Rihanna Celebrates Her Record Breaking ‘ANTI’ Album With This Classic Sizzla Track
Bajan superstar Rihanna just made history (again), and as an avid fan of Reggae and Dancehall, she chose a classic Sizzla song to curate the moment on Instagram.
ANTI, the singer-turned-businesswoman’s amorphous 2016 album has officially spent five full years on the Billboard 200 charts. It’s the first album by a black female artist to reach this milestone in the chart’s history, and Sizzla’s Black Woman And Child was used as the soundtrack for Riri’s highlight reel.
Produced by late studio legend Bobby Digital, Black Woman And Child is a booming ode to vilified queens of colour and remains one of Sizzla’s most successful songs/albums to date. “Black woman and child, yeh yeh yeah/ For you I really have so much love/ Dollar bills and coins will fade away/ They could never make I so proud,” Sizzla sings on the track.
The achievement is even more momentous as Women’s History Month wraps up, and Rihanna thanked everyone whose efforts made the incredible accolade possible. “[G]rateful to the most High for putting die hard supporters in my circle 🙏🏿 #Anti #WomensHistoryMonth 💪🏿 congrats to everyone that contributed to this era, thank you team,” she wrote in the Instagram post yesterday.
The 30-second clip comprises stills, tour footage, as well as scenes from Rihanna’s advocacy among students in Malawi.
There’s BTS images of her in-studio and with her favourite child, her IG famous niece Majesty, and we’re reminded that the album’s record-breaking debut was no easy feat.
Despite delays and leaked tracks, ANTI was the best performing album by a black female artist of the 2010s decade selling 11 million units globally and was ranked 7th by Billboard on the Best Album of the 2010s.
Also included is a snippet of Rihanna’s 2016 MTV VMA Work performance, a track that boasts a Richie Stephens sample and patois bars from the Bajan chanteuse. The Dancehall-inspired set which was one of Rih’s last live performances included selector ad-libs and a Filthy Riddim dance breakdown.
Her ‘honorary Jamaican’ status is on show quite often, and the Sizzla selection to commemorate her scorcher suite seems a solid choice. The pair has even collaborated in the past on a remix of Sizzla’s 2003 hit Give Me A Try.
Rihanna told Vanity Fair last year that she’s “always working on new music”, however fans have yet to receive any concrete details on her ever elusive, reggae inspired R9 album.
At this point, it seems our only chance to hear Riri sing again is to catch her in viral clips vibing to her favourite Dancehall tracks.
In recent weeks, she’s made a point of showing out for the culture, from her thirst-trap quote of a line from Popcaan’s song Naked, to turning up with her cousin, singing along with Popcaan’s Silence.
The Loud popstar did leave one lucky fan a clue on what she’s willing to do for her Navy though. When @scxwithari suggested “celebrate by releasing a song”, Rihanna replied “just 1 tho lol”.
Others didn’t fare so well. Another demanding user said “R9 is what we need,” to which the Disturbia crooner savagely replied, “lemme have my moment nuuuhhh??? Lol.”