One of the first thoughts I had after hearing about Chris Brown beating up Rihanna (right after “let me get my hands on that motherfucker”) was that I couldn’t wait to hear what Rihanna would do with the whole situation on her next album. I’ve been dying for new music from her anyway, loving Good Girl Gone Bad as much as I do, but with meaty material like a public domestic violence incident to work with, she was bound to come up with something memorable.

I was right. The first single from Rihanna’s upcoming album, Rated R, has been released and it is powerful and disturbing and clearly inspired by those dark days earlier this year. Titled ‘Russian Roulette,’ the song uses that deadly game as a metaphor for an unhealthy (and, yes, violent) relationship.

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