January 28, 2026 marks a decade since Rihanna has released an album. There has been years of discourse debating whether or not she will ever make a full return to music again, but what everyone can agree on, is that her last project was an instant classic. Really honing in on the R&B sound, it took 4 years for Rihanna to complete ANTI after 2012’s heavily pop-influenced Unapologetic – including hits like “Diamonds,” “Right Now” with David Guetta and “Stay” featuring Mikky Ekko. Now, the album has amassed over 9 billion streams on Spotify and has been certified 6x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA.)
The album begins with “Consideration,” which features SZA before she was launched into the global music stratosphere. The song is one of two collaborations across the tracklist, including the smash hit “Work” with Drake. While “Work” was Rihanna’s 14th Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit, “Consideration” was a little more ahead of its time, and didn’t get its proper recognition until the pandemic.
The tracklist contains a multitude of career highlights, but the one that shines the most will always be “Kiss It Better.” The heavy electric drums, futuristic vocals and contagious melody are only the cherry on top of Rihanna’s best chorus to date.
Other songs like “Needed Me,” “Love on the Brain,” “Woo,” and “Desperado” have remained in the cultural zeitgeist even 10 years later and even people who aren’t particular fans of Rihanna have heard these tracks all over their algorithms.
A large part of the album’s theme is dealing with uncertainty and being in a transition period in your life, which brings in relatability from a number of different demographics and audiences. To truly bring this point home, this record includes a cover of Tame Impala’s “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” that perfectly emulates this sentiment. On “Same Ol’ Mistakes,” Rihanna essentially sings over the original track, yet somehow manages to make it her own. This is a prime example of Rihanna adding her personal flair to a track and elevating it in a way that you didn’t know was possible.
10 years later, this album still holds up as Rihanna’s most focused, cohesive and culturally impactful body of work to date. After getting married to A$AP Rocky, having 3 kids and notably performing at the Super Bowl in 2023, many are still hoping for her 9th studio album. However, the fact of the matter is that it will be nearly impossible for her to create something even half as good as ANTI.
