Top 10 Songs From ANTI by Rihanna (ANTI REVIEW)

10. "Woo," Rihanna

"Woo," is one of Anti low point  which sounds like the '70s prog rock interpretation of a bad trip under blacklight ("I been feening on the yayo," she sings, "ain't nothin' left to talk about"). There's a half-interested sexual urgency to the album, as she alternately sexes and excoriates her partners;

9. "Sex With Me," Rihanna

Perhaps this is most instructive track  which closes out Anti's Deluxe version and acts as a perfect denouement for an album meant to combat superhuman misconceptions of the world's most desirably flawed Bajan badass. After 15 songs of a deeper look into the woman behind the mirror, she dismisses and dares an unnamed dude/her fans to sink back into the idea of the Fantasy Rihanna with descriptive dirty talk. "Sex with me, so amazing," she practically grins. "Stay up off my Instagram with your temptation." And with that, she recedes back into herself, knowing that we'll think of her whatever way we want — and even surer in the knowledge that she really does not give a f--k.

8. "Desperado," Rihanna 

The sexy, deep synth-pop of "Desperado," meanwhile, could easily make it a club hit by summer.

7. "Consideration," Rihanna ft SZA

From the first bars of "Consideration," a loping, patois pop number with SZA, Rihanna asserts that she's through with acting as the world's avatar, asking, "Darling, would you mind giving my reflection a break from the pain it's feeling now?" It's a plucky thesis that delivers as the album's stony layers peel back, often alluding to tumultuous relationships with her smoke-cracked voice vibrating low and strong as it's ever been. 

6. "Higher," Rihanna

The vocal on the last-call ballad "Higher," which seems to be an early fan favorite, is far less effective, however: Rihanna strains into the high register as she sings from the perspective of a burdened doyenne halfway through a drunk dial; what she means as an emotional effect teeters too far off-pitch (evidence on its own that inebriated voicemails are never a good idea).

5. "Yeah I Said It," Rihanna

  One song later, "Yeah I Said It," she's demanding her lovers to "get up inside it… homicide it" on one of Timbaland's slinkiest, most immersively sensual bubble-bath beats in years.

4. " Love On The Brain," Rihanna

 
The conversational "Love on the Brain" is a doo-wop powerhouse sung in a Prince-adjacent falsetto — and is proof Rihanna’s been working with some primo vocal coaches.

3. "Work," Rihanna ft Drake

  First Single "Work" isn't even her best collaboration with Drake – that would be 2011's expansive house ballad Take Care" – but it's an impeccably catchy glide across a subtle, syrupy dancehall beat and it peaked at number on the Billboard hot 100,

2. "Kiss It Better," Rihanna

  Kiss It Better" is a slinky '80s ballad that disguises a deeply depressing ode to ex sex as lustrous and pained as a Purple Rain single. That album is, in fact, a clear touchstone throughout Anti.

1. "Needed Me," Rihanna

  on "Needed Me" she scolds them for catching feelings over a seething DJ Mustard beat—"didn't I tell you that I was a savage?" she tosses off, characteristically nonchalant. And it is potential to be her second single and a perfect radio dominant for the summer.