Rihanna says going through her ordeal with Chris Brown gave her music a distinct edge...
Rihanna tells Vogue
"It actually gave me a lot of liberation. What I mean is, I was able to tap into the personal part of my music. I started to tell stories through my music that were actually my stories.
"My album before that, there was still a little bit of protection, there was still an innocence to me. And what that time in my life did was kind of wake people up - it's not all a bed of roses. My life is like yours."
"It made me look at the world in a much bigger way because my life was suddenly superduper magnified; all eyes were on me. I needed that in my life to know how to say, 'F**k off!' To know how to keep my head high even in the worst of situations. I keep using the word unapologetic, but there's a freedom that has come with all of that. Where you feel like you don't have to make an excuse for being yourself."
