Why was Rihanna's 'Anti' snubbed for album of the year Grammy?

Rihanna was snubbed for the category of album of the year in the 59th Annual Grammy Awards nominations announced Tuesday. Fans were shocked that her album Anti wasn't nominated for album of the year, when albums by Adele, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Drake and Sturgill Simpson were.

Popular among critics and fans

Shortly after its release, Anti jumped to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. According to Spin, the album also was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album was downloaded more than 1.4 million times within 15 hours of it dropping on Tidal.

Anti's standout singles include "Work," "Kiss It Better," "Needed Me" and "Love on the Brain." "Work," which features Drake, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album won the award for favorite soul/R&B album at the 2016 American Music Awards, over Beyoncé's Lemonade and Bryson Tiller's TRAPSOUL.

Per the official Anti credits, Rihanna served as the album's executive producer. While Kuk Harrell produced the album's vocal production, Rihanna also worked with producers Jeff Bhasker, Boi-1da, DJ Mustard and others.

Overall, the album received general positive reviews from critics, with a Metacritic score of 73. Midway through the year, Rolling Stone declared Anti one of the "45 best albums of 2016 so far." Staff writer Brittany Spanos dubbed it a "sprawling masterpiece of psychedelic soul," adding that "after more than a decade as a superstar of the singles chart, Rihanna has become an album artist."

Other Grammy nominations

Though Rihanna wasn't nominated for album of the year, she did snag eight nominations. Anti was nominated for best urban contemporary album and best recording package. Other nominations include record of the year ("Work," featuring Drake), best pop duo/group performance ("Work," featuring Drake), best rap song ("Famous," by Kanye West featuring Rihanna), best rap/sung performance ("Famous," by Kanye West featuring Rihanna), best R&B song ("Kiss It Better") and best R&B performance ("Needed Me").

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