After the highly publicized breakup between Rihanna and Chris Brown, there have been numerous rumors of them getting back together or hooking up with others. Now, it has been confirmed by Rihanna that she is indeed dating Matt Kemp, a baseball player. The two have been denying their relationship and were claiming to be “just friends”. The two were seen watching a basketball game between the L.A. Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers over the weekend. She was also seen sporting a new hair do; it’s still the same bob, but now has a bush on top, which has been colored blond.

The two lovebirds were sitting courtside, smiling and talking, while ignoring cameras and the watching fans. She did however at one point, stand up and wave to the camera and the watching public. Rihanna and Matt were also spotted vacationing on a Yacht in Mexico, during the holidays — when they were supposedly “just friends”. It is said that the couple met during a birthday bash hosted by Tyrese Gibson and Tank.

Speculation of the two dating began during the Christmas holiday when they were seen in Mexico. Then apparently at the b-ball game, the two showed a lot of body language of a couple, but there was no kissing or cuddling. But they weren’t fooling anyone. Hopefully, the two will last and work out a lot better than the Chris Brown era.

Rihanna’s new album “Rated R” is scheduled to be released on November 23rd and already, there are lots of speculation and excitement about it. In this album, she is portraying herself in a tougher image, unlike her previous glamorous self. On the music video of her single “Wait Your Turn” shows a grainy, sexy clip of Rihanna that shows her as a tough renegade. This is the type of image she and her music-video collaborator, Anthony Mandler, were going for. The video was shot in the middle of October on a cold day in the Big Apple. The first video is just a preview of what’s to come. The two talked about creating something that’s a bit more raw and gritty, so they decided to create a more “Street” video than a classic beauty piece.

They reviewed early hip hop videos and liked how they weren’t created with few resources — they mostly used their environment and surroundings; the textures and shapes. In the video Rihanna is wearing an eye patch and heels, giving a hard-edge feel to he usual glam self. Some of the videos that inspired her featured artists like Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep and Nas. The words behind the song were carefully thought up in order to create the same image audio-wise: aggressive bravado. Rihanna is a young artist that is always pushing boundaries. She has changed her identity so many times, so you never know what she’ll come up with next. She is a true artist, someone that knows how to transform the picture and make it into anything she wants to portray.

Finally, this all has ended. On June 22nd, Chris Brown and Rihanna were expected in court — of course not at the same time. The judge ordered that Chris Brown and Rihanna can’t be near each other for five years. So Chris was to appear in court first and once he left, Rihanna was to do her part in testifying. Being that Chris showed up early for his appearance, everyone speculated there was going to be an attempt for a plea bargain to avoid jail time. This was the case and Rihanna didn’t have to testify at all.

So what’s the deal? Well, this may be harsher than jail time (sarcasm) — Chris Brown has received five years of supervised probation, six months of community service in his native state Virginia, plus the five years he has to stay away from Rihanna (this restraining order goes both ways). It’s funny how they say Brown accepted the plea bargain to show the world that domestic violence won’t be tolerated, but on the contrary, the associations that are involved with female abuse weren’t too happy about those terms (maybe some jail time would’ve sufficed). Chris will have to have to pick up trash and clean up graffiti around his home state of Virginia. This whole dilemma has already taken effect on his hip hop career, including canceling concerts and a performance at the Grammys.

Being that the charges were filed in California, Chris Brown will still have to make appearances every three months on the west coast. It looks like Brown made the right choice with the plea bargain because he was facing up to five years in prison if convicted. His sentencing begins on August 5th, 2009.

On June 22nd, Rihanna will have to appear in court to testify against her ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown. She was given a subpoena that requires her to come in person for the court date. As we all already know, the 21 year old R&B singer got into a “quarrel” (if that’s what you want to call it) with Chris Brown, her then boyfriend. Chris released a video on youtube on May 26th, telling haters to back off. He then thanked his “true” fans and said that he wasn’t a monster.

Not sure about everyone else, but I can’t wait until all of this is over. I wonder what will happen to Chris Brown if/when he is found guilty. I know that the U.S. isn’t too lenient in domestic abuse cases, so we’ll have to see how that turns out. Then plus, he plead not guilty, so that will make it worse on his part if/when found guilty. Maybe he’ll be like the other celebrities who jut get a slap on the wrist — sorry for Michael Vick who seemed to be used as a “lesson” to teach the rich folk that they can’t get away with everything.

Well, I’ll definitely keep posts up on the Rihanna and Chirs Brown case. On my opinion, with all the evidence and photos that were taken, I don’t think he’ll walk away clean. If it’s not jail time, it’ll most definitely be fines and community service.

Hip hop tours are poppin all over the globe. First, we have rumors that Keyshia Cole, Rihanna and Ciara will be touring together, so if you’re looking for a great R&B concert, you should definitely check out the dates and cities to for this show. No dates have been set yet, but keep an eye and ear out. Supposedly, Rihanna would like to team up with strong women for a “women empowerment” type tour. This trio would definitely empower the women in their concert crowds with their soulful voices and lyrics.

Rihanna has a live concert in Dubai coming up; yes it has been confirmed. There will be 25,000 tickets available for sale. No exact location has been set, but it may be in an outside arena…wouldn’t that be lovely?

Beyonce is also on tour, but has told interviewers that she is looking to wrap things up and take two years off to play the role of a wife to her husband Jay-Z, who is also on tour by the way. The two currently try to link their calendars together, so that they can schedule time together. B definitely misses her boo while on tour, so to help her feel better, she has Jay-Zs name written on the nails of her index, middle and ring fingers. This helps her to remember him and even makes her smile she says. Beyonce is really looking forward to starting a family and leading a somewhat normal life.

There’s a somewhat funny joke passing around that women should stay away from the Browns; i.e. Bobby Brown, James Brown and now Chris Brown because of their violent streak. You may have already heard about the incident between Rihanna and Chris Brown that occurred the night before the Grammys. According to reports, Rihanna and Chris were sitting in the car when he received a text message from a female — supposedly this female was someone Chris had a booty call with. Now, Rihanna sees this and tries to get out of the car, but Chris won’t let her. He grabs her and then they get into an altercation that leaves her with bite marks on her arms and hands, swollen eyes, bloody nose, bruises on her face and a busted lip. Not sure, if you seen the photo of her yet, but she looks really bad. He was arrested that night, but got out on a $50,000 bail.

I heard on a radio station that he is wanted for attempted murder, but I think that is quite extreme for a couple quarrel. Not sure if that is true. I also heard that Chris Brown showered Rihanna with gifts like a diamond necklace, flowers and other things for her birthday. There have been some speculation that the R&B princess might take Chris Brown back, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. What do you think about the whole ordeal? Does Chris deserve to be forgiven or should Rihanna press heavy charges that will continue to ruin his career? Most of his ad campaigns have already been pulled (Double Mint gum commercials) and some radio stations aren’t playing his songs anymore.