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Our list looks at the Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Anti Album. This is Rihanna’s eighth album. The project came out in 2016. This album showcased the singer’s mature side. She talked about endearment, desire and relationships. She covered being independent as well. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 charts. Anti is the second album Rihanna recorded that peaked at number one. The album spent 300 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts. The album sold over three million copies. The album features the singles “Work,” “Kiss It Better,” “Needed Me” and “Love on the Brain.” “Work” peaked at number one on the singles charts.
Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Anti Album
# 1 – Consideration ft. Sza
The first song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Anti Album is “Consideration.” The song has an r&b and hip-hop beat. The song is about independence and wanting to speak her mind. She wants the world to know that she is in control of her career. She wants the world to know her worth as an artist and a businesswoman. Rihanna felt like she was being held back artistically. She didn’t think anyone would let her grow. She had to stand on her own. The singer is through acting the way people want her to act. She wants to declare her independence.
The artist had changed labels and wanted the world to notice that she wants to be in control. The artist wanted to have her own version of Janet Jackson’s hit song “Control.” The singer wanted to do things her way. When artists feel like their labels or their managers are controlling them, they write songs like this one. She wanted to flex her creative muscles and prove she could do things her way. Here is some trivia about the song. This track was meant to be Sza’s song, but Rihanna wanted the song for her album. She made the right choice because song sold over one million copies.
# 2 – James Joint
The next song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Anti Album is “James Joint.” The song has an r&b beat. “James Joint” isn’t a full song. The track is an interlude. The song is a mystery. It could be a song to her lover or it could be a song about weed. It’s up to the listeners to decide who or what this song is about. The song could be about both things. This could be an anthem for people who smoked marijuana. The song is a little over one minute long. Here is some trivia about the song. The song got its title because it’s named after one of the writers of the track.
# 3 – Kiss It Better
The track has a rock, pop and r&b beat. This is the second single from the album. “Kiss It Better” is about an unstable relationship that she can’t resist. The artist talks about wanting to make up with her boyfriend and get back together. She knows it’s wrong to be in the relationship, but she can’t help. She tells her boyfriend that she wants to get back together with him. She’s willing to use sex to get him back in her life. Rihanna doesn’t explain what “it” means, but it’s not hard to get what she means. She lets him know that she’s not happy when he’s gone. She wants him to come back. The “Umbrella” singer wants him to know that she’s addicted to his love.
Rihanna wants him to swallow his pride and take her back because he was affected by the break up as well. He’s not sure he wants to take her back because of what happened between them. The point of the song is about regretting ending a relationship and realizing too late that was what you needed. This song is an example of not knowing what you have until it’s gone. The song made it to number one on the dance charts. The single sold over two million copies.
# 4 – Work ft. Drake
The song has a dance, reggae pop and r&b beat. This is the first single from the album. “Work” is about her wanting a deeper connection with her boyfriend. She feels the man she’s with is only interested in the physical side of their relationship. She tells him that he doesn’t treat her the way she should be treated. The singer lets him know everything she’s done for him, but he hasn’t shown her any love in return. She is upset because he’s not giving her the love she’s giving him. She feels their relationship is just based on sex. She demands that he change that mindset.
Drake’s verse is about fixing everything that’s wrong with the relationship. He wants to go out of a date. He believes it’s their busy schedules that’s keeping them apart. They also talk about working on this song. They want to get their checks on the track. The track has an interpolation of Alexander O’Neal’s hit single “If You Were Here Tonight.” The song peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts. The song sold over one million copies.
# 5 – Desperado
The next song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Anti Album is “Desperado.” The song has a trap country beat. The song is a metaphor to describe a man who is on the run. He is hard to be with because of his nature. She wants to go away with him, but she’s afraid he will leave her later on. Despite her fear, she’s willing to give up everything to be with him. Both of them had their hearts broken and can’t love or trust anyone else. Rihanna wants them to make their relationship work. Basically, the song is about isolating yourself. She wrestles with whether or not she should stay or go. The song wasn’t released but it reached to number one on the charts. The single sold three million copies worldwide.
# 6 – Woo
This song has a trap beat. This track is about a jealous woman who wants her ex-boyfriend to come back to her. She doesn’t like his new girlfriend. She is jealous of their relationship, and wants his new relationship to fail. She reminds her ex that she’s the only one who loves him. She wants someone to send for her so she can get her ex back. Rihanna wants him back because she’s been suffering without him in her life. She also thinks his new girlfriend doesn’t satisfy him the way she did. She believes that she’s the only one who can make him happy.
