Rihanna has been the Queen of pop music for a decade now, and no matter how people feel about him, Drake is the most marketable rap star in the game right now. They teamed up for “Work” off of Rihanna’s new full-length release titled “Anti”, and the song would go on to become Rihanna’s 14th #1 Billboard hit.
Work
While not my favorite track off of “Anti”, “Work” is easily the best for radio on the record. The slow rhythmic production is similar to that of Beyoncé’s “XO” off her self-titled album from 2014, and is really a great example of the direction pop music is going right now. Simpler then that of “Here” by Alessia Cara and right along the same lines of Zayn Malik’s “Pillowtalk”, all these songs use the singers voice as the most prominent aspect of the song, while still maintaining the slow-dance feel it was going for. The phrasing of some of the words in the chorus are most certainly an homage to Rihanna’s Bajun heritage; “Meh nuh cyar if him hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurting”, which is a little hard to comprehend at first listen, but is really interesting. She shows off her vocal chops later in the track, as she sings in easily my favorite part of the track “Don’t leave me out here in the streets. If I get another chance to, I will never no never neglect you. I mean who am I to hold your past against you?” Drake comes in later with a smooth R&B-like verse, sung entirely, and different then most of his past features. He gets a good chunk out of the song, and for good reason. Those two have real chemistry, and it comes through even when listening to the track. He sings, “I spilled all my emotions tonight I’m sorry. Rollin, rollin, rollin, rollin, rollin. How many more shots until you rollin?” Nothing complex about it, he just wants this girl to come over and get down with him. It’s a fun, catchy pop song that works so well due to its simplicity. I absolutely love the whole thing, and will be listening to it on constant repeat for the next month.
nwademusic 