The Rihanna Navy, Rihanna’s affectionate nickname for her millions of fans worldwide, got a very late Christmas gift earlier this month. Her highly anticipated eighth album entitled “ANTI” was recently leaked. In Rihanna’s typical fashion, she decided to steal the show and release the album for free through tidal, Jay-Z’s music streaming service. The album was released through iTunes 24 hours later, instead of the scheduled release date. The album received both commercial and critical acclaim. It charted directly to number one on the iTunes charts in 54 coun- tries and platinum in two days, despite being available for free download on Tidal.

“ANTI” is Rihanna’s most personal and most raw musical effort thus far. The album is a departure from her usual glossy, club-friendly dance pop album written mostly by professional songwriters. Rihanna contributed much more lyrically to this album, and it has an R&B sound that is slightly rough around the edges in the best possible way. It is obvious listening to this album that Rihanna has reached a point in her career where she no longer feels the need to follow trends. She wants to make music to express herself and let her artistic soul breathe.

She spoke to MTV UK in 2015 about her vision from the album, saying: “I just wanted to focus on things that felt real, that felt soulful, that felt forever. I wanted songs that I could perform in 15 years. I wanted an album that I could perform in 15 years, not any songs that were burnt out. I find that when I get on stage now, I don’t want to perform a lot of my songs because they don’t feel like me. So, I want to make songs that are timeless.”