Anti is the eighth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on January 28, 2016 as a download and for streaming on the music website Tidal. The song was released by Roc Nation and Rihanna's own label, Westbury Road. Anti is her first studio album since 2012's Unapologetic.[1]
It was believed that Rihanna's songs released in 2015—"FourFiveSeconds" (featuring Kanye West and Paul McCartney), "Bitch Better Have My Money", and "American Oxygen"—would be released as a part of Anti. However, these songs were ultimately released as singles by themselves.[2]
The Los Angeles Times reported that the album was downloaded over one million times in only 14 hours of its release. The standard and deluxe versions were made available on iTunes a day after the standard edition was released on Tidal.[3] The album first appeared at number 27 on the Billboard 200 album chart and reached number one the next week. This is Rihanna's second US number-one album after Unapologetic.
Anti was certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America less that 48 hours after its release.[4] On April 29, 2016, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album double platinum for shipments and streams equal to 2 million copies.[5] As of July 2016, Anti and rapper Drake's album Views are the only albums released in 2016 to be certified double platinum in the US. Anti became the fifth-best performing album in the US in 2016.[6]
Singles
Rihanna tweeted that the album's lead single was "Work", featuring Canadian rapper Drake. The song ultimately reached number one on the iTunes charts of over 70 countries.[7] "Work" was at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks in a row, making it the longest-running number-one single of 2016 by a lead female artist. It became Rihanna's 14th and Drake's second number-one song in the United States. It was also at the top of the charts in Canada and France, while reaching number two in the UK and number five in Australia. "Work" was the fourth-best performing song of 2016 in the US. It has become certified 5× Platinum by the RIAA.
"Kiss It Better" and "Needed Me" were announced as the second and third singles from Anti.[8] "Kiss It Better" performed moderately on the charts, while "Needed Me" became Rihanna's 29th top-ten song in the US. It reached number seven there and was ranked number 13 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 of 2016. "Kiss It Better" was certified Platinum by the RIAA, while "Needed Me" reached 4× Platinum status.
"Love on the Brain" was announced as the fourth single from Anti.[9] It reached number eight in the US. "Love on the Brain" is Rihanna's 30th top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100.[10] It was certified Platinum in the US.
Background
On October 8, 2015, Rihanna uploaded the title and artwork to the album, which is a childhood photo of Rihanna on her first day of daycare. She worked with artist Roy Nachum, who edited the image, added a gold crown over her eyes, and painted over her in red and white. The back cover uses the same photo shot from the back.[11] The album was also known as "#R8".[12] Rihanna said that whilst she was recording the album, she would like to make another vintage album like her fourth studio album, Rated R (2009).[12]
