Jay Z's Tidal music streaming service scored a coup of sorts when it exclusively debuted Rihanna's latest single "Work", featuring Drake. The streamer then flubbed when it accidentally leaked the singer's entire upcoming "Anti" album, before quickly removing it from access.
"Work" isn't the immediate hook-laden pop hit many of the singer's fans may have been hoping for. Instead, a subdued Rihanna sings the chorus over a lazy dancehall beat, with Drake chiming in for an uneventful verse of his own. While the song is technically debuting on Tidal exclusively, non-members can access it for on-demand listening as well, making the touted "exclusivity" something of a misnomer.
While curious fans will surely be driven to the streamer's splash page, whether they will actually be enticed into joining Tidal remains to be seen. Rihanna was among the parade of superstar partners in the service trumpeted during its debut last April, and is famously close to Jay-Z, the majority owner of Tidal.
With the singers long awaited "Anti" album set to debut any day now, Tidal went ahead and gave away the goods by accidentally releasing the album briefly along with the track list for the collection. The 13-song list does not contain any of the three singles that Rihanna released last year, which were originally intended for the disc. Last January, she released an acoustic jam, "FourFiveSeconds," with Kanye West and Paul McCartney, the trap-influenced "Bitch Better Have My Money" in March, and the downbeat "American Oxygen" which was produced by West and debuted on Tidal in April.
While "FourFiveSeconds" was a hit, the latter two singles failed to meet expectations considering Rihanna's star power and chart topping history, with "American Oxygen" peaking at an extremely disappointing number 78 on Billboard's Hot 100. The album was delayed several times, and then when its debut seemed firmly pegged for November, Adele fever struck worldwide and caused Rihanna and her label to postpone "Anti" once again. Though no specific release date has been announced, it is now widely expected to finally be officially released as early as this week.
