As a former card-carrying member of the Rihanna Navy, the past several months have been difficult for me. It was originally so easy to dismiss rumors of a Chris Brown reunion as revolting tabloid fodder, until she remix-sixty-nined with him and proceeded to appear onstage with him at the MTV VMAs earlier this month.
Maybe I take domestic abuse too seriously! Alas, knowing that Rihanna’s “forgiven” Brown in some way, shape or form has tainted her music for me. I can’t wave my hands like I just don’t care to “We Found Love”, because I’m haunted by images of her bruised face juxtaposed with images of Chris Brown happily accepting a Grammy award for his subpar not-even-real-R&B album F.A.M.E.
It kills me that the world allows him to have a career, and it kills me even more that I’m told I should be over it by now. In a very small way, it kills me that I’m not over it… Is there something wrong with me? If the rest of the world has forgiven Brown, should I drop this (very reasonable) grudge? Unclear!
I’m getting way off topic at this point, so let’s just stick to the basics—Rihanna premiered her latest single “Diamonds” this week. The Sia-penned track is a departure from the dancefloor anthems we’ve come to associate with her, which is slightly refreshing in a market oversaturated with mindless club tunes… But, uh, is it any good? I’ll let you be the judge.
::sigh::
– Dewitt
Click through for the music video and the sort-of-famous SNL performance:
Official video:
Performance on Saturday Night Live:
No, no it is not good.
Dewitt, I also have very complicated feelings when it comes to Rihanna. I find it really distressing that she has forgiven Chris Brown, but as a child of domestic violence I completely understand it. Rihanna claims that she doesn’t want to be seen as a victim, but that is exactly what she is and until she gets real help that’s what she’ll always be.
The fact is, no one should be over it be now. Chris Brown should never have won a Grammy or be performing at awards shows. What message does this send? That beating up a woman is OK? The sad fact is, this sends the message that violence against women is OK. As far as I’m concerned the people who have forgiven Chris Brown and continue to buy his music are the ones with the problem and they should seriously reconsider their value system.
As far as Rihanna’s music is concerned, I still listen it to it and support her. Like I said previously, Rihanna needs help. She needs to see someone and talk to someone, so she can realize that she deserves better than some douche with a face tattoo who thinks he can rap all of a sudden. As far as her single, it’s a nice departure from her usual club tracks and I like it a little bit more each time I listen to it.
here’s how i feel about the rihanna/chris brown thing. i think it’s perfectly valid that rihanna has forgiven her abuser, and has attempted to move on from what happened. that’s fine. now, when she is working with him and being affectionate toward him in the public eye, that obviously gives her fans a mixed message, and it’s not one that i support.
however, and this in no way is an endorsement of chris brown, there does come a point where i think the people not involved in the situation (namely, fans and critics) need to go back to viewing chris brown’s music as his music, aside from his personal affairs. i don’t think chris brown’s work is particularly special, though i have enjoyed a few of his songs since “the incident”, but i’m not going to decide not to like a song because of the artist’s troubled life. maybe it’s because i don’t care to hear what happens in people’s personal lives. maybe it’s because i believe that rihanna might really have moved forward. maybe it’s because i believe that chris brown felt genuine disgust for himself and genuine remorse for what he did. or maybe it’s because i don’t think it’s my responsibility to forgive or not forgive him.
anyway, i guess a shorter version of what i’m trying to say is, yes. what chris brown did is in his personal life is despicable. but at some point, he has to go back to the only thing he knows how to do, which is sing and dance. and if he sucks at doing that, then say he sucks at doing that. F.A.M.E. was a waste of an hour, but not because the guy went to jail.
…that neck tattoo isn’t helping either.
here’s how i feel about the rihanna/chris brown thing. i think it’s perfectly valid that rihanna has forgiven her abuser, and has attempted to move on from what happened. that’s fine. now, when she is working with him and being affectionate toward him in the public eye, that obviously gives her fans a mixed message, and it’s not one that i support.
however, and this in no way is an endorsement of chris brown, there does come a point where i think the people not involved in the situation (namely, fans and critics) need to go back to viewing chris brown’s music as his music, aside from his personal affairs. i don’t think chris brown’s work is particularly special, though i have enjoyed a few of his songs since “the incident”, but i’m not going to decide not to like a song because of the artist’s troubled life. maybe it’s because i don’t care to hear what happens in people’s personal lives. maybe it’s because i believe that rihanna might really have moved forward. maybe it’s because i believe that chris brown felt genuine disgust for himself and genuine remorse for what he did. or maybe it’s because i don’t think it’s my responsibility to forgive or not forgive him.
anyway, i guess a shorter version of what i’m trying to say is, yes. what chris brown did is in his personal life is despicable. but at some point, he has to go back to the only thing he knows how to do, which is sing and dance. and if he sucks at doing that, then say he sucks at doing that. F.A.M.E. was a waste of an hour, but not because the guy went to jail.
