Rihanna: ANTI ALBUM REVIEW

ANTI is the long awaited 7th full length from pop star Rihanna, and with it, the expectation of experimentation and growth. This is because for the longest time, Rihanna was releasing full length projects year after year. almost as if she were on a clockwork schedule to maintain relevance. However, ANTI breaks that trend, since it took nearly four years for it to be released. But, the real question is; was the wait worth it?

Well, as someone who has enjoyed a good amount of the singles that Rihanna has put out in the past decade or so, but never found anything too compelling in here full length efforts, ANTI is a bit of a mixed bag. This is do to a lot of factors, most notably, the fact that a lot of the songs here are sort of bland and by the numbers, which is a shame, because a lot of the singles that were dropping before the release of this album had a lot of promise. Most notably, "American Oxygen" and "Bitch Better Have My Money" both of which showed a darker side to Rihanna, and were pretty catchy to boot. There was also the polarizing "fourfiveseconds" which I liked quite a bit for how raw Rihanna sounded on it. Unfortunately, none of these tracks landed on ANTI, and the album suffers for it.

Instead, the only single was teased pre-release that ended up on the finished product is the 'just okay' single "Work" which is brought down by mediocre Drake feature and a sort of flaccid beat. In fact, the latter complaint about "Work" can be applied to pretty much the entire first half of this album. "Desperado" especially, is such a plodding track, that just meanders for three minutes before calling it quits. Also, the lone Travis $cott beat here, the one on "Woo" is easily the albums weakest instrumental; in short, the shrill sample and unenthusiastic moaning display the worst qualities Travis possesses.

After this point in the album, the tracks just blend together, though I did find "Same Ol' Mistakes" interesting... for the first three minutes. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel; in fact, the album hits a rather nice stride from "Never Ending" until the last track "Close To Me". And the reason these four tracks work is because they have a very similar quality to them that "fourfiveseconds" did; raw, emotional power. Rihanna's vocals are given a nice place rest and she takes advantage of it; especially on the track "Higher", a track that perhaps the most passionate that Rihanna has ever laid to tape, the only drawback being its brevity.

Aside from a strong finish though, ANTI is a disappointingly drab affair that rarely rises above the quality that is expected of mainstream pop albums.

5.8/10