By now, you’ve probably heard the catchy Dancehall beat to Rihanna’s chart-smashing single: Work. If by the rarest of occasions, you haven’t, it’s probably because you don’t live on the planet Earth.
Since its accidental leak on January 28, ANTI has been on the tip of everyone’s tongues, with both deserved praise and snide criticism. Regardless of everyone’s thoughts, however, the long-awaited album skyrocketed to the top of the charts.
Work is RiRi’s 27th top ten single, putting her head-to-head with the late King of Pop: Michael Jackson.
According to Tidal, a music streaming app created by Jay-Z, the album was streamed 13 million times, and downloaded over a million times in the first 15 hours. In less than a day, ANTI went platinum. One unexpected reason for the album’s massive success is that most of the tracks don’t sound mainstream at all.
With dub-inspired tracks like Consideration and an edgy, doo-wop song like Love On The Brain, the songs on this album aren’t the kind of songs you’d find playing on a radio station. The kind of thought and mystery that fills the tracks of ANTI can’t be found on FM or AM radio waves, and that’s a blessing in disguise.
“I like that the songs are kind of, like, dark and angst-y, because you don’t get to hear that from her [Rihanna] very often,” said Jazmin Agado, a senior.
With most of today’s hits being about a party or a breakup-slash-makeup, it’s rare to have songs that mean more than just a broken heart. Rihanna’s album is meaningful, it’s mysterious, and many believe it’s just the beginning for Rihanna as she enters a new strain of pop in ANTI. It establishes new hit-making rules, and shows us a side of Rihanna that is more than just a Barbadian beauty.
