Rihanna‘s ‘ANTI’ album arrived amidst a sea of chaos this week. And while a mighty media campaign has been mounted to massage sales, the 27-year-old’s battle against the backlash looks to be an uphill one.
Details below…
As at writing, the project’s fourth-but-apparently-first single ‘Work’ has been bested on US iTunes by Zayn Malik and his debut solo effort ‘Pillow Talk.’
Having launched into the top spot upon release, where it stayed for two days, the diva’s Drake duet now settles for second place after the One Direction star snatched the #1 position.
The climate isn’t altogether better on the album front.
Singer-songwriter Sia‘s sophomore effort ‘This Is Acting’ currently sits above ‘ANTI’ (which was made available to purchase after being free on TIDAL). Both releases are #2 and #3 respectively.
There’s ample irony in this, because ‘Diamonds’ writer Sia has made no secret of the fact that her album is comprised of songs that were written for other artists (including Rihanna) who rejected them.
Now, ain’t that something!
In any case, with a physical edition of ‘ANTI’ due next week, it’ll be interesting to see how – if at all – how it reflects on the project’s commercial standing.