Rihanna's ANTi Album Review

:::ANTi:::

As a pop fan, I have wondered why am I not some die-hard fan of Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and/or Katy Perry?

Instead I ended up loving much of what Rihanna has been doing since Umbrella (it was a tragic start to the love story with Pon De Reply). I still ask myself, why her? Her vocals are not the greatest. Her artistic presence have been questioned, especially with the barrage of writers her albums contain. The list can go on.

Something more than that has been the key focus. Not sure where to begin. It's probably her carelessness attitude. I mean she does her own thing and seamlessly is alright with it. Granted she is a mega pop star and I possibly cannot know what it really is like to be one of the biggest name around the world. That's all fine. But one cannot help be attracted to that mysterious aura she has.

After the unfortunate incident with Chris Brown, much has changed. You don't know if she is the strongest person out there or whether she is simply a glass house, waiting for that rock to crack open her everything.

I still can recall some of those glorious times when her new singles would drop. Be it Only Girl - which I actually thought was sung by a man, to We Found Love - making me question its chart viability, to Diamonds - a refreshing change to her otherwise streak of bangers.

Even as a fan, I cannot help but feel much of her albums aside from LOUD and Rated R are full of fillers. It feels amazing initially but then you realize it simply does not stick around.

Where does Anti come in here? Not sure where to begin. People - the vast majority considers the album campaign a "disaster." To each their own, but one cannot refute the innumerable circumstances that fit this description. Sad, but even I felt frustrated. Wondered out aloud, what is she and her team doing?

Don't get me wrong, the visuals from the album roll out has been some of her finest. Brings you to the knees. Okay maybe a bit too dramatic but it has been compelling. Frustrations rose when almost nothing indicated and gave away the very important stake in this game - the music itself. We only really have a beautiful album cover, 3 singles, that did their own thing and almost now set in some distant past (albeit BBHMM started its own mini legacy), but overall - we simply had nothing but some major speculations.

So when the news broke that she is dropping "Work" w/ Drake mere days after shooting the video and tweets in the lines of "Anti is complete", things started to fall in place. I remember listening to Work during its premiere at 8AM and increasingly getting agitated because I simply could not decipher much outside her mumbling. That's very ignorant of me because I now think the song is top-notch.

Let me tell you why this is important. There were countless times I second guessed her but she definitely has the ear for some fantastic music - such as work. How effortlessly I love it.

So I don't know what made her put the album for free. There must be a reason. Let there be one. But honestly for my own happiness and sanity, does it matter if it's free or not? She is multi-millionaire, doubt this even remotely bothers her. If anything, she will make so much more out of her endorsements and tours.

So how's Anti? It's a lot. I actually just got Tidal, went to the washroom (being honest), and just pressed played the album. I just gave it a genuine listen. It made me smile. It made me happy. Like all the frustrations and wait for over 3 years has been worth it in its own defining, cruel, meaningful way.

Critics are dragging it, thinking it's a bait for awards and relevance among her peers. It might be true. Or there might a better reason. Where she is finding her own niche. It may be a niche that doesn't have a lane onto charts success. Maybe the lane takes her to a highway that leads to her own wonderland. Her own land where she can discover and grow. Find out what more she can bring, in her own way.

Like many of us hopeful people  out there, isn't that the biggest goal? To find our own niche, regardless of what is expected of us? Like you take a road less traveled, less known, in your own way, and you stumble, you fall, you get ridiculed. But you also rightfully chose a path of your own. Like it's so very…yours.

Thank you, Rihanna for this fantastic album. You gave a little gift to us all.