- January 28, 2016
- Westbury Road, Roc Nation
- US Sales: 638,707
- WW Sales: 1,696,000
Released on January 28, 2016, through Westbury Road and Roc Nation. The singer began planning the record in 2014, at which time she left her previous label Def Jam and joined Roc Nation. Work continued into 2015, during which she released three singles including “FourFiveSeconds”, which reached the top 10 in several markets; they were ultimately removed from the final track listing. Anti was made available for free digital download on January 28 through Tidal and was released to online music stores for paid purchase on January 29.
As executive producer, Rihanna contributed to most of the album’s lyrics and collaborated with producers including Jeff Bhasker, Boi-1da, DJ Mustard, Hit-Boy, Brian Kennedy, Timbaland and No I.D. to achieve her desired sound. The efforts resulted in a departure from Rihanna’s previous dance and club music genres and created a primarily pop and R&B album, with elements of dancehall and soul. The producers incorporated dark, sparsely layered, minimalist song structures, with most of Anti’s lyrics dealing with the complexities of romantic love and self-assurance.
The album was released to positive reviews from music critics and numerous publications included it on their lists of the best albums of 2016. It peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200, moving 166,000 equivalent-album units in its first full-tracking week, and after two days of its release was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as a result of Samsung purchasing one million copies of the album in advance that were then given away as a free download. It was promoted with four singles, including the single “Work”, featuring Canadian rapper Drake, which peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 becoming Rihanna’s fourteenth number one song on the chart. To further promote the album, Rihanna embarked on the Anti World Tour in 2016.
02. James Joint
03. Kiss It Better
04. Work (featuring Drake)
05. Desperado
06. Woo
07. Needed Me
08. Yeah, I Said It
09. Same Ol’ Mistakes
10. Never Ending
11. Love on the Brain
12. Higher
13. Close to You
- January 27, 2016
- Westbury Road, Roc Nation
- US Sales: 1,770,000
- US SPS Sales: 4,600,000
- WW Sales: 5,000,000
- March 30, 2016
- Westbury Road, Roc Nation
- US Sales: 250,000
- WW Sales: 600,000
- March 30, 2016
- Westbury Road, Roc Nation
- US Sales: 1,045,000
- WW Sales: 2,100,000
- September 27, 2016
- Westbury Road, Roc Nation
- US Sales: 435,000
- WW Sales: 1,100,000
