I want to start by saying that I am not a Rihanna fan by any stretch of the imagination (As a matter of fact, I don’t listen to R&B at all. And if I did, it still wouldn’t be her. It’s even possible that I would be less likely to listen to her music if I actually enjoyed R&B. But, I digress). But I have to take issue with the latest of tomfoolery of her ex-boyfriend. Chris Brown says in his sit-down with Sway from MTV that his concern at this point is finding a way to turn this situation into something positive and become the person that he wants to be. And while, that’s what we would all like to think, it is not that easy to believe. From this blogger’s seat, it looks apparent that his concern at this point is covering Vibe magazine, scheduling his album’s release date, defending that album’s cover via Twitter, recording a romantic music video with another young R&B singer, and in-short: Very literally not changing a damned thing! I’ve never seen someone in action so wholly ignore their own words within such a short span of time (with the obvious exception of Game).

Would it not be far more appropriate to launch an ABC primetime special in which Chris and his mother visit families that were affected by the terror of domestic violence and attempt to lend some type of support? Am I out of line here? Would that not be far more exemplary of an intention to “learn from your mistakes, turn it into a positive and help other people with the situation, and at the end of the day become the person that you want to be”? What then, is Chris Brown’s true concern and priority? The most persuasive theories appear to be garnering more popularity, selling more albums, selling out more shows, and ultimately twisting the bad press into the fuel for your second coming as a bad-boy star. At least that theory would explain the newer videos and magazine covers in all-black, minus the cheesy smile we remember. It would furthermore explain how beyond the topic of propriety, the prospect of promoting an album at the same time as the woman that he had physically abused may not be considered to be risky from a business perspective.

The only thing that the less optimistic theories would not explain is the interview with MTV in which decides to don the geeky/chic high school look and attempt to convince the public of his inner-goodness. Luckily, I’ve got a theory for that too. I think that despite whatever truth there is to the theories of his motives, he understands what he is giving up in image. I think that he knows that he may never again be seen as wholesome or even generally good person but he is not ready to believe that about himself. If that be the case, then I would suggest a new course of action. I would suggest that Mr. Brown postpone the release of his album and do some of that work that would help turn this into a positive. I think that he should let Rihanna release her album and that he should congratulate her as soon as it sells all of those millions of copies (For what reason, I may never know). Then sometime next year around this time, he should listen to this album like a time capsule from the year previous and ask himself if he would still be proud of releasing that music.

But what do I know, I’m just a guy that likes music (and women) and hasn’t learned not to read gossip blogs.