Chris Brown appears in court Thursday
Photo: Gina Ferrazi/ AP Images

Chris Brown appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Thursday (November 19) for a progress hearing on his probation — and in the eyes of officials, the singer/actor has earned an "extremely favorable" report.

Brown was in the courtroom again in connection with his June plea for attacking former girlfriend Rihanna earlier this year. Brown was ordered to give Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg an update on his compliance with the sentence given to the 20-year-old singer following his guilty plea to a felony assault charge in the case.

According to The Associated Press, Brown attorney Mark Geragos said in the courtroom that Brown has already completed 100 hours of community service in Richmond, Virginia. This time has included such hard labor as picking up trash alongside state highways. Brown has also completed seven of his 52 domestic-violence classes.

On August 25, Brown was sentenced to five years of probation and 180 days of community labor, which he has been serving in his native Virginia by picking up garbage by the roadside and removing graffiti. In exchange for the guilty plea and the avoidance of any jail time in the case, Brown was also sentenced to a 52-week domestic violence prevention class. Brown must also stay at least 100 yards away from Rihanna for the next five years.

After months of silence, Brown and Rihanna have begun giving interviews over the past few weeks discussing the assault. Brown apologized again to Rihanna in a recent sitdown with MTV News' Sway Calloway while Rihanna has talked with both ABC's Diane Sawyer and MTV News.

Schnegg has warned Brown that he could face jail time if he violates any of the probation terms. The singer is in the midst of his "Fan Appreciation" tour. The next step in Brown's legal proceedings was also scheduled on Thursday: a February 18 date in which he'll once again have to speak with the judge on where his court-ordered probation efforts stand.

• 'Chris Brown: The Interview'

• Rihanna And Chris Brown: A Photo Timeline

• Chris Brown
• Rihanna

Rihanna
Photo: Joe Kohen/WireImage

Despite all that's gone on between them, Rihanna told a radio interviewer on Thursday (November 19) that she still misses ex-boyfriend Chris Brown and doesn't turn his music off when it comes on the radio.

When asked on Atlanta's Q100 if she misses Brown, Rihanna said, "Sometimes ... actually yes. There are a lot of reminders, like a lot of hotel rooms, a lot of places we've been to together, music. ... There are different things that come up that are reminders of your ex."

Brown, who was in court on Thursday for a status hearing tied to his probation for assaulting Rihanna in February, has spoken several times about how he still pines for Rihanna. He has said he wishes he could be with her, despite a court order to stay 100 yards away for the next five years.

"When [Chris' music] comes on on the radio, I don't snub or turn it off; I listen," said the singer, whose new album, Rated R, comes out on Monday. "I like his music."

Like with any breakup, Rihanna said there are things that make her think of Brown from time to time, and it's been hard to move on. "I've gotten over it," she said. "But there's definitely constant reminders, and a lot of it is listening to the radio and songs coming on, songs that were our favorite songs, or his songs."

Brown, who was sentenced to five years probation and 180 days of community labor when he pleaded guilty to felony assault in the case, told MTV News that he's not quite ready to date again. And Rihanna quickly shot down rumors that she is already moving on with alleged new beau "90210" star Tristan Wilds.

"I don't even have his number," Rihanna said. "I had a house party, this is funny, and you know how you have house parties, and people come over that you don't even know. He came by, which was fun for me, I appreciated the company. He brought a bunch of friends, and everybody's hanging out, but I don't even have his number, so I don't know how I could be dating him."

While admittedly a "very flirty girl," Rihanna said she's not dating now because she doesn't really have a lot of time, or energy, for a commitment. "A relationship really is another life, another career, really."

• Rihanna And Chris Brown: A Photo Timeline

• Rihanna
• Chris Brown

Jay-Z and Rihanna perform in London on Monday
Photo: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Rihanna kicked off the promotion for her upcoming Rated R album on Monday (November 16) with a concert from London that featured loads of swagger, tons of flash and a pair of high-profile guests.

