reflecting on rihanna (rihanna’s anti)

On October 28th, 2022, multi-hyphenated talent Robyn Rihanna Fenty– known mononymously as Rihanna– returned to the music scene with a song for the soundtrack of the upcoming Marvel movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The song, “Lift Me Up”, is a tribute to the deceased actor Chadwick Boseman who played the role of King T’Challa, the Black Panther, in the first movie. A moving song with heartfelt lyrics and a comforting softness to it, “Lift Me Up” was a fitting tribute song. With this new release though, I wanted to look at where Rihanna left off in the music scene back in 2016 with the release of her eighth studio album ANTI.

Released on January 28th, 2016, ANTI by Rihanna was a stellar album that saw the artist explore the depths of her sound and vocal abilities to construct a body of work that feels representative of Rihanna in her totality. Speaking in an interview with MTV about the album, Rihanna said that “I just wanted to focus on things that felt real, that felt soulful, that felt forever. … I want to make songs that are timeless.” (1). Now reflecting on this album six years after its release, I can assuredly say that she definitely flourished in her goal. These songs– with the exception of “Work” which, like most radio hits, became a monument of the time period it was released in– haven’t aged one bit. As her first album after signing to rapper Jay-Z’s entertainment agency Roc Nation, she took full advantage of her new home by taking the reigns on this album. As the executive producer and co-writer of essentially all of her songs (“Same Ol’ Mistakes” is actually a cover of Tame Impala’s song “New Person, Same Old Mistakes”), this album saw the veteran artist genuinely get to have some fun and discover what it means to her to create music that felt like forever.

Singing about the universal themes of love and connection, this album seems to encapsulate all the different shades of Rihanna. From her soft and vulnerable self on tracks like “Close to You” and “Higher” to her confident, femme fatale self on tracks like “Pose” and “Sex with Me”, they all coexist as one on this album. In addition to this thematic contrast, there also lies a delicate dichotomy between the more beat-driven tracks and the balladic songs. This variety and richness of the album are what make it so timeless for me. While it doesn’t have the strong narrative that I usually enjoy in albums, it still feels whole in the way Rihanna bares her soul through these tracks. They genuinely feel like Robyn Rihanna Fenty in all of her glory from all that she was to all that she has become and to all that she has yet to discover. In fact, in a 2015 interview with NME prior to the release of the album, she said that she has stayed true to herself in her life and her music because then she can “sleep at night, knowing there’s no pressure to be anything else.” (2).

Another point of interest that displays Rihanna’s creative freedom is her album cover. While her other albums until then had captured her in that present moment in time, ANTI features a child Rihanna with a crown covering her eyes. This album cover, designed and created by artist Roy Nachum, was unveiled at an intimate gathering at the MAMA Gallery in Los Angeles (3). By putting her childhood self on the cover, it again speaks to the longevity of the music she is hoping to make. It is as if she is saying that this album encompasses her entire being instead of just who she is at that moment in time. This is corroborated by a placard at the installation that explained the meaning of her album name: “ANTI. A person opposed to a particular policy, activity, or idea. In her collaboration with Roy Nachum, Rihanna has changed the history of album art. By continuing to follow her own instincts, her work strives to make an impact by doing the very antithesis of what the public expects.” (3). This album is representative of the common thread that has driven Rihanna in her career and life so far: her rebellious nature. In fact, she spoke about this in her interview with NME where she explained, “I take risks because I get bored. And I get bored very easily.” (2). There’s more to this album cover though. You may not notice it at first glance, but Rihanna actually included a poem in braille on the album’s cover. Written by poet Chloe Mitchell and titled “If They Let Us”, it reads,

“I sometimes fear that I am misunderstood./ It is simply because what I want to say,/ what I need to say, won’t be heard./ Heard in a way I so rightfully deserve./ What I choose to say is of so much substance/ That people just won’t understand the depth of my message./ So my voice is not my weakness,/ It is the opposite of what others are afraid of./ My voice is my suit and armor,/ My shield, and all that I am./ I will comfortably breath [sic] in it, until I find the moment to be silent./ I live loudly in my mind, so many hours of the day./ The world is pin drop sound compared to the boom/ That thumps and bumps against the walls of my cranium./ I live it and love it and despise it and I am entrapped in it./ So being misunderstood, I am not offended by the gesture, but honored./ If they let us…” (2)

Like the rest of the album, this poem that is silently yet impactfully featured on the cover speaks to the truth of Rihanna and her own timeless nature. She’s a rebel. She pushes boundaries. She is unafraid to take risks and try new things because that is who she is, and that makes her this ever-shining jewel of the many ventures she has undertaken.

ANTI was truly the epitome of Rihanna at the time, and with this new release, it is incredibly interesting to reflect on how she has grown over this time. From starting her cosmetics company Fenty Beauty to appearing in the movie Ocean’s 8 in 2018 and the birth of her son earlier this year in 2022, she has stayed true to who she is by taking risks, having fun, and starting new adventures in her personal and professional life. Can you even believe all of that was only in 6 years? With everything that she has accomplished, it feels like it has been much longer which certainly speaks to her innovative, boundary-pushing nature. In fact, she even alluded to this nature back in 2015 while talking about possibly living in London for a while: “I want to try it. While I’m childless, and I can run around. I wanna do it.” (2). She has truly made the most of these six years away from music to really discover all that she is and what she has to offer to the world. With this new single, Rihanna again shows us that she does things on her own terms. Though she is grateful to her fans, the Rihanna Navy, she refuses to release music unless her heart and soul is in it, and she rightfully found that reasoning in singing a tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman. There is a neverending excitement for Rihanna as there is a certain effervescent allure to this already timeless artist and mogul. She continues to astound the world, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

kevin tian

reflecting on rihanna (rihanna’s anti)

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