…that neck tattoo isn’t helping either.
here’s how i feel about the rihanna/chris brown thing. i think it’s perfectly valid that rihanna has forgiven her abuser, and has attempted to move on from what happened. that’s fine. now, when she is working with him and being affectionate toward him in the public eye, that obviously gives her fans a mixed message, and it’s not one that i support.
however, and this in no way is an endorsement of chris brown, there does come a point where i think the people not involved in the situation (namely, fans and critics) need to go back to viewing chris brown’s music as his music, aside from his personal affairs. i don’t think chris brown’s work is particularly special, though i have enjoyed a few of his songs since “the incident”, but i’m not going to decide not to like a song because of the artist’s troubled life. maybe it’s because i don’t care to hear what happens in people’s personal lives. maybe it’s because i believe that rihanna might really have moved forward. maybe it’s because i believe that chris brown felt genuine disgust for himself and genuine remorse for what he did. or maybe it’s because i don’t think it’s my responsibility to forgive or not forgive him.
anyway, i guess a shorter version of what i’m trying to say is, yes. what chris brown did is in his personal life is despicable. but at some point, he has to go back to the only thing he knows how to do, which is sing and dance. and if he sucks at doing that, then say he sucks at doing that. F.A.M.E. was a waste of an hour, but not because the guy went to jail.
…that neck tattoo isn’t helping either.
It sounds like Sia wrtoe this song, I would’ve prefered it if she had recorded the song, but Diamonds by Rihanna is not that bad, in my opinion. And yes, I agree with you on how disgusting this whole mess with Rihanna and Chris Brown has turned out to be.
So anyone who makes a mistake should not be allowed to ever win a grammy? Or have a successful career? I’m alnost certain that there is something wrong u have done in the past that other could easily look down upon. I dont think that forgiving someone is condoning their behavior… Just the same as rihanna needs help, chris brown needs/needed help too…. It is easy to judge from our perspective but imagine if the shoe was on the other foot? Things happen, it doesnt mean that he is a bad person. And neither is she for forgiving him and moving forward. You dont know the dynamics of their relationship, so we shouldnt be so quick to judge. Especially for someone who has to deal with all of this in the public eye.
Chris Brown is an abuser and what he did to Rihanna he will do again. He is a violent person. He isn’t sorry for what he did, he is sorry because he got caught and it negatively affected him for a while. Don’t believe me, then take a look at some of his behavior since then. He melted down at Robin Roberts and destroyed his dressing room. He got into a fight with Drake at a bar. The kid has issues and he isn’t dealing with them. He is a bad person. Plain and simple. He needs help, but he won’t get it, because he keeps getting validation from his fans and his peers and now the person he abused.
I don’t need to put the shoe on the other foot, because I would never do something like that. I have never done something comparable. I have never beaten a woman black and blue. That is unacceptable. Chris Brown should have never won a Grammy because number one F.A.M.E. was a terrible album, so that says to me the Grammys were sending a subtle message that is OK, and it is most certainly not.
This song sucks. I am sorry, but YAWN! BORING! I mean Rihanna has better ballads than this, even though she is not the best singer of ballads. You should never release a ballad as your lead off single, unless your a ballad singer. This song put me to sleep. And whats up with the single cover? Rihanna rolling diamonds into weed paper. She is trying to hard to be ghetto. The only people that are playing her music are top 40 and dance. She needs to realize that. 3 albums in 3 years?!? She reminds me of a dog that just gets bred over and over.
This song sucks. I am sorry, but YAWN! BORING! I mean Rihanna has better ballads than this, even though she is not the best singer of ballads. You should never release a ballad as your lead off single, unless your a ballad singer. This song put me to sleep. And whats up with the single cover? Rihanna rolling diamonds into weed paper. She is trying to hard to be ghetto. The only people that are playing her music are top 40 and dance. She needs to realize that. 3 albums in 3 years?!? She reminds me of a dog that just gets bred over and over.
This song sucks. I am sorry, but YAWN! BORING! I mean Rihanna has better ballads than this, even though she is not the best singer of ballads. You should never release a ballad as your lead off single, unless your a ballad singer. This song put me to sleep. And whats up with the single cover? Rihanna rolling diamonds into weed paper. She is trying to hard to be ghetto. The only people that are playing her music are top 40 and dance. She needs to realize that. 3 albums in 3 years?!? She reminds me of a dog that just gets bred over and over.
This song sucks. I am sorry, but YAWN! BORING! I mean Rihanna has better ballads than this, even though she is not the best singer of ballads. You should never release a ballad as your lead off single, unless your a ballad singer. This song put me to sleep. And whats up with the single cover? Rihanna rolling diamonds into weed paper. She is trying to hard to be ghetto. The only people that are playing her music are top 40 and dance. She needs to realize that. 3 albums in 3 years?!? She reminds me of a dog that just gets bred over and over.