Broadcast online to a global audience, thanks to Nokia, the show marked one of the first times Rihanna had performed songs from R (which hits stores November 23) before a live audience, and she was clearly emboldened by the high stakes, strutting across the stage — which was decorated with busted TV sets and a mannequin or three — vamping for the camera and powering her way through a hit-packed set.

Of course, the songs from her new album got top billing: As the house lights dimmed (and the crowd chanted "Ri-hanna! Ri-hanna!"), the speakers crackled to life with a pre-recorded message: "Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who are easily frightened, we suggest you turn around right now. For those of you who can take it, we say: Welcome to the mad house," and the band launched into "Mad House," the intro track from Rated R.

With an invitation of "Come on in," the house lights dimmed, and Rihanna appeared — lace mask covering her eyes, hair dramatically swooping, left arm gloved — and began stalking the stage as the herky-jerky rhythm of "Wait Your Turn" blasted from the speakers. She ad-libbed a bit (at one point singing, "I'm such a f---ing lady"), then, as a wheeling guitar solo blared, she pranced over to a waiting throne, crossed her legs seductively, and went headlong into current single "Russian Roulette."

The band worked the tune into a moody masterpiece, starting with just the spare sound of a chamber cocking, working in icy synthesizers and a stabbing, "Psycho"-style piano line. Rihanna emerged from her throne, reaching out to the crowd and pawing at her chest as she hit the chorus ("You can see my heart beating ... "). She then ascended a platform behind the stage and, silhouetted by a large video screen, brought her hand to her head — fingers mimicking a gun — and pulled the trigger as the stage went dark.

As the crowd cheered wildly, Rihanna took a tour through her earlier hits: a bubbly, club-ified version of "Don't Stop the Music" (which saw her getting frisky with one particularly lucky mannequin); a somber, pretty version of "Take a Bow"; and a gothy take on "Disturbia," slowed down to let the creepy synth lines wash across the stage.

She spit the opening lines of Rated R's "Hard," then welcomed Young Jeezy onstage so he could finish things off. As the song ended, her band performed a medley of "S.O.S." and "Unfaithful" (the perfect time for a costume change!), and Rihanna emerged in a black leotard and began singing her verse from T.I.'s "Live Your Life," which morphed into her verses on Jay-Z's "Run This Town," and Hov himself appeared onstage, launched into his verses, and sent the crowd into overdrive.

That, of course, led right into "Umbrella," with Jay rapping his intro then ceding the spotlight back to Rihanna, who belted the song out while Jay urged her to "Take 'em higher!"

The song crescendoed, the audience — some of whom had brought actual umbrellas for the occasion — cheering wildly, and Rihanna once again climbed to the top of the platform, thanking her fans around the world for tuning in. She cracked a confident smile, waved goodbye and strode offstage as the final chords of "Umbrella" echoed throughout the building. The message was clear: As she sang just a few seconds earlier, "I'll be here forever." And the countdown to Rated R had officially began.

• Rihanna's 'Russian Roulette' Premieres
• MTV News Extended Play: Rihanna

• Rihanna's Rated R Collaborators

• Rihanna
• Jay-Z
• Young Jeezy

Rihanna in "Russian Roulette"
Photo: Def Jam Records

There's seemingly no bottom to the inky depths Rihanna plumbs in her brand-new "Russian Roulette" video, a dark, claustrophobic descent that's creepier than anything she's ever done before (including the "Disturbia" video), mostly because it's so unrelentingly bleak.

Directed by frequent collaborator Anthony Mandler, bathed in a near-nocturnal pitch (truly, there is no sunlight here), featuring blood and tears and vehicular assault, "Roulette" is unlike anything we've ever seen from Rihanna and, in keeping with the darker tones of her Rated R album, it serves notice that Little Misss Sunshine is gone forever — replaced instead with someone darker, more sinister (she usually wears lingerie and an eye patch).

There is much of the titular gunplay (it's a wonder most of it got by the censors, truth be told) and artfully shot underwater scenes in which Rihanna is pierced by bullets, her blood clouding as her body contorts. There are her shadowy tormentors, who keep her locked away and subject her to all sorts of torture (mostly of the "red smoke" variety). There are scenes of her twisting and pawing in a padded cell. At one point, she is mowed down by a speeding car. "Pon De Replay," this ain't.

"Roulette" is a moody, artful thing, but it's also quite difficult — like the song itself, this isn't your typical pop fare. It's minimal, pulsing, and there is an unspoken tension (which sort of makes sense, since playing Russian roulette isn't exactly a vacation). Rihanna is clearly taking more than a few risks with R — she's stretching her legs and flexing her artistic muscles. Obviously, she has a lot of material to draw from, but the question is, will her fans take her new sound — and style — in stride? Will this song stick at radio stations after the initial fervor surrounding it dissipates?

We'll just have to wait and see. If "Russian Roulette" is any indicator, it's certainly going to be an interesting ride.

• Rihanna's 'Russian Roulette' Premieres

• Rihanna

Chris Brown
Photo: Elsa/ Getty Images

It's a unique dilemma in modern radio history: How do you deal with programming multiple new singles from a former couple that were involved in the most widely publicized domestic violence incident in recent memory?

That's the potentially sticky issue facing radio programmers across the country as they seek to make space for songs from Rihanna and Chris Brown, who, between them, have five different singles currently getting airtime. As the former couple continue to shadow each other with the promotional campaigns for their respective upcoming albums — releasing videos and announcements on the same day and appearing for major interviews — a number of programmers contacted by MTV News said they're not worried about playing Brown and Rihanna close together, considering Brown's guilty plea in June to felony assault in connection with his February 8 attack on his former girlfriend.

"We have no restrictions on whether we play their songs back-to-back or not," said Colby Colb, Operations Manager for Cleveland's WENZ 107.9 FM. "They've both got hot records out and however it's scheduled is how it's scheduled. It's music. What does it have to do with their personal lives? There's so much other stuff we have to worry about at radio stations, I couldn't care less if we play them back-to-back."

Colb's feelings were echoed by a number of other urban programmers who are juggling two singles from Brown's forthcoming album, Graffiti, "I Can Transform Ya" and "Crawl," as well as a potential three songs from Rihanna's forthcoming Rated R, "Russian Roulette," "Hard" and "Wait Your Turn" — along with "Run This Town," the Jay-Z joint featuring a hook from Rihanna that is one of the hottest songs at radio at the moment. Late Thursday, Brown dropped yet another single, the slow-grind ballad "Sing Like Me," which could soon by pushing for airtime as well.

Los Angeles hits station KIIS-FM (102.7) has been playing both "Transform Ya," "Hard" and "Russian Roulette" in light rotation, which is a switch from how things were just a few months ago, according to Program Director John Ivey. "We stopped playing [Brown's] records after the Rihanna confrontation because they weren't testing well [with our audience]," said Ivey. "But when that wedding video with 'Forever' in it got popular, we put that song back on."

Now, Ivey said, with both singers angling for airtime, he too has not given much thought to putting distance between them on the station, opting instead to focus more on what sounds go back-to-back and the overall musical mix on the airwaves.

"We're not as urban as urban radio, and those styles are a bit different," he said of the Brown club track and Rihanna's more downbeat "Roulette." "So they probably wouldn't come up back-to-back and it wouldn't cross my mind to not play them that way. I'm more concerned about the overall sound than people putting it together and feeling it's weird to hear them like that. News is different than music flow. I just want it to flow."

Ebro Darden, program director for New York's tastemaking WQHT Hot 97.1 FM, said he doesn't think anyone at the station is playing the singer's songs close together on purpose. "We haven't had any conversations about it," he said. "What does the music have to do with what went down?"

At Cincinnati's WIZF 101.1 FM, songs by Brown and Rihanna have indeed played right after one another, but program director Simone Party said it wasn't intentional and, frankly, she hasn't even really given it much thought.

"Both artists have very good requests with the station right now and they have hot, topical songs," she said. "I haven't thought about dropping one to play another or playing them back-to-back. The audience is definitely feeling both singles from both artists."

• MTV News Extended Play: Rihanna
• Chris Brown's 'Crawl' Premieres
• 'Chris Brown: The Interview'

• Rihanna And Chris Brown: A Photo Timeline

• Rihanna
• Chris Brown

Rihanna in her "Russian Roulette" music video
Photo: Def Jam

The video for Rihanna's "Russian Roulette" is just as eerie as the song itself. In a preview that aired on German TV and stills that appeared on the fan site RihannaDaily.com, the singer is seen drowning, being shot at and imprisoned. Of course, there are scenes of her sitting at a table with a man seeing who can win the deadly game.

Director Anthony Mandler — who also helmed the singer's "Wait Your Turn" clip — said the video is the perfect embodiment of the haunting ballad.

"I think that with this song and the meaning of this song and how loaded it all is, no pun intended, how much imagery and perhaps symbolism that is loaded in this song, the only way to do it was to do something that was visually challenging," he told MTV News about the video, which premieres Friday (November 13) on "20/20."

Mandler thought of the video as a metaphor for Rihanna's very public life in the gossip pages, as opposed to a direct comment on her February assault by then-boyfriend Chris Brown.

"I think you can't effect change unless you're willing to take a risk," he said. "You can't get people to pay attention and understand unless you're willing to push the limit and try new things. The song, this situation, everything is so frontloaded with so much gossip and so much media coverage and so many emotions and stories that if you don't try to do something that is poetic and layered in symbolism, then you're either running from the truth or you're being too obvious with it."

So, instead of literally telling the story of lovers in a dangerous game, Rihanna and Mandler decided to make that the subplot. "I think our objective was to run down our lane with it and to step out of the drama and the gossip," he said. "To get deeper and be more symbolic."

• MTV News Extended Play: Rihanna

• Rihanna

Chris Brown
Photo: MTV News

In the lyrics to Chris Brown's song, "Crawl," the singer not-so-subtly seems to be calling for the return of his ex-girlfriend Rihanna, with whom he has apparently finally split in the aftermath of his assault on her in February.

"So we'll crawl, until we can walk again," Brown sings on the tune. "Then we'll run, until we're strong enough to jump/ Then we'll fly, until there is no wind/ So let's crawl, crawl, crawl, back to love."

But Brown, who debuted the video for "Crawl" on "The Wendy Williams Show" on Friday (November 13), told MTV News that the song actually isn't just about his own relationships. He said "Crawl" is more of a universal message dedicated to moving on past any type of heartache.

"When I heard the whole concept and everything I was like, 'Yo, this is crazy,' " Brown said about the track. "So being able to express the feelings, it was like, probably one of the best [records I've done.] But it was more than me trying to do a record that meant crawl to love, crawl back to love. Meaning whether it's from your negative situations, whether it's from any problems you've dealt with, like anybody's situation. Mine being my personal situation with shorty, but for anybody, for being inspired as far it being the war or a death in the family, whether it's anything, anybody just crawl back to love. 'Cause love conquers everything. Love, at the end of the day, makes everybody happy."

Joseph Khan, who directed the song's video, predicted the visuals to "Crawl" will make as much of an impact as the song. Khan spoke to MTV News recently about the video.

"It's my first ballad with Chris, and it was easy," Khan said of "Crawl." "Again, it's another idea that he clearly had, in terms of what the genesis of the idea is. I don't even know if Chris is trying to say anything with the video. I think he just sort of, as an artist, I think Chris communicates more through what he does ... and so what he does in the video will speak for itself."

