Rihanna in combative mood for new album

PARIS (AFP) – Rihanna pop star is back, blonde and out to have fun after "getting all my emotions out" on new album R Rated. But her guard is still up if tagged as a victim of domestic violence.
To promote the albu at a press conference it was strictly off limits to even mention the controversy dogging her since February, when R&B boyfriend Chris Brown brutally attacked her in Los Angeles on the eve of the Grammy Awards.
The shocking police photo of the singer's bruised face -- Rihanna is also a model and fashion icon -- was leaked to the press, and earlier this month the star said returning to Brown after he had bitten and scratched her during the attack had been a mistake which arose because she was "so far in love."
Well, she's not in love anymore. R Rated was recorded when she was in a "dark" mood, and did a lot of "venting" in the studio. Some tracks allude to the doomed relationship, especially the single Wait Your Turn.
Rihanna played the pop diva at the Paris get together on Thursday, breezing in late and refusing point blank to answer personal questions.
But she was all smiles when it came to talking about fashion, a favourite subject of the Glamour magazine woman of 2009 who has modelled for Gucci and Cover Girl.
Her tip for Parisian ladies this winter is "sexy lingerie", because even when you're all "bundled up you can still be cute when you take it off".
Asked if she thought she scared men away she laughed and suggested, in her rusty, deep voice that maybe "they just don't know how to approach me, so prefer not to".
Rihanna is a breath of fresh air in the size zero fashion world, freely admitting that although her "genetics say I should be low carbs", the junk food is still on the menu. "I'm just not a very disciplined eater".
Her fourth album in four years, which is out on November 23, includes three features: with ex-Guns 'N Roses guitarist Slash, the rapper Young Jeezy and will.i.am.
Explaining how the track Photographs came about, she says she heard the tune at will.i.am's studio and even though it was meant for the Black Eyed Peas she said "this song belongs to me!" No surprise she got her way.
Though the 21 year old has gone blonde, and is into creams and whites at the moment, R Rated is the opposite: angry, heavy, combative.
It is more hard rock than chilled out melody, and Rihanna's vocals have a strong, metallic quality on most tracks.
The Barbados born singer says she wanted to bring some of her roots to the music this time, and actually worked to "put my little twang to it".
As for the future, it's a tour next spring, and she plans to take up the guitar (once she's mastered the drums), but "my nails are too long" she admits, and "it will have to wait before I'm ready to give these up".
Rihanna is not just talking about manicures.

Rihanna suspicious of Champagne

Rihanna doesn't take frothy from strangers. While hanging out with a gaggle of assistants and singer James Blount at a party thrown by Vegas nightclub The Bank at Wonderland in LA, the songstress was sent a $10,000 bottle of Champagne by Jets receiver Braylon Edwards and a handful of his teammates, who were at a nearby table. But according to a partygoer, "She didn't know who they were, so she sent it back." Edwards' rep says Braylon later introduced himself and all was well. Also at the club was Mickey Rourke entertaining his girlfriend's mother from Russia.

Brown's assault, aftermath 'humiliating', Rihanna

Rihanna says dealing with the media attention after being assaulted in February by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown was humiliating. But she now hopes to speak for young women who are afraid to talk openly about domestic violence.
The pop star 21 year old told Glamour magazine in an interview posted online Tuesday that the police photo of her bruised face that was leaked to reporters added insult to injury.
After the assault, she awoke to find helicopters circling her house and reporters swarming her street. "I felt like I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears," she said.
Rihanna said she felt disappointed and taken advantage of, particularly when she heard that the two officers under investigation for leaking her photo were women.
"I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it's my life," she said.
Rihanna said she didn't realize how much her decisions affected people she didn't know, like her many fans. She feels stronger, wiser and more aware now, she added.
"Domestic violence is a big secret," Rihanna said. "The positive thing that has come out of my situation is that people can learn from that. I want to give as much insight as I can to young women, because I feel like I represent a voice that actually isn't heard. Now I can help speak for those women."
Brown, 20, pleaded guilty to felony assault in June. He was sentenced to five years' probation, six months of community labor and a year of domestic violence counseling for the attack, in which he was accused of hitting, choking and biting Rihanna in a rented sports car.
TMZ published the photo of Rihanna's bruised face less than two weeks after the beating, and the LAPD immediately launched an internal investigation of the leak.