Entertainment, Hip Hop/Rap, Music, Pop, R&B, Television Tags:
Chris Brown,
Diane Sawyer,
music video,
Rihanna,
Russian Roulette,
Women of The Year
Rihanna’s triumphant return to the industry just got a little more risque with clips of her new video, “Russian Roulette” surfacing online. The video, directed by Anthony Mandler, depicts Rihanna undergoing a collage of violence, including images of her underwater riddled with bulletholes.
Mandler says it’s all a metaphor, but eyebrows are naturally being raised in the wake of the Chris Brown abuse scandal.
“I think that with this song and the meaning of this song and how loaded it all is, no pun intended, how much imagery and perhaps symbolism that is loaded in this song, the only way to do it was to do something that was visually challenging,” Mandler told MTV News.
The video premiered on 20/20, this following a series of public appearances from Rihanna who avoided the spotlight since the February incident. Rihanna appeared in a candid interview with Diane Sawyer, in which she revealed details of the attack and the affect it had on her life. Earlier this month, she was recognized by Glamour Magazine as the Woman of the Year.
READ MORE »
When Ne-yo and Rihanna collaborate on tracks, the result is usually pretty spectacular.
Apparently, fans can expect nothing less with their new collaboration, “Russian Roulette.” The Barbadian beauty used the help of co-producer Chuck Harmony for the latest single on her upcoming Rated R album.
According to MTV News, Ne-yo explained that Rihanna specifically requested the song’s somber vibe. “She wanted it to be dark, but not just dark for the sake of dark [...] dark with a kind of meaning, dark with some kind of thing to it.”
The ominous Russian roulette theme is something new for the soulful singer. He called the track “my first ventures off into the fictitious.”
“I’m listening to the track, and all I can see is Rihanna and some random person sitting across from each other at the table with a gun sitting in the middle of the table and playing Russian roulette,” he explained. “And I just started thinking, ‘What would go through your mind if you was in that situation?’ It just all started coming together, and Rihanna has never been one to be afraid to take a chance, especially with me. She’s always game to do something a little different. I played it for her, and she loved it — went in and knocked it out. The rest is history.”
READ MORE »
