Where’s the Respect? Defending Rihanna, Defending Us

by Veronica Hilbring (@Veronicolumn)

This isn’t another blog post about trying to dissect Rihanna. Hell, I’m older than her and I don’t even understand myself. Instead, this is simply me trying to understand why a man’s attempt to diss another man resulted in treating a woman with so much disrespect and contempt.

The never ending saga continues. Last Friday night, Drake was guest on Elliot Wilson’s East Village Radio for a candid interview about everything from his new music to of course, Chris Brown. In the interview he says this about Chris Brown, “His insecurities are the fact that I make better music than him, that I’m more popping than him and that at one point in life, the woman that he loves fell into my lap and I did what a real n-gga would do and treated her with respect.”

Son. Where is the respect now? By declaring she fell into your lap, you’re clearly publicly suggesting that you slept with her and that is perhaps the reason that you have this problem with Chris Brown.

This is same guy who dedicated the entire second verse of Fireworks to Rihanna. “I can tell it wasn’t love, I just thought you’d fuck with me…But I was curious and I’ll never forget it baby… What an experience, you could’ve been the one.” It was sweet at the time but looking back it makes perfect sense.

I think I’m more disappointed with Drake than anything. Drake has been dodging shots from other rappers for years for his perceived “softness” because he sings and has created scorned men anthems like “Marvin’s Room.” So I guess he figured he’d earn some stripes by returning shots to Chris Brown, which is fair since Chris was on a media tour recently and didn’t exactly take shots as much as he answered questions about Drake openly and honestly.

I’m still searching for this respect you say that you’ve showed Rihanna. In the past few years, you and Rihanna have crafted some amazing music together. Take Care got the biggest crowd response at your Club Paradise tour I attended last summer. You even performed at the Grammy’s together. I am undoubtedly a Drake fan. But I just want him to do better.

I’m sure Rihanna probably didn’t even think twice about the interview but I for one am tired of men trying to use a woman as the excuse for why they (two grown, rich and successful men) are fighting.

It seems to me like Drake is hurt. And understandably so. He probably thought when they hung out together that it was going to turn into something more, when at the time Rihanna was still a young woman healing from a tragic incident. We’ve all been hurt. But this is not cool.

Is Rihanna an innocent bystander between Drake and Chris? I don’t necessarily believe that. But I also don’t believe that there is much she could’ve done to diffuse the situation either. Drake and Chris will meet face to face again one day. Probably in court due to the many impending lawsuits they both are facing.

But I hope Rihanna will maintain her own sense of respect and dignity despite the lack thereof of being shown by both Drake and Chris.

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