The album's recording sessions took place at various studios including the Jungle City Studios in New York City, Westlake Recording Studios, Sandra Gale Studios and Windmark Recording Studios in Los Angeles, SOTA Studios in Toronto and Twin Studios in Paris. Instead, Rihanna herself served as the executive producer of Anti and worked with several producers. However, in January 2016, in a Twitter reply message to a fan, Rihanna wrote that West is no longer executive producer of the album and both of them are working on different projects. On February 8, 2015, during his Grammy Awards red carpet interview, American rapper Kanye West announced that he will be the executive producer of Anti. In May 2014, it was announced that Rihanna had left Def Jam Recordings to sign fully with her manager Jay-Z's company Roc Nation, and later revealed she had acquired the masters to all her recordings and would be releasing her eighth studio album jointly through her own record label Westbury Road and Roc Nation. I just wanted to make a body of work that felt right!
I had no idea how it would be received, neither was that something I considered. It was in that moment that I trusted myself, trusted my ear, trusted my gut, trusted the way that my music made me feel. During her creative struggle, Rihanna rented a house in Malibu over a couple of months and started extensively writing and composing music with her team consisting of various musicians. According to her, she was feeling disconnected from her emotions and "numb" during the album's conception.
Nevertheless, the singer stated that during the recording process she was evolving and she didn't have the answer of who she was at that point. Ultimately, she decided she wanted "honest" music and a body of work that reflected and represented her at that time. During the initial writing and development of the album, Rihanna wasn't sure how she wanted Anti to sound. She stated, "I wanted to have a year to just do whatever I want artistically, creatively." However, the hiatus did not last long and after a week she returned to the studio. Anti also topped charts in Canada and Norway, and peaked in the top five on charts in such European countries as Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.įollowing the release of Rihanna's seventh studio album, Unapologetic (2012), and its accompanying tour, the singer aimed to take a hiatus from recording music. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it triple platinum. Supported by four singles, including the Billboard Hot 100 number one " Work", the album peaked atop the Billboard 200 and is the first album by a black woman to spend 200 weeks on the chart. At the 2017 Grammy Awards, the album and its singles collectively received six nominations, including a nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album.Īfter the album's release, Rihanna embarked on the Anti World Tour, which ran from March to November 2016. Anti featured on 2010s decade-end lists by such publications as Billboard, NME and Pitchfork, and ranked 230th on Rolling Stone 's 2020 edition of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The production divided critics: praise centered on Rihanna's newfound musical freedom, and criticism on its unfocused track list. Released on 28 January 2016 through Roc Nation and Westbury Road, Anti received generally positive reviews for its emotional honesty. Critics noted the musical and lyrical shifts marked Rihanna's artistic maturity beyond her status as a pop star. Anti 's overarching theme is emotional authenticity, portrayed through a spectrum of emotions evoked from relationships, from endearment and longing to betrayal and liberation. The songs are characterized by lo-fi beats, distorted vocals, sparsely layered and atmospheric downtempo arrangements. The album spans genres including pop, dancehall, alternative R&B, hip hop, soul and trap. On Anti, Rihanna abandoned her previous radio-friendly dance songs for a soulful production she felt authentic and liberating. As executive producer, Rihanna recorded the album with producers including Jeff Bhasker, Boi-1da, DJ Mustard, Hit-Boy, Brian Kennedy, Timbaland and No I.D., at studios in Canada, the United States and France. She started recording in 2014 after ending her contract with Def Jam Recordings, who had released all of her albums since her debut in 2005.
Anti (stylized in all caps) is the eighth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna.