Rihanna’s ‘ANTI’ turns 10, marking a decade between her last solo album
She first burst onto the scene with 2005’s ‘Music Of The Sun’.
Photo: Press
Time for a deep dive back at what ANTI offered the music landscape… And how little it was known that Rihanna would leave her solo album work there.
On the 10th anniversary of ANTI, there’s no better time than the present to look back at some of the highs and lows of the album as a whole, alongside the lasting impact she’s left on music that has lasted to the present day.
Starting out with Consideration, the first track on the album, Rihanna starts out immediately displaying the vocal talent she’s come to be known for and has become an almost mythical figure in music for, pulling in SZA one year before her critically acclaimed album, Ctrl. The duo does a fantastic job shining through the production on this track, both being given turns to display their abilities over some laid back production.
James Joint is a “throwaway” track, with not too much to really write home about that hasn’t already been spoken on prior.
Kiss It Better is one of the gems on this album, with some fantastic guitar work and some wonderful production over a song that can only be assumed to fall into the romance category when it comes down to it. This song does not feel like it’s four minutes just because it’s such a strong track on this album and is one of the first high points (but not the only one!) for the album overall. This is 2016 Rihanna at one of her best points, and this song is the proof in the pudding. Nothing more can be said about the voice Rihanna has, and it is just absolutely gorgeous on this track. Everything shines so nicely on this.
Work speaks for itself on this album. One of Rihanna’s most-streamed tracks ever: a Drake feature, a club hit and a hit in general. There’s not a lot to add regarding the musical status of this track, other than the fact that it was simply a big deal at the time. Rihanna utilised a culture that maybe wasn’t in the mainstream at the time, or really in any time (West Indian culture, how ya doin’?) for this song, making it more than just the gibberish people questioned it as upon release. Work was a statement for the culture, and the nationality Rihanna is a part of and, as someone who’s also a part of that same culture, a massive shoutout to her.
Rihanna has had an incredible body of work across her music career but, legitimately, nothing has ever hit so close to home as Desperado has for me. If Kiss It Better is a gem (and it is), this is the whole damn diamond mine. The energy of the song, the way Rihanna’s vocals just bounce with the production, this is the Rihanna song of her catalogue, not keeping in mind the radio hits and the more popular songs in her discography. This is talent stacked on top of talent, and it’s not even fair. There have been many times this has caught my ear and looped on Spotify over and over because one listen of this just does it no justice in any regard.
Woo is not a track that I am necessarily fond of, but that’s not because Travis Scott and Rihanna aren’t talented and that this wouldn’t normally be a great track, it’s simply that this feels out of place on this album somehow. It could be the come down from Desperado or something else entirely, but this one doesn’t really click like it should here.
Needed Me is another one of those tracks that speaks for itself, also being in the upper echelon of Rihanna streams on tracks. A recurring theme is production not being terribly intricate (which isn’t a bad thing at all), and I think this track exploded for that reason and because Rihanna can absolutely sing, not to mention the “I don’t need you, you need me” attitude that stems from this song, opening up doors to Self-Confidence Blvd. in ways unexplained.
Yeah, I Said It feels like another version of a few tracks on here. It’s not bad, it just feels uninspired after hearing what’s come before, which is unfortunate. In different circumstances, this one is also a gem, but this is unmistakably eclipsed by Kiss It Better, Woo, Desperado, Needed Me… so on, and so forth.
Same Ol’ Mistakes doesn’t fall into the same trap as the previously mentioned song. The biggest problem this song has is that it’s in one of the valleys that this album has. The vocal talent is there; ethereal, chilling, in its nature, and it is a legitimately good song given the unfortunate task of reviving from a peak. It’s not a valley in itself, but it is in valley territory after the last song.
Never Ending is a complete vibe shift from the rest of the album, stripped back in a way that makes it unique. Unfortunately, it came at a bad time. It’s good, but between Same Ol’ Mistakes and the next song, Love On The Brain, it’s an impossible task to stand between the two.
Love On The Brain. That’s all that I could put. But, man, this song does not have 2 billion streams and counting for no reason. It’s a hit, regardless of the definition you have for it. It’s addictive, it’s easy to re-listen to, and any positive you can derive about music, about a solo hit — it’s here.
Higher is another one of those strong Rihanna vocal tracks, and it’s one of them I really like because she gets up there vocally. It’s a good song, despite it being way too short for someone who can reach the highs she can. My biggest complaint is truthfully that this song had to be longer.
As a trio, Close To You feels too similar of a vibe to Never Ending, Goodnight Gotham is a very brief song with not much to it vocally (as in, no real vocals are in the 1 minute and 28 seconds), and Pose is a good track, feeling like the precursor in a way to when Lemon by N.E.R.D with Rihanna featuring dropped, giving us Rihanna rapping.
Finally, Sex With Me, a song with a similar content to a few others on here, feels like something is done differently and something is done right regarding it. It’s an earworm, it’s a popular enough song, the whole nine yards.
ANTI is a great album with some weird valleys mixed into some of the most popular Rihanna songs out, but everything comes together to make something really fun out of it. People have been asking Rihanna to come back to music fully for the past few years, and while that seems unlikely regarding a full album, Rihanna for sure gave us something to feast on for another decade after the anniversary.
Here’s to it, then. 10 years of ANTI, and here’s to another 10 years where this will continue to age well compared to its peers.
