For the first time since she shocked the world with two new songs featuring her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, Rihanna spoke out about the controversial collaborations in an exclusive radio interview with Ryan Seacrest. The 23-year-old pop star claimed that she asked Brown to appear on her song because she felt no one else was right for it.
"I reached out to him to do 'Birthday Cake' because that's the only person that really made sense. Just as a musician, despite anything else, that was gonna be the person," she said.

The “anything else” refers to the ugly break up the couple had after Brown assaulted Rihanna in 2009.

Rihanna went on to call Brown "the hottest R&B artist out right now," and said that she ended up recording the part on his own remix for "Turn Up the Music" as a quid pro quo.
In Rih Rih’s eyes, re-teaming with her ex in this case was all about the music, she assures fans and critics that they shouldn't get worked up or protective. 

"There shouldn't be a divide," she said. "It's music and it's innocent."

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