There’s Only One Album Rihanna Enjoys Listening To From Her Catalog

Rihanna‘s forthcoming album has been as elusive as Saquon Barkley running on a football field, but her last release Anti has held fans down for over nine years. The 37-year-old singer recently revealed that the January 2016 release is the only album in her catalog that she enjoys listening to.

“I listen to Anti from top to bottom with no shame,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in her cover story published over the weekend. “I used to always have shame. I actually don’t like listening to my music, but Anti—I can listen to the album.” She explained how the distinguishing factor between that album and her others is the fact that she experiences it as if it’s not her vocals; she can just listen.

“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,” Rih added. It’s a sensible feeling, as Anti boasts tracks like “Work” with Drake, “Kiss It Better,” “Needed Me,” and “Close to You.” Revisit it below.

It will be interesting to see if Rihanna feels the same way about her next album, which is still in the works. “I just cracked the code on what I really want to do for my next body of work,” the Barbadian singer said. “I am actually feeling really good about this. I know I kept saying this over the years.” There have been several rumors about the sonic direction of the album, with Harper’s Bazaar citing sources who claimed she would be making a reggae project.

“Way off!” the mother of two empathetically replied. “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.’ 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.”

The face of Fenty hasn’t been completely away from music. In 2022, she shared “Lift Me Up” and “Born Again” from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. In 2020, she joined go-to writer PARTYNEXTDOOR on “Believe It” from his third studio album PARTYMOBILE. She also took over the 2017 summer with DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller on the Santana-sampling “Wild Thoughts.” Watch the music video below.