5 Ways Rihanna's 'ANTI' Reminds Us She Plays By Her Own Rules

RiRi don't play... unless it's her own game.

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ANTI-Conforming - Time and time again, Rihanna does what she wants, while us common folk take notes.After royally guarding her highly anticipated album the past couple of years — with all of us glued on every move she makes — Rihanna’s eighth studio album has finally arrived. Much like everything else Rihanna does, ANTI reminds us that she permanently wears the you-do-you crown, and it’s hella lavish.Here are five ways Rih reigns, once again. —KC Orcutt(Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for DirecTV)

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ANTI-Social Experiment - Rihanna straight up tells us to expect nothing else from her, with the line, “I got to do things my own way, darling,” on the opening track, “Consideration,” featuring SZA. The album already has critics dubbing the project her “experimental phase,” but Rihanna’s commitment to doing something different throughout the 13-track collection already is one of the strong points of the album. Not mad.(Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Free-99 - She gave it to us for free — with the obvious download code of the album’s name, ANTI. Hours after the first single dropped, the whole album was haphazardly posted to streaming site Tidal with someone jumping on the mistake immediately and leaking it before it was taken down. Not too long after that, Tidal re-released the album with Rihanna embracing the early release in a Beyoncé fashion. Originally slated to come out next week, there’s no point in taking it back, as we may as well have an official version over a pirated one. Rihanna shrug.(Photo: Roc Nation)

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Free-99 - She gave it to us for free — with the obvious download code of the album’s name, ANTI. Hours after the first single dropped, the whole album was haphazardly posted to streaming site Tidal with someone jumping on the mistake immediately and leaking it before it was taken down. Not too long after that, Tidal re-released the album with Rihanna embracing the early release in a Beyoncé fashion. Originally slated to come out next week, there’s no point in taking it back, as we may as well have an official version over a pirated one. Rihanna shrug.(Photo: Roc Nation)

Hear Ri, Hear Ri! - Rihanna casually rocks half-a-year’s worth of average New York City rent in the form of headphones, lest we not forget. In a photo posted on January 25, fans immediately recognized the jeweled headphones, complete with a crown, as made by Dolce & Gabbana and decked out in Swarovski crystals in collaboration with audio company Frends. Naturally, the $8,895 headphones, handmade in Italy, sold out within a day online, with Rihanna racking up over 160,000 retweets on Twitter. Just another day as queen, nbd.(Photo: Rihanna via Twitter)

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Hear Ri, Hear Ri! - Rihanna casually rocks half-a-year’s worth of average New York City rent in the form of headphones, lest we not forget. In a photo posted on January 25, fans immediately recognized the jeweled headphones, complete with a crown, as made by Dolce & Gabbana and decked out in Swarovski crystals in collaboration with audio company Frends. Naturally, the $8,895 headphones, handmade in Italy, sold out within a day online, with Rihanna racking up over 160,000 retweets on Twitter. Just another day as queen, nbd.(Photo: Rihanna via Twitter)

Rihanna, Unapologetic - Rihanna—or her songwriters, at least—addresses her roller-coaster relationship with Chris Brown head on with her most personal work yet. She experiments boldly with dub-step, pop balladry and electronica, but still manages to deliver a focused, consistent album, possibly her best.  (Photo: DEF Jam Records)

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ANTI-Apologetic - She took her time to get here, breaking her own tradition of releasing new studio full-length albums essentially each year since her 2005 debut. ANTI is her first release since 2012’s Unapologetic and featured one of the most seemingly unending roll-out campaigns, including the announcement of a massive world tour, rumored release dates essentially from the beginning of 2015-onward and most recently, an eight-part series, #ANTIdiaRy, sponsored by Samsung and earning the performer $25 million.(Photo: Def Jam Recordings)

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Solo Dolo (Sort Of) - ANTI lives up to its name. It’s not feature heavy, it’s not full of the expected, typical radio-friendly bangers and her four latest singles from 2015 aren’t on it. Again, Rihanna does what she wants. Raising eyebrows was the decision to not include “B***h Better Have My Money,” “American Oxygen,” “FourFiveSeconds,” or “Only If for a Night,” with Rihanna herself declaring “Work” as the first single off the album. SZA and Drake are the only two guest features on the album, with Rihanna delivering a variety of vocal flavoring throughout, balancing her eclectic range with forward-thinking atmospheric production, a touch of vintage soul and several dancehall-inspired moments.(Photo: Mr. Blayze, PacificCoastNews)