Rihanna Says Listening to 'Anti' Is an 'Out of Body Experience'

Rihanna says listening to her own 2016 album Anti is an “out of body experience.”

The singer revealed in her recent Harper's Bazaar cover story how she feels about her eighth studio album.

“I listen to Anti from top to bottom with no shame,” she said. “I used to always have shame. I actually don’t like listening to my music, but Anti—I can listen to the album. It’s like it’s not me singing it, if I’m just listening to it."

She continued, “That’s the one album that I can have an out-of-body experience where it’s not like … You know when you hear your voice in a voicemail, and it’s like, ‘Ugh.'"

Rihanna also explained how listening to the LP from “top to bottom” is helping her steer the direction of her long-awaited album R9.

“I think music is my freedom. I just came to that realization,” the singer explained. “I just cracked the code on what I really want to do for my next body of work. I am actually feeling really good about this. I know I kept saying this over the years.”

Later on, Rihanna debunked the rumor that R9 was shaping up to be a reggae album, which spawned from her mentioning in 2018 that it's influenced by Bob Marley.

“Way off! There’s no genre now. That’s why I waited. Every time, I was just like, ‘No, it’s not me. It’s not right. It’s not matching my growth. It’s not matching my evolution. I can’t do this. I can’t stand by this. I can’t perform this for a year on tour,’” she said. “After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears. It has to count. It has to matter.

“I have to show them the worth in the wait,” she continued. “I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more.”

Her interview wasn’t all about R9. Rihanna also spoke about her relationship with ASAP Rocky and what she believes is the “greatest thing” about the father of her children.

“His pureness. His charm. I’m annoyed because my sons sometimes just live for him more than they live for me,” she explained. “And I’m like, ‘Did you know who cooked you? Do you know who pushed you out?’ And they love him, but when I see it, oh, it’s the best.”