You could lie. You can say you didn’t lose your breath screaming, “Y’ALL SHOULD KNOW ME WELL ENOUUUUGH,” every seven minutes it came on the radio this summer. One out of two folk have perfected their “brap brap brap’s.” And with red, pink, or black hair, Rihanna has taken over as your contemporary pop princess.
To put it bluntly, Rihanna slays your entire life. The jam Pon de Replay really settled it for me in fourth grade. And when you put that into perspective, Rihanna’s claimed what’s rightfully hers ten years in the making. Hence, she can do whatever the hell she wants because she’s literally the queen.
1. She first established royal status in her cameo in Bring It On. This was everything in 2006.
2. Her iconic court side looks.
If I'm not sitting court side with pink hair and hard nipples in ten years, I've done something wrong.
3. She is truly unapologetic—pun intended.
The poetic lyricism introducing us to Anti lies in “James Joint,” as the lyrics, “I’d rather be smoking weed” blares the singer’s personification as the bad gal semblance she exonerates. Anti gives the listener a sensual experience similar to the pleasure-baring top contenders of male R&B singers such as Jeremih, Trey Songz, or PARTYNEXTDOOR. As contemporary R&B tends to focus on the primitive, sexy nature of male pleasure, Rihanna extracts those feelings and transforms them into emotion-based stimulation. This album contains raw yearnings in each symbolically timed beat.
5. Her tweets inspire and motivate, her creative
soul shines in each character.
Anti is the pre-Views, postWeeknd Trilogy I’ve been craving.“Needed Me” provides years worth of classic R&B rhythm, stimulating your mind while strumming the strings of your heart. The dynamic between Rihanna and Drake on “Work” runs rampant with unrequited love and allusive sexual tension. However, the Drake verse is just that—a Drake verse. :-/ Although Drake’s riffing skills typically send both man and woman alike into frenzy, it’s difficult to see past the overused trope. If you had a twin, I would still choose you/ I don’t wanna rush into it, if it’s too soon/ But I know you need to get done, done, done, done, done/ If you come over. We get it, Papi.