You never know what you’re going to get these days in the way of Rihanna’s fashion sense. In this instance, it’s her album cover, Rated R, and with respect to what she’s done over the past few months, milder than we would have thought.

The play on words is obvious, but it would have been nice to see some skin… Classy kinda went out the window with see thru shirt(s) (she gets a pass on the her and CB leaks… we figure she didn’t know).

Maybe the racy pics will be somewhere by the liner notes.

If by watching “Run’s House” you never got an idea of what it’s like to talk to Russell Simmons, here is yet another opportunity. Rick Rubin is there and apparently a part of this conversation/interview, but it more or less turns into a monologue when Uncle Rush is prompted to speak.

He doesn’t seem to need much of a reason to share his jewels of knowledge, just a slight nudge and THAR SHE BLOWS!!

Really though, it’s good game. He’s so matter of fact it’s hilarious and Rubin just sits there cause he knows it’s the truth. Guess that’s the life of a mogul.

They appear to be on their way to the “VH1 Hip Hop Honors,” where the night is being held to uplift the label they started. Both men are visibly happy to be celebrating such an auspicious occasion, even if LL Cool J couldn’t be there.

“LL Cool J has become an amazing person,” Simmons says in the video. “He’s also consistently been hot. He’s hot now on CSI. It’s been a lot of years. He was the first artist on Def Jam and he can’t be here right now because of how hot he is right now. And it’s a real thing.

VIDEO INSIDE!

Below is an acapella version of “Epiphany” from Chrisette Michele’s sophomore album of the same handle. She’s said to be at a Def Jam meeting, probably determining marketing strategies and whatnot. It’s kind of disturbing that the two people pictured in the video to her right don’t seem to be that into the song or her and they work there… just another day and another artist in the fold.

But why she look like Eva tho?

Janet Jackson recently revealed more information about her strained relationship with Def Jam, citing singer Sade as the source of the problem. In essence, the label was more or less insisting she convert her musical exploits to suit her older, more mature fans and deliver an album that complimented her age rather than her spirit.

“They wanted me to sound more like Sade,” Janet reportedly said. “I’m not ready for that just yet. I love doing dance songs and I think my fans expect that of me.”

Since cancelling her tour over repeated hiccups due to a medical condition she was unaware of for months, Miss Jackson is currently considering a deal with Live Nation. She recently told Sister 2 Sister Magazine she is concentrating more on behind the scenes work with film and television.