The three-year wait for Rihanna’s new album did not disappoint. When Anti suddenly dropped on January 28th, I was initially disappointed to see that I could only listen to it on Tidal a.k.a. the music streaming service no one cares about. However, a few minutes later, Rihanna tweeted out a link to the free download of the album and I was able to snag a copy.

Anti begins with the song “Consideration,” where Rihanna sings “I got to do things my own way darling.” She doesn’t care about how people were pushing her to release an album or trying to persuade her do a certain style of music. “Consideration” sets the tone of the rest of the album because Rihanna truly does do the album in her own way.

The album is one of Rihanna’s most unique because there isn’t a clear made-for-radio song, unlike “Diamonds” or “Only Girl” from previous albums. This makes the album her best yet because Rihanna uses more creative freedom to give the listener a more low-key, personal feeling. Despite the more mellow feeling, Rihanna’s bad girl image stays intact with song like “Woo” and “Higher” where various references are made to drugs and alcohol.

Another surprise is the significant amount of ballads. “Kiss Me Better,” a personal favorite, strays from Rihanna’s usual club-banging music with an 80s feel and major rock guitar. Another ballad, “Love on the Brain” contains mostly Rihanna’s falsetto singing and highlights how she has been practicing her vocals during her hiatus. Anti showcases Rihanna’s vocal abilities and for anyone who thinks that Rihanna can’t sing, listen to this album because this girl can sing.

My one complaint of the album is the length of “Goodnight Gotham,” one of the deluxe tracks. After hyping the song up in her Dior commercial, it’s a disappointment to see that the song is only about one and a half minutes long and contains the lyrics “only if for a night” repeated.

Anti shows that Rihanna should release more music that goes along with her own wishes, instead of releasing music that is catered for radio consumption. After listening to it, I can only continue my dedicated devotion to my goddess Rihanna.