RIHANNA GETS TO WORK (UPDATE)

After much anticipation and numerous false starts, it appears that Rihanna’s ANTI will be released this week. The Westbury Road/Roc Nation release is spearheaded by a single featuring Drake, "Work," which went to radio today. Listen here. The song is now trending #31 at Rhythm.

"Work" initially appeared on Tidal but showed up on Apple Music and iTunes around 10am ET., flying to #1 on the overall singles chart in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, France and more than 80 other markets.

Spotify also has the single, but it's flagged as “paid tier only,” meaning it’s Spotify’s decision to hold it back, not Roc Nation’s. The conjecture is that doing it this way gives Tidal an advantage without hurting Rihanna at iTunes/Apple Music (Coldplay being a previous Tidal-artist example). How Tidal's apparent momentary leak of the album will affect the debut remains to be seen.

The new set had no prior big hits to drive its retail bow. It's expected to be digital-only on release day with physical a week later, leading handicappers to forecast first-week sales below those of her previous albums. (Sources also say prior singles like "American Oxygen" and “Bitch Better Have My Money” will likely not be included.)

Still, between radio, the Grammys and her Super Bowl tie-in, she should get a big enough look to move the needle.

How big will Tidal's role be on the album release? Much speculation surrounds Riri’s $30 million Samsung deal, but so far, the tech giant doesn't seem to have any exclusive content or other advantage outside of the ANTI App, which was released in November. Watch this space for updates.

listening to ANTI 🎈 pic.twitter.com/AgqlhU0GEz

— Rihanna (@rihanna) January 25, 2016