The singer begins the song talking about no one hurting him the way she did. She also talks about how the women in his life won’t make him happy the way she did. She flirts with her ex during the first half of the song. She tries to convince him to come back to her. She changes her tune by the end of the song. She realizes that she doesn’t love him the way she thought. She lets him know that she’s done with him. Rihanna doesn’t care about him anymore. We don’t know if we believe that, but she has herself convinced that she’s finished with him after all.
# 7 – Needed Me
The track has an r&b beat. This is the third single from the Anti album. The artist talks about using men and throwing them away when she’s done with them. She gets rid of a clingy guy by badmouthing his ability to please her in bed. She considers herself empowered and doesn’t need men. She thinks they need her. She doesn’t need to have an emotional connection to guys. A man made the mistake of thinking that she was in love with him. He thought she loved him as much as he loved her. He found out the hard way that he was just another man she was playing around with and that was it. She makes him understand that he needed her. The situation wasn’t the other way around.
He became too attached to her so she broke his heart by being honest. She let him know that he didn’t mean anything to her. The singer and songwriter feels like guys need too much attention, but she can’t always provide that for them. She is too busy to give them what they want. The kiss off anthem became her 29th Top 10 hit single. “Needed Me” made her tie with Michael Jackson for the third most Hot 100 hits. This song was picked as one of the best selling singles of 2016. The single sold over seven million copies.
# 8 – Yeah, I Said It
The song has a trap beat. The ballad is a sexually charged song about her wanting her man to explore different parts of her body when they are having sex. She wants to see her man’s body. This track gives the “Take a Bow” singer a chance to show her sexy side. This song is one of the raunchiest songs on the album. Rihanna goes into detail about what she wants him to do to her. She wants to have rough sex. At one point in the song, she wants him to “homicide it.” We don’t have to tell you what that means. She wants him to “murder” her private parts. She wants to have a sexual relationship without any strings attached. There aren’t too many female artists who tackle this subject.
# 9 – Same Ol’ Mistakes
The song has a psychedelic sound. The track is about her reflecting on people judging the way she lives her life. She lets the listeners know that she rejects the criticism that she faces. She covered Tame Impala’s song “New Person, Same Old Mistakes.” She changed the title of the song, but she stayed true to everything else. She wanted to make the song her own by changing her interpretation of the track. She wanted to embrace change even if she finds herself making the same mistakes in life. Rihanna heard the song and had a member of her production team call to find out if she could record it. Kevin Parker was more than happy to let her record the song. He was happy with the way the song turned out.
# 10 – Never Ending
The next song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Anti Album is “Never Ending.” The song has a folk sound. “Never Ending” is about the singer being on drugs. People think the track is a love song because she talks about love in the lyrics. She also mentions that she is hesitant about falling in love again, which also made people think the song is about love. The track is not a love song. It’s a song about drugs. The writer wrote the song while he was high on drugs. He added a romantic element to the song so people could relate to the track.
# 11 – Love On The Brain
The song doo-wop and soul beat. This is the fourth single from the album. The song is about the ups and downs of a relationship. She talks about a toxic relationship. She indicates that the boyfriend in the song is violent towards her. The song has dark lyrics so critics and fans thought the track might possibly be about her relationship with Chris Brown. They had a domestic fight that was revealed to the media. She makes comments about being hit by love. The artist discusses the black and blue marks she had.
She also talks about how love was able to do a good job in the bedroom. “Love” symbolizes the person who she can’t get off her mind. The people behind the song wanted it to have an old school feel. They wanted it to have an old-school sound with updated lyrics. They were inspired to write this song by listening to Prince and Al Green. The single peaked at number five on the Hot 100 singles charts, number three on the r&b and hip-hop charts, and number one on the dance charts. This song became her 22nd Top five hit and her 30th Top 10 hit. The single sold over five million copies.
# 12 – Higher
The song has a blues sound. The song is about a woman who wants her man to come over while she’s drinking. They get into an argument before she starts drinking. She turns to drinking to help get over their argument. She believes that everything will be okay once she’s drunk. She needs him to come over and make things better. She longs for her man to be with her. The song was going to be an interlude because it’s about two minutes long. “Higher” contains a sample of the song “Beside You” by the group the Soulful Strings. The song wasn’t released as a single, but it did go on to sell over 500,000 copies in the United States.
# 13 – Close to You
The last song on our list of the Real Meaning Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Anti Album is “Close to You.” The song has an r&b sound. The ballad is about a woman who still cares about her boyfriend despite what happened in the relationship. She talks about how she feels about the end of their relationship. She loves him even though he is distancing himself from her. The artist doesn’t want to let him go even though he’s on the verge of walking out on her. Listeners think this song is the sequel to her song “Stay” which was about her relationship with singer Chris Brown. The singer goes into detail about how much the guy means to her and that she doesn’t want to lose him.
Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Anti Album article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2022
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