Song of the Day: Rihanna “James Joint”

I recently listened to an entire Rihanna album from end to end for the very first time. Yes I’m aware that she’s sold truckloads of records and dominated the pop charts over eight albums released in a decade. But while I dutifully kept track of her hits for my DJ purposes, I’ve never felt compelled to actually listen, until she dropped Anti last month and “James Joint” jumped out at me from the second track.

As some astute critics have noted, Anti is the music you make when you’ve blown up so huge that you can step out of the carefully groomed hit making fortress that has been built around you. “James Joint” is my favorite example of the more muted sonic textures, smarter chord changes and nuanced vocals present on this record. If you only know her hits, you’re head scratching about this album while I’m head nodding.

Song of the Day: Rihanna “James Joint”