Updated: 10 p.m. EST: Not wanting to close the barn door after the horse has fled, Tidal has now officially re- (rih-?) released the album. The move comes mere hours after pirates uploaded the album to streaming sites after the original, inadvertent, upload. Rihanna has inadvertently taken the strategy made most famous by Beyoncé, by just releasing a surprise album to combat leaks.
Original post, published at 9:45 p.m. EST, follows.
Ironic that the Rihanna Navy will engage in piracy to get their digital hands on her new project, but such is life in 2016.
Mere hours after the first single off Rihanna’s hotly anticipated new album dropped, the whole album has leaked. Rihanna’s Anti will be her first album since 2012, but it wasn’t scheduled to come out until next week. Apparently someone at Tidal had other ideas, as they inadvertently posted the whole thing before hurriedly snatching it back from online.
But some resourceful web pirates weren’t about to let it go that easily. Billboard reports that the album hit the ‘net at around 7 p.m. EST. Interestingly, the presumed first three singles — "FourFiveSeconds" featuring Kanye West and Paul McCartney, "American Oxygen," and "Bitch Better Have My Money" — are nowhere to be found.
Rihanna herself teased the album with this image, which caused a huge run on $9,000 headphones. “Work,” her new single with Drake, tops the iTunes charts. No doubt this album will be huge, but will it be swept under by Kanye’s Waves?
The following appears to be the tracklist for Rihanna's Anti, but Roc Nation hasn’t yet confirmed that it’s official:
1. Consideration (feat. SZA)
2. James Joint
3. Kiss It Better
4. Work (feat. Drake)
5. Desperado
6. Woo
7. Needed Me
8. Yeah, I Said It
9. Same Ol' Mistakes
10. Never Ending
11. Love on the Brain
12. Higher
13. Close to You
2. James Joint
3. Kiss It Better
4. Work (feat. Drake)
5. Desperado
6. Woo
7. Needed Me
8. Yeah, I Said It
9. Same Ol' Mistakes
10. Never Ending
11. Love on the Brain
12. Higher
13. Close to You