Music
Tidal released Rihanna's new album early by accident
by Jesse Locke
January 28, 2016
Jay Z's streaming service bungled the release, so you can hear it now.
The curious case of Rihanna’s eighth studio album Anti continues.
Following years of delays, premature reviews, weedy side-hustle hoaxes, and bangin’ singles like “Bitch Better Have My Money” (that didn’t even make the cut in the end), it finally arrived on January 27… by accident.
Tidal, the struggling streaming service co-owned by Jay Z, Rihanna, Deadmau5, Madonna, and other members of the music industry Illuminati, only meant to debut her Drake-featuring lead single “Work.” Then, they goofed things up pretty spectacularly by accidentally uploading the entire album. Or so they say.
Though it was only online for approximately 4-5 seconds, that was enough time for eager fans to upload the short song samples to YouTube and screenshot the complete tracklist, which doesn’t include any of the previously released singles (for some reason). Instead, there are collaborations with SZA, Drake, and a somewhat surprising cover of Tame Impala’s “New Person, Same Old Mistakes.”
In a savvy move of either damage control or not-so-sneaky promo, Rihanna and TIDAL are now offering the album as a free gift to “her navy.” Download it by following the instructions below. A deluxe edition featuring three more songs will also be released on January 29.
