The big news this week is obviously that despite reports that some retailers weren’t carrying Chris Brown’s “Graffiti” at all (“reports” via Brown’s Twitter), his new highly controversial album “Graffiti” cracked the top ten and landed at the number seven slot with 101,671 units sold. It’s the lowest selling album of his career so far, but it’s hard to know how much of that is due to the controversy and how much is due to just generally slumping album sales. Either way, Brown’s still obviously got a hardcore fan base that came out in droves to support him on this one. See more…

What is making people treat Chris Brown this way? Is it because people think domestic violence is worse than any other crime? I personally feel that people should be given second chances. But even aside from that matter, on a level of just looking at music separate from personal life, I don’t think that people should try and shut down and interfere with someone’s ability to make money and provide for themselves through what they do.  Kobe Bryant cheats on his wife…do they keep him for playing basketball? Michael Vick makes dogs fight? After he does his jail time for the crime, should they keep him from playing football? NO! Those situations have nothing to do with what they do. See more…

I know, I know. Two Chris Brown tracks in one day? Yeah, well when Lupe Fiasco, one of the best, most creative rappers alive tarnishes his legacy on Brown’s atrocious new track “Girlfriend” that s**t is newsworthy. I haven’t been this disappointed since I found out Santa wasn’t real…or that Salma Hayek’s breasts were fake. Point is, they were both mildly traumatic experiences the likes of which are comparable to listen to Lupe go in over one of the worst Chris Brown songs in Chris Brown history. See more to listen and download…

The Chris Brown comeback special continues with the release leak of the latest track off his upcoming Graffiti” album, the pounding “Wait”. Although it’s unclear exactly what anyone’s waiting for, that doesn’t stop Brown, Trey Songz and Game (who almost sadly turns in one of his best verses in a minute) from flowing over a supremely energetic Polow da Don beat. Listen and download…

While Chris Brown has largely so far refused to take direct public responsibility for his actions, Rihanna appears determined to turn the assault into an educational opportunity about the dangers and realities of domestic violence. Rihanna appeared this morning on 20/20 for the first of a two part interview with Diane Sawyer in which she talks about the assault, and its aftermath in-depth. Most importantly, Rihanna says that that night was not an isolated incident and that Chris Brown beat her repeatedly and that she felt it was her duty to help other women in similarly abusive situations protect themselves.

There’s no sin America won’t forgive if you entertain them, and Chris Brown is slowly but surely learning that lesson as he works his way back into the nation’s good graces with his recent ballad “Crawl” and now his new video for “I Can Transform Ya” ft. Lil Wayne, a futuristic video featuring some Matrix-style special effects, ninjas and disappointing Transformer effects. See more…

The new Chris Brown single “Crawl” wasn’t supposed to be released until tomorrow on Angie Martinez’s radio show, but this is the internet, so you know how that goes. “Crawl”, a slow ballad that will inevitably be viewed as a quasi-apology to Rihanna, is the next single off his upcoming album “Graffiti.” See more to listen and download…

It would be a shame for Rihanna to completely omit the simple million dollar question “How are you?” On record, there hasn’t been a retort or even an index finger wave directed at Chris. She’s at a crossroads where she can choose to saturate Top 25 lists with lively, up-tempo pop jams, or taking her life and splatter it against a sonic canvas for the world to see. Personally, I hope she chooses the latter.