Rihanna Marks The One-Year ‘ANTiversary’ Of Her ‘Anti’ Album With Never Before Seen Photos On Instagram

Rihanna is taking some time to celebrate the one-year anniversary release of her eighth studio album, Anti, on social media, taking to Instagram on January 28 to share several behind-the-scenes photos of “the making of” her double-platinum album with the hashtag, “ANTiversary.”

Just days after learning that two additional tracks off of her Anti album had reached platinum status, Rihanna took to Instagram to share three never-before-seen photos of herself in the process of recording her eighth studio album under the hashtag, “ANTiversary,” to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the release of her chart-topping album.

“the making of….Happy #ANTiversary,” Rihanna wrote in the caption of her first Anti-related Instagram post alongside a photo of herself smoking in front of a fireplace while donning a black-and-grey ensemble.

In her second Instagram post, Rihanna can be seen kicking back in the recording studio while donning camouflage pants and a casual white T-shirt, captioning the black-and-white shot with, “the making of……#ANTiversary.”

Similarly, Rihanna took to the site to share a third photo of herself in the process of recording for Anti, this time seen donning a pair of chic cat-eye sunglasses, a red flannel, and a Pulp Fiction T-shirt as she casually sips from a tea cup. Rihanna captioned her final photo with a simple, “#ANTiversary” and a red balloon-emoji, which became a symbol for the songstress’ eighth studio album release as a nod to the cover art for her Anti album.

In 2015, Rihanna hosted a top-secret album artwork reveal for Anti at the MAMA Gallery in Los Angeles, where journalists were invited to take part in the unveiling of the Roy Nachum-created artwork for her highly anticipated album. Despite having not offered up any details regarding the release date or track listing for her then yet-to-be-released project, Rihanna was seen holding a red balloon in several promotional shots from the event as a nod to Anti‘s unique, braille-inspired cover art.

Rihanna made history with the release of the album via Tidal’s music streaming service last year. Anti became the fastest album to ever reach platinum certification by the RIAA, and fans expressed their outrage earlier this year after they learned that the album had been snubbed by the Grammys for an Album of the Year nomination. The snub prompted Rihanna to speak out against rumors suggesting that she dissed Beyoncé for having received a nomination for her latest release, Lemonade.

After rumors began circulating suggesting that Rihanna dissed Beyoncé by “liking” a fan’s Instagram post that seemingly shaded Beyoncé’s Album of the Year nomination, Rihanna later took to the fan’s post to explain her confusion over the rumored diss while encouraging fans to not pit black women against one another.

Rihanna clears everything up with this comment. It’s all love. ?????? pic.twitter.com/2FTHYsFSIf

— Rihanna Capital (@Rihanna_Capital) December 7, 2016

“I never actually read your caption, thought the pic was funny and moved right along! Til I seen it pop up over and over! I’m petty af, yes. But this is just unnecessary!” Rihanna explained via Instagram, as captured by a fan on Twitter.

“I wish y’all would drop this topic and see things from the bigger picture! We don’t need to be putting black women against each other! We deserve to be celebrated, and the Grammy Academy agrees!” Rihanna concluded her statement.

Despite not receiving an Album of the Year nomination from the Grammys for Anti, the album is nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Recording Package, while several of Anti‘s lead singles, including “Work,” “Needed Me,” and “Kiss it Better,” are nominated in categories such as Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best R&B Performance, and Best R&B Song, respectively.

In addition, Rihanna recently celebrated the news of “Love on the Brain” and “Sex With Me” having reached platinum status, despite Anti having been released one year ago on Instagram. She took to the site to share the good news with followers, while also thanking fans for their continued support.

“So proud to find out that 2 more songs from my *balloon emoji* #ANTI album have gone platinum….#SEXwithME and #LOTB,” Rihanna began in her post.

Rihanna continued,”…in addition to #Work going 5x platinum, even though it’s a year old. I can’t thank God enough for the immense support that you guys show me!! One Love always.”

According to Billboard, the addition of “Sex With Me” and “Love on the Brain” to Rihanna’s ever-growing collection of top 10’s on Billboard’s Top Radio Songs airplay chart has further widened the gap between Rihanna and runner-up Mariah Carey for the most number of top 10 songs since the chart’s launch in 1990, with Rihanna currently holding the top spot with 28 top 10 songs since the beginning of her career.

While fans continue to celebrate Rihanna’s Anti with the hashtag “#ANTiversary” on social media, it doesn’t appear that fans will have to wait long for another studio release from the “FourFiveSeconds” songstress. Last year, Rihanna hinted that she has already begun work on her ninth studio album, currently tentatively dubbed “R9” by fans, although Rihanna has yet to offer a release date for the upcoming project.

What do you think of Rihanna’s behind-the-scenes photos from her one-year “ANTiversary” of Anti?

UPDATE: Later Saturday evening, Rihanna took to her personal Instagram account to share a lengthy message regarding the one-year “ANTiversary” of her Anti album, revealing, “Looking back to 1 year ago…..I released my most anticipated album to date #ANTi….”

Rihanna continued, “When I started making this album I never would have imagined how much of a challenge the process would be. I was evolving in the midst of making a body of art that was supposed to reflect who I was in that moment, yet it was the very answer I didn’t have!”

“I was numb for a while…numb to all the bull**** and numb to all the good s***. But I was determined not to settle for what everybody thought this should be, or when they thought it should come, or how! I stuck to it until I felt something again!” Rihanna explained.

The songstress continued by recalling the recording process for Anti, noting that the project came together while in Malibu, “And I remember like it was yesterday, the night it happened! We rented a house in Malibu for a couple months and did MUSIC! Every room, every couch, every corner, there was musicians everywhere, the whole Fenty Corp, the best times!”

“1 night we vibing, TyTy made a comment, and I got super sensitive, lolol! Then I thought, ‘hold up, did I just feel a way?? Did I just FEEL???!!’ It was in that moment that I trusted myself, trusted my ear, trusted my gut, trusted the way that my music made me FEEL!!! I had no idea how it would be received, neither was that something that I considered. I just wanted to make a body of work that felt right!” Rihanna wrote.

Rih continued by thanking her fans, calling them “the most beautiful, loyal fans that anyone would kill to have,” before going on to thank “every single person that was a part of the process” in recording the album, from “sound to aesthetic.”

“To have the support of so many, with the enthusiasm that we shared for ‘Anti’ felt like such a reward! I cannot thank you enough for loving her the way that you do! And to every single person that was a part of the process from sound to aesthetic, thank you and I cherish you! May the Glory be to God! I actually hate long captions, I know u can’t tell but i don’t care *balloon emoji* #ANTiversary,” Rihanna concluded.

[Featured Image by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]