brain. This feels so raw and a serenade almost. James Fauntleroy did an amazing job as always with his contribution to the lyrics, letting us relate to them while still being true to Rihanna. This song I owe a deeper dive to the lyrics. I wish it had been a single. The song ending with the gentle instrumentals are so, soooooo, beautiful with gentle plucking of strings. Fuck it’s soul-wrenching.
Overall – 10/10
14. Goodnight Gotham – When you combine the song with the video, it’s fucking phenomenon. Rihanna is a fucking phenomenon. Watch the video, the way she runs into that crowd with the sample/song playing is chilling. It’s the power that is Rihanna in one song. I absolutely love Florence and the Machine (the sample vocals are from her song Only If For A Night) and when I first listened to Anti this was initially the song I had on repeat, the same way I still replay the shit out of Mad House from Rated R.
Overall – 10/10
The entire album is exceptional, odd perfection in my books, there is zero fillers and every song is something you can just hear her heart and soul poured into. From the very first album to now, the sound difference, her constant experimentation, the deep cuts, everything comes together in this one album. Insanely cohesive sonically and lyrically, and I cannot recommend this album enough. But if you’re just beginning to get into Rihanna I really recommend to start with Good Girl Gone Bad/singles from her first two albums, because if you start straight with Anti there is no progression of sound, that will only happen if you listen in order of release. This album is Rihanna. It’s by definition of who she is. She’s an artist and anything she creates with full control she goes 150% to make it something that’s totally her. I’m never going to be a stan that pushes for R9 because I know when/if she delivers shes going to be giving it her all. Just for the quality alone, I cant be impatient. I know throughout this current review I’ve missed a lot of good lyrical content, I’m going to have to make a list of the ones I want to do a deeper-deeper dive into. But even after so many years later the sound is hypnotizing I keep hearing new productions and I sidetrack a lot of the amazing lyrical content.
This whole album is an easy 10/10
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