Every week, a different FADER editor compiles a playlist to highlight a new release and give you a guide to that artist’s web of influences and peers. These Staff Selects live in our Spotify app, alongside GEN Fs from our archives and playlists for each issue. This week, it's Deidre Dyer on Rihanna, Chris Brown and star-crossed duets.
Rihanna and Chris Brown are not afraid to ruffle a few feathers. Blogs and gossip sites got to talking when she Instagrammed the tracklist for Unapologetic, which included a duet with Chris Brown entitled "Ain't Nobody's Business." This past weekend, she posted a picture of a topless, sleeping Brown, adding more fuel to the fire. While the technology of today makes pop stars' day-to-day foibles more accessible than ever, and while Rihanna and Chris probably feel like badass rebel lovers, they're really just the latest chapter in the big, dusty book of star-crossed couples strutting their stuff on tracks together. Whether destined for growing-old-together love, lengthy jail sentences, untimely deaths or a series of restraining orders, all of this playlist's songs were made by pairs who were once in the throws of love. (I've also thrown in Rihanna and Drake's "Take Care," since he did tussle with Brown up in the club, and he openly admitted to the NY Times that Rihanna wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am'd him.) Are RiRi and Chris the new Bobby and Whitney? After the love is gone and the restraining orders have been lifted, we'll always have these jams.
New Playlist: Rihanna, Chris Brown and Star-Crossed Duets
