Something traumatic and life-changing happened on her way to her fourth and most successful album, commercial-wise. She and the love of her life, Chris Brown, were involved in a violent altercation on the eve of the 2009 Grammy Awards that left RiRi battered and bruised and Breezy’s national image in complete tatters. After breaking up with Brown in 2009, Rihanna underwent a sexual metamorphosis that saw her bolder, riskier and more blatant in her self expression. It came through on her release of her fourth album, Rated R, which is her best selling album in the U.S.A. to date and featured the blockbuster hit, Rude Boy which sat atop the Billboard charts for six consecutive weeks. Future songs that stretched the boundaries of decency included “Whips and Chains” that, coupled with her daring and boundary-free living, concerned a lot of industry folks and fans alike.
