Rihanna

100 Best Albums

Essential Albums

  • ANTI (Deluxe)
    ANTI (Deluxe)
    ANTI (Deluxe)

    100 Best Albums After giving the world a decade of nonstop hits, the big question for Rihanna was “What’s next?” Well, she was going to wait a little longer than expected to reveal the answer. Four years separated Unapologetic and her eighth album. But she didn’t completely escape from the spotlight during the mini hiatus. Rather, she experimented in real time by dropping one-off singles like the acoustic folk “FourFiveSeconds” collaboration with Kanye West and Paul McCartney, the patriotic ballad “American Oxygen,” and the feisty “Bitch Better Have My Money.” The sonic direction she was going to land on for ANTI was still murky, but those songs were subtle hints nonetheless. When she officially unleashed ANTI to the world, it quickly became clear that this wasn’t the Rihanna we’d come to know from years past. In an unexpected twist, the singer tossed her own hit factory formula (which she polished to perfection since her 2005 debut) out the window. No, this was a freshly independent Rihanna who intentionally took time to dig deep. As the world was holding its breath awaiting the new album, she found a previously untapped part of her artistry. ANTI says it all in the title: The album is the complete antithesis of Pop Star Rihanna. From the abstract cover art (which features a poem written in braille) to newfound autonomy after leaving her longtime record label, Def Jam, to form her own, ANTI shattered all expectations of what a structured pop album should sound like—not only for her own standards, but also for fellow artists who wanted to demolish industry rules. And the risk worked in her favor: it became the singer’s second No. 1 LP. “I got to do things my own way, darling/Will you ever let me?/Will you ever respect me?” Rihanna mockingly asks on the opening track, “Consideration.” In response, the rest of the album dives headfirst into fearlessness where she doesn’t hesitate to get sensual, vulnerable, and just a little weird. ANTI’s overarching theme is centered on relationships. Echoing Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope, Rihanna details the intricacies of love from all stages. Lead single “Work” is yet another flirtatious reunion with frequent collaborator Drake as they tease each other atop a steamy dancehall bassline. She spits vitriolic acid on the Travis Scott-produced “Woo,” taunting an ex-flame who walked away from her: “I bet she could never make you cry/’Cause the scars on your heart are still mine.” What’s most notable throughout ANTI is Rihanna’s vocal expansion, from her whiskey-coated wails on the late-night voicemail that is “Higher” to breathing smoke on her rerecorded version of Tame Impala’s “New Person, Same Old Mistakes.” Yet the signature Rihanna DNA remained on the album. The singer proudly celebrated her Caribbean heritage on the aforementioned “Work,” presented women with yet another kiss-off anthem with “Needed Me,” and flaunted her erotic side on deluxe track “Sex With Me.” Ever the sonic explorer, she also continued to uncover new genres by going full ’50s doo-wop on “Love on the Brain” and channeling Prince for the velvety ’80s power-pop ballad “Kiss It Better.” ANTI is not only Rihanna’s brilliant magnum opus, but it’s also a sincere declaration of freedom as she embraces her fully realized womanhood.

  • Loud (Deluxe)
    Loud (Deluxe)
    Loud (Deluxe)

    After navigating a highly publicized dark period, Rihanna reemerged as vibrant as ever with her fifth album. She told producers Stargate at the time of recording that she wanted to go back to having fun and making happy, uptempo records. The album’s unofficial theme is liberation, with the singer dyeing her hair a striking red that perfectly embodied the attention-grabbing energy that catapulted her into full-fledged pop-star status with unshakable international dominance. The LP spawned seven singles, three of which topped the charts both Stateside and overseas as party anthems: “Only Girl (In the World),” “What’s My Name?”, and “S&M.” Rihanna wasn’t new to crafting dance-driven hits (see 2006’s “SOS” and 2007’s “Don’t Stop the Music”). But it was Loud that confirmed just how easily she could rule any genre she experimented with. “Only Girl (In the World),” the album’s lead single, sets the tone thanks to its pulsating bassline and throbbing synths that defined the 2010s EDM revival. Marking her first time dipping into the genre, Rihanna demands the spotlight with full-on belts, showcasing some of her most commanding vocals to date. Naturally, the bigger-is-better approach worked in the singer’s favor: “Only Girl (In the World)” soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The party continues with “Cheers (Drink to That),” which revs up an Avril Lavigne “I’m With You” sample into a downright fun late-night sing-along, while “Raining Men,” alongside Nicki Minaj, finds the ladies having fun using potential suitors as toys. Loud is a kaleidoscopic reflection of Rihanna’s personality, spiraling from cheeky to vulnerable to unabashedly taboo. The ferocious “S&M” is filled to the brim with “na-na-na, come on!” come-hither chants and sexually suggestive lyrics as the singer explores the world of bondage and fetishes. Not one to take herself too seriously, though, the bedroom anthem winks with playfulness. “Sticks and stones may break my bones/But chains and whips excite me,” she growls atop Hi-NRG production dotted with fuzzy keyboard riffs. The confidence continues with “Skin,” one of Rihanna’s most alluring tunes, as she seductively purrs over a beat that fuses R&B with languid trip-hop. While Loud may be a more pop-leaning record, Rihanna continues to celebrate her Bajan roots, injecting tropical doses on the dancehall-tinged “What’s My Name?” Featuring frequent collaborator Drake, the chart-topper highlights the pair’s palpable chemistry as they trade flirtatious pickup lines: “The square root of 69 is eight somethin’, right?/’Cause I’ve been tryna work it out.” “Man Down” is deeply rooted in Caribbean reggae, as Rihanna details a vengeful tale of being on the run after pulling the trigger, echoing the suspenseful style of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ 1973 single “I Shot The Sheriff.” Threaded throughout the album are ballads centered on love’s ebbs and flows: the Enya-sampling “Fading” is a lightweight R&B midtempo where Rihanna moves on from an inconsistent lover; “California King Bed” is a heartbreaking power ballad as the singer desperately tries to save a relationship that’s growing more distant by the minute. The album closer “Love the Way You Lie, Pt. II” with Eminem, the sequel to the rapper’s hit single, tells Rihanna’s side of a broken love story over a tearful piano melody. Loud set off Rihanna’s pop explosion, and she’s remained music’s most fun party girl ever since.

  • Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded
    Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded
    Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded

    Superstars aren’t created overnight; most are lucky to access any notoriety after dropping a single blockbuster hit. But Rihanna isn’t your average superstar. The Barbadian singer’s career, it could be argued, broke through with a solo clash of a hi-hat cymbal now recognized the world over as the first sound of “Umbrella.” The Grammy winning track opens her third LP. With some assist from JAY-Z, Ri’s delivery of “brella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh” was the sound heard around the world, the start of her own personal revolution: a departure from her “Pon de Replay” Caribbean pop (after all, “Umbrella” was originally written for Britney Spears, whose team turned it down) and an arrival at total ubiquity. His is the first voice we hear, but her voice is the one we remember. It sets the tone for her third album, a confluence of ambitious, boundary-pushing vocal work on Rihanna’s part—a pivot toward edgy songcraft targeting the global stage—and a laundry list of A-list producers: Tricky Stewart, Sean Garrett, The-Dream, and Timbaland. They, armed with the skill set to evolve Ri’s voice, worked to maintain her dancehall roots (like in “Say It,” which samples Mad Cobra’s 1992 song “Flex”), laying the foundation for an ineffable career. Good Girl Gone Bad has it all, boasting a prescient genre-agnosticism decades ahead of the pop landscape. “Shut Up and Drive” is high-octane New Wave rock ’n’ roll, for example, though the record is largely classified as pop R&B, while “Disturbia” charms with its gothic disco. There’s also a deep understanding of the importance of worldwide dance-pop hits, particularly with “Don’t Stop the Music,” courtesy of Norwegian producers Stargate, and its clever sample of Michael Jackson’s “mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-koosa" from his 1983 single “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.” The record isn’t stacked exclusively with timeless classics—the pursuit of perfection is a fool’s errand—but even the non-blockbuster tracks stand out as exemplars of their time. Looking for a smooth-like-butter acoustic R&B ballad challenging Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable”? It’s “Hate That I Love You” featuring Ne-Yo. Or maybe it’s spacey, existential R&B with an ’80s-inspired spoken-word interlude you’re after? Look no further than “Question Existing.” Or do you prefer late-2000s sounds to be stacked with orchestral instruments and melancholic metaphor? That’s all “Rehab,” co-written by Justin Timberlake and produced by Timbaland. Good Girl Gone Bad remains the opening note for all the culture-shifting music Rihanna would create in the years that followed—as well as the legacies she’d inspire.

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About Rihanna

A report card for Robyn Rihanna Fenty, first issued by a school back in Barbados’ Saint Michael parish and later reprinted in a giant coffee-table book called RIHANNA, stated, in part, that the young Fenty was positive, sure of herself. She took a leading role in group activities. Most of all, she had ideas and seemed comfortable expressing them. Fast-forward to the present day and there remains something effortless about Rihanna, a sense of confidence that transcends any one narrative or style. Though her biggest tracks tend toward some variety of dance pop (mixed with reggae, EDM, dancehall, R&B, and so on), a closer listen reveals an artist willing to try just about anything—and the uncanny grace to sound good doing it. Describing the chameleonic nature of her clothing line, Fenty—the first female-created brand for LVMH, not to mention its first luxury label run by a black woman—Rihanna said the line didn’t have any fixed look, in part because her own was always changing. She was making things up as she went along, but when she went, she went full-steam ahead. Born in Barbados in 1988, she left high school to pursue music. Her 2005 debut, Music of the Sun, went Gold when she was just 17. By 2007’s Good Girl Gone Bad, she’d expanded the sunny Caribbean pop of her early work for sleek hybrids of hip-hop, R&B, club music, and rock. Her tracks are inescapable—“Umbrella,” “Don’t Stop the Music,” “Rude Boy,” “Work”—but also have genuine personality, not to mention a carnal sense of expressiveness that sets her apart: Rihanna’s changes don’t seem like the product of high-concept self-reinvention so much as gut feeling. After leaving Def Jam in 2014 for a spot with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, she took greater creative control for 2016’s ANTI, her most diverse album yet. In 2023, Rihanna became the first artist to headline the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, performing while pregnant with her second child.

HOMETOWN
Saint Michael, Barbados
BORN
February 20, 1988
GENRE
Pop

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