ANTI

Anti is the eighth studio album by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was 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 Jamand joined Roc Nation. Work continued into 2015, during which she released three singles, including the internationally acclaimed "FourFiveSeconds"; 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. The album was launched to physical retailers on February 5.

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 soul and dancehall. The producers incorporated dark, sparsely layered, minimalist song structures, while most of Anti's lyrics dealt with the complexities of romantic love and self-assurance. The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics who praised Rihanna's vocals, confidence and the artistic freedom she presented on the the record. However, some of them criticized it for lacking cohesion.

Anti peaked within the top-ten on over 25 national albums charts. Two days after its release, it 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, copies which were not recognized by Nielsen and Billboard. However, Anti still peaked at number one in its second week on the US Billboard 200 chart with 166,000 album units sold. The album also peaked at number one on the Norwegian Albums Chart and the Canadian Albums Chart where it was certified gold by Music Canada. "Work", featuring Canadian rapper Drake, was released as the lead single from Anti; it peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became Rihanna's 14th number one single on the chart. To further promote the album, she embarked on the Anti World Tour in March 2016.