Following the release of Rihanna 's seventh studio album , '' Unapologetic '' ( 2012 ) and its accompanying tour , the singer aimed to take a hiatus from recording music . She stated , " I wanted to have a year to just do whatever I want artistically , creatively . " However , the hiatus did not last long and after a week she returned to the studio . During the initial writing and development of the album , Rihanna was n't sure how she wanted '' Anti '' to sound . Ultimately , she decided she wanted " honest " music and a body of work that reflected and represented her at that time . However , the singer stated that during the recording process she was evolving and she did n't have the answer of who she was at that point . According to her , she was feeling disconnected from her emotions and " numb " during the album 's conception . During her creative struggle , Rihanna rented a house in Malibu over a couple of months and started extensively writing and composing music with her team consisting of various musicians . Reflecting on this Rihanna stated : In May 2014 , it was announced that Rihanna had left Def Jam Recordings to sign fully with her manager Jay-Z 's company Roc Nation , and later revealed she had acquired the masters to all her recordings and would be releasing her eighth studio album jointly through her own record label Westbury Road and Roc Nation . On February 8 , 2015 , during his Grammy Awards red carpet interview , American rapper Kanye West announced that he will be the executive producer of '' Anti '' . West further compared Rihanna 's vocals on the song to Scottish singer Annie Lennox : " I feel like she has this type of energy in her vocals . And she even brought it to another level of like soul and heart and artistry " . However , in January 2016 , in a Twitter reply message to a fan , Rihanna wrote that West is no longer executive producer of the album and both of them are working on different projects . Instead , Rihanna served as the executive producer of '' Anti '' and worked with several producers
Grammy Awards
57th Annual Grammy Awards
Anti (album)