Ne-Yo Talks About Rihanna’s Controversial ‘Russian Roulette’

Since hitting the 'net earlier this week, Rihanna's newest single, 'Russian Roulette,' has been categorized as "dark" by some for its violent lyrics. Now the song's writer is coming to the defense of his friend and collaborator.

"We just wanted to do something entertaining," explained singer/songwriter Ne-Yo, who penned the track. "It's definitely dark, but if you think about it, 'Thriller' was dark, but it was one of the biggest selling records of all time. Our main thing was the entertainment factor of the whole thing. Nobody is really going out and playing Russian roulette or thinking about killing themselves or nothing like that. It was just an interesting topic over a crazy beat and who else to pull that off than somebody like Rihanna?"

Unlike their previous work together, 'Take a Bow,' and 'Hate That I Love You,' it seems that as the singer, Rihanna is no longer interested in pondering a broken relationship. This time, she's going straight for the gun and pulling the trigger to prove herself. "You can see my heart beating, you can see it through my chest/ I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving/ I know that I must pass this test," she sings in the song.

Ne-Yo says he heard the track and began to visualize the song's concept. "I'm listening to the track, and all I can see is Rihanna and some random person sitting across from each other at the table with a gun sitting in the middle of the table and playing Russian roulette," he said.

"And I just started thinking, 'What would go through your mind if you was in that situation?' It just all started coming together, and Rihanna has never been one to be afraid to take a chance, especially with me. She's always game to do something a little different. I played it for her, and she loved it [we] went in and knocked it out. The rest is history."

'Russian Roulette' will be featured on Rihanna's fourth album, 'Rated R,' which is due November 23.

Ne-Yo's current outlook is not entirely dark. The singer recently wrote and recorded the song 'Never Knew I Needed' for the forthcoming animated Disney film, 'The Princess and the Frog.'