• Chris Brown's 'Crawl' Premieres

• Rihanna
• Chris Brown

Rihanna in her "Russian Roulette" music video
Photo: Island Def Jam Music Group

Rihanna's music video for "Russian Roulette" doesn't premiere until Friday night on "20/20," but the singer did release a snippet of the Anthony Mandler-directed clip on a German talk show.

On Wednesday when the singer, who drops her Rated R album on November 23, stopped by "TV Total" in Germany to chat about her new album, she also previewed about 30 seconds of the video. In it, Rihanna is imprisoned, trying to plead with an officer. Soon, the video cuts to Rihanna sitting at a table across from a man with a gun between them. There are also shots of Rihanna looking sullen and singing the eerie ballad.

The fan site RihannaDaily.com has three stills from the video showing three additional scenes. They are darker than the images in the preview clip, showing Rihanna in various stages of being shot. In one, Rihanna, in a nude-colored bikini, sits in a chair, her chest bleeding. In another, she is seen floating, with bullets piercing the water around her. The third is close-up of her underwater, shot in the neck.

Mandler recently spoke to MTV News about the music video he shot for Rihanna's "Wait Your Turn," noting that the pair wanted the singer to have "bravado" in the video. "It was the first video for the album, so obviously everyone was excited and focused on setting the tone for what's to come. Rihanna and I spoke in depth about creating a piece that was gritty, raw and more of a street video then a classic beauty piece," he explained.

"We loved the energy and bravado of early hip-hop videos that were made without a lot of resources, working more with the textures and shapes of the surroundings than trying to build and manipulate environments as we have done in the past," he continued. "I wanted to try and take everything we have done in the past and put it to the side."

• Rihanna

Photo: Jared Milgram

• Rihanna
• Kanye West
• Soulja Boy Tell'em
• Clipse
• Young Dro

Soulja Boy Tell'em
Photo: Jared Milgram

Behind the Beats: Soulja Boy Tell'em

Soulja Boy Tell'em has jumped from behind the knobs into the forefront as a performer — he just released three mixtapes on Halloween: Cortez, Paranormal Activity and DatPiff. But don't forget, the young G still knows how to make beats. One of Soulja's biggest fans, Kanye West, recently had the Southern millionaire in the lab working for him.

"Me as a producer, I think I've grown tremendously," Soulja told us recently in L.A. "I've been in the studio with Kanye. I did three tracks for him back-to-back."

Soulja says the sessions were give and take.

"Me working with him, collaborating different beats," he explained. "Him showing me a lot of stuff I didn't know. Me showing him a lot of stuff he didn't know. He had an ear for my sound. Of course I had an ear for all the stuff he did. Genius! You know what I mean?

"The process with Kanye — he'll come in and it depends on what it is," Soulja continued. "If I'm making the beat from scratch, I'll just work. If he's got a sample ... It was three different samples that we was working on. On one of them, he was like, 'I want this to go here, I want you to do this.' I like when an artist pushes me how he was pushing me. He doesn't go easy on me. I make it and be like, 'Here.' Nah, I had to go over it several times. It can be frustrating too. At the same time, sitting there trying to make a beat for the person that's right in front of you, it can be a lot of pressure, but it's all fun. At the end of the day, we're making hit music."

Soulja is also cranking out tracks for his next LP, The DeAndre Way.

Next Wave of Flav

On Jamie Foxx: "I was in the studio with him a couple of days ago working on a new beat for him. All the artists that reached out to me for beats — like Rihanna — my portfolio is only getting longer and longer."

On Rihanna: "With this particular project [it was] like, 'Whoa!' because [her rep was] like, 'Yo, I need you to do something for Rihanna's album. You got 11 hours. Go!' It was like, 'What? I'm all out of pocket.' How do you make something that's gonna be a #1 hit so fast? But it's been done before because I made 'Crank That' in 30 minutes."

Five-Star Stellar Hits

» "Crank That"
» V.I.C. - "Get Silly"
» Bow Wow - "Marco Polo"
» "Gucci Bandana"
» "Donk"
» "Yahhh!"

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

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