In 2008, if you had told me that soon Rihanna would be having a Tina Turner running bleeding across an eight-lane highway moment, I would have laughed you out the room. At that time, Rihanna and Chris Brown were pop’s power couple, think Britney Spears & Justin Timberlake circa 2001. There was no way mild mannered and wildly talented Chris Brown would ever raise a hand to strike anyone, unfortunately I would have been very wrong.

On February 8, 2009, Chris Brown did strike Rihanna, leaving her swollen and bloodied; bringing an unfortunate end to reign of Princess Ri Ri and Prince CB. After The incident, Chris got probation and community service, Rihanna got an interview on 20/20. Come 2010 the world had all but forgotten about the incident.

That was until Rihanna rocketed to the top of the pop charts in the summer of 2010 with “Love The Way You Lie,” a duet with notoriously controversial rapper Eminem. The video for the hit song, starring Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan, portrayed an abusive relationship. Many critics claimed the song and video glorified domestic abuse and came down hard on both artists. As with all mild controversies, it blew over quickly. The story remained dormant until Feb 1, 2011 when Rihanna released the video for her hit song S&M.

The video, which I featured right here, is a peak into Rihanna’s enjoyment of BDSM. Yet again people are criticizing Rihanna for her choice to “glorify violence.” One article in particular caught my attention, aka pissed me off beyond all belief. Yahoo! Music columnist Billy Johnson Jr’s article, “Why Is Rihanna Singing About Violence?” asks some valid questions. He postulates, “Rihanna is both victim and perpetrator here. But is this message empowering? Does it advocate fighting back? Or is it just titillating in the same sense of Lady Gaga's homicide-themed ‘Paparazzi’ or Katy Perry's gratuitous ‘California Gurls’ videos?”