ANTI will be Rihanna’s first album on her new label deal with Roc Nation, which is also her management company, a combination unheard of for a superstar. Her team had previously slated the album to drop on 11/6, but they’ve moved off that date, quite possibly because it won’t be ready in time. 11/13 would seem to be out, due to the double whammy of SYCO/Columbia’s One Direction and Def Jam’s Justin Bieber, both of which were initially projected to sell north of 350k—and while the Bieber projection has been lowered to 300k, the just-released single “Sorry” could reignite the Purpose preorder. Putting things in perspective, although Rihanna’s recent singles haven’t been smashes, possibly lowering the ceiling on ANTI’s first-week, her brand is bigger than ever, and in big-picture terms, her brand is where the big money is.
