Rihanna's Album Cover Has A Literal Hidden Message

I feel like I'm going to die peacefully of old age and my soul is going to have floated off to heaven and Rihanna's new album still won't be out — that's how long I've been waiting for this thing. R8 has been talked about for the past year or two at least, and we've had a few singles, sure ("Bitch Better Have My Money" does give me life), but so far, there's still no physical album we can hold in our hands, or even a digital copy we can download from iTunes. We are getting a bit closer to a new Rihanna album, however, as earlier this week she released the album art and announced it would actually be called Anti. The album cover is a beautiful piece of art, but it turns out Anti holds an extra hidden message in braille form, as well.

Why would Rihanna embed braille into her album art? Because what the words mean add an extra depth of beauty to it that will kind of take your breath away. In fact, the braille on Anti's cover is taken from a Chloe Mitchell poem, while seven other pieces of poetry can be found peppered throughout the song pages of the artwork booklet, some by Mitchell and others by Roy Nachum. All of the poetry included is incredibly profound, but it's Mitchell's poetry that's printed on the front cover that we encounter first and which packs the initial punch.

I sometimes fear that I am misunderstood.It is simply because what I want to say,what I need to say, won’t be heard.Heard in a way I so rightfully deserve.What I choose to say is of so much substanceThat people just won’t understand the depth of my message.So my voice is not my weakness,It is the opposite of what others are afraid of.

If that doesn't say Rihanna to you, I don't know what will. To use this poem on the front cover suggests that Anti will be an exploratory album for the artist, one that will require her to delve into new depths of her artistry and come up with a new way of expressing her innermost thoughts. Rihanna knows she's got a major platform to send any message she wants; the question is, what will it be?

The rest of the poetry included in Anti's artwork is also worth reading, and together they help create a complete picture of what Rihanna is aiming for with her new album: honesty, soul, and the unexpected. I don't know about you, but I need to hear it now.