In a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest on Thursday, Rihanna defended her decision to collaborate with her abusive ex-boyfriend Chris Brown on two new remixes. The singer, 24, says the choice to feature Brown on her “Birthday Cake” remix and work with him on his own remix of “Turn Up the Music” was simply a smart business move.
"You know, I thought about rappers, [but] the hottest R&B artist out right now is Chris Brown. So I wanted him on the track," she explained. "I reached out to him about doing 'Birthday Cake' because [he was] the only person that really made sense to do the record -- just as a musician. Despite everything else, that was gonna be the person."
"It was a tradeoff," she added. "We did two records -- one for my fans, one for his fans. That way, our fans could come together. There shouldn't be a divide. It's music and it's innocent."
Rihanna split from Brown, 22, in 2009 after he was arrested for beating her during an argument. He pleaded guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to 5 years of probation, 6 months of community service and 1 year of domestic violence counseling.
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