Like everyone, we've been patiently waiting for a new Rihanna album. The singer, actress, entrepreneur, and philanthropist has been understandably busy with other things, but we do miss the music. Between the growth of Fenty and her philanthropic work, we're unsure when the album will come, but at this time we can only imagine.
It has been over 9 years since ANTI. The multiplatinum-selling, grammy award-nominated album was Rihanna's last solo project to the public. It was the perfect combination of everything we all enjoyed most about Rihanna. With a precise balance of ballads, island vibes, and mid-tempo records, ANTI was possibly Rihanna's best project.
With all that being said, we couldn't wait any longer for a new project. We decided to put together our own Rihanna project. We imagined what would happen if we used Rihanna's existing catalog to put together a great album. We'll go through how we made some of the decisions. This was incredibly difficult.
Disclaimer: We did not use any songs that she's featured in. We realized that could be an album in and of itself. It also made this much more difficult because of the already extensive catalog. There was an effort made to include music from all of her existing solo projects.
Diamonds. This song is a quality mid-tempo Rihanna track. The drums carry her, and with lyrics by Sia, it's a powerful song that sees Rihanna's voice shine more and more with each verse. As an opener, it just made sense to set a tone. The production and music can take the album in any direction.
Sledgehammer. This isn't as popular of a Rihanna song, but as a ballad, it may be one of her most poignant. This song was done for Star Trek Beyond so it has a very cinematic feel.
Bitch Better Have My Money. After two slower songs, we had to take the energy up and bring in this gem of a song. With co-writing and co-production credits by Kanye West, Bibi Bourelly, and Travis Scott, this song hits differently.
Work. We knew a Drake feature was going to appear eventually. Considering we haven't danced yet, track four is as good a place as any. The island vibes are heavy here.
Hard. Rihanna, with the help of Jeezy, had to remind you she's not one to be played with. Can't get close to the halfway point of the album and not have Rihanna remind you at least twice who she is. Between this and Better Have My Money, you now know better.
Birthday Cake. This song is under a minute and thirty seconds long, so we used it as an interlude. This is to transition into another part of the album where we'll take it back a little bit.
Tracks 7-9. Umbrella, Pon de Replay, and Don't Stop the Music are the perfect songs to follow each other. Umbrella is the song that some would say put Rihanna over the top. (At some point we need to talk about how talented a songwriter The Dream is, but now's not the time.) Pon de Replay and Don't Stop the Music take us back to the club. It's been a few songs since Work, and we have to keep the energy up. Don't worry, we'll be back here.
Unfaithful. We had to slow it down. Full disclosure, we were stuck between Stay and Unfaithful. It was a tough decision, but we felt like taking it back with Unfaithful would be a good move at this point in the album.
James Joint. This works as the final interlude before the songs which will close the album. After Unfaithful, the musicality of James Joint is such a good segue. She floats on this.
Needed Me. Here we go again. Rihanna reminding us all of who she. As we begin to close the album, another reminder can't hurt.
We Found Love. Rihanna and Calvin Harris were the connection we never knew we needed. We knew we couldn't finish the album without including this song. Also, it's been three songs since the last uptempo song. We need to keep the listeners engaged!
Only Girl (In the World). This song is a gem. It's high-energy Rihanna. It's just good music. Pulsating, electronic, a deep bassline, and her voice bring it together.
Rude Boy. This is one of those songs that when it comes on, you have to at least nod you're head. Ester Dean was one of the co-writers for this song, and her pen speaks for itself.
Never Ending. As a closing song, this song just resolves it all so nicely. After going through all the emotions that Rihanna's music evokes, ending it here made sense.
That was maybe one of the more difficult projects that we've put together, but going through Rihanna's catalog reminded us how long she's been around and how hard she's worked over the years. We got the length of the album at just under an hour. ANTI was 50 minutes, Unapologetic was 1 hour and 7 minutes. So at 56 minutes, we're somewhere in between the length of her last 2 projects, which isn't too bad.
We've made playlists, and we hope you enjoy listening to the imaginary album we put together just as much as we enjoyed making it!