If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Rihanna is pretty damn tired of people picking on her ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown. Though the world won’t let go of Chris Brown’s previous sentence for her assault, Rihanna seems to have moved on. Just over a week ago, there were rumors of her and Brown reuniting at the pre-Grammy party followed by speculation that they were recording together.
Turns out those rumors were true, as they released two songs online featuring each other. Rihanna’s “Birthday Cake” and Brown’s new single “Turn Up the Music” are a surprise for some people who thought they severed all ties after the assault. Somehow though, I’m not surprised — it seemed to be coming.
On Monday, Brown wished Rihanna a happy birthday on Twitter. When she asked who wanted a cake he quickly replied “YIKES!!! Cake, cake, cake!” and a link to a remix of the song “Birthday Cake.”
Of course, rumors followed that the two are back together. I understand that the assault happened three years ago and that the media can spin a story from what actually happened. But I also know enough about the situation to know that these new songs leave me a little uneasy.
Brown was convicted for beating Rihanna until she was bleeding and unconscious in a rental car. In most professions, private life and public life are separate but when it comes to entertainment it seems to be inseparable. A lot of girls look up to Rihanna as a strong independent woman, but her flippant and public behaviour seems contradictory to the severity of the assault.
Billboard reports the duo were pressured to keep the song private. Instead, they put it up on Twitter and Rihanna remarked: “They can say whatever, Ima do wahtever… No pain is forever <—– YUP! YOU KNOW THIS.”
Brown tweeted “Let them be mad!!!!! We make music. Don’t like it, don’t listen! Turn up the music remix is coming soon too! Guess who’s on it?”
We’ll let you decide what you think about the songs for yourself.
Birthday Cake
Turn Up the Music
I know we’re all on a Chris Brown-hating rampage, but we do have to take a moment to admire the guy’s dance skills in his new video for Turn Up The Music.
The video, which was co-directed by Godfrey Tabarez and Brown himself, starts with him drinking booze out of a brown paper bag, hopping into a hoover-cab (yes a hoover cab) and asking to be taken to the best spot in town. Brown is definitely hopped up on something because everyone at the club is wearing animal masks.
Then we move on to the synchronized, Matrix-esque dance portion of the video. His moves are a mixture of Michael Jackson (of course) and even Justin Bieber’s Somebody to Love video ran through our heads at the andPOP offices.
What do you think of the video?
