In 2016, Rihanna allegedly only sold 460 physical copies of her album ❝ANTI❞
in its first week, and she received quite the dragging.
Rihanna's roll-out for ❝ANTI❞ was quite the messy affair to be honest. Teaming up with Samsung to promote their new range of Galaxy mobiles, Rihanna served up an interactive fan experience with ANTI diaRy. Eight different ❝rooms❞ had to be unlocked to get hints about new music. The promotion ran on for nine weeks starting in November 2015. There was quite a delay between the eighth and final room being unlocked. Once completed, ANTI's first single, ❝Work❞ featuring Drake was FINALLY released.
The frustrations did not stop there either. The album was leaked briefly on Tidal ahead of schedule, yet the RIAA had already given the project a platinum certification that same month. Samsung, which Rihanna signed a $25 million deal with, bought 1 million copies of the album before its release. Those albums were soon given away as free downloads. Its immediate availability for free download on Tidal meant the record wasn't eligible for the chart until it became available on iTunes and other streaming services.
It eventually debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200 with 15,896 album equivalent units (460 pure album sales allegedly + 4,239,279 streams). Fast forward to 2021 and Rihanna gets the last laugh. All 13 tracks from the standard edition of ‘ANTI’ are now certified Gold or higher in the United States. The RIAA has just updated Rihanna's US certifications. Take a look at the newly certified songs below.
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