MTV Buzzworthy Blog › Melina

Call in the troops! Call in the calvary! Rihanna's ready to fight a war of words and aggression with heavy weaponry, heavy eyeliner, a pink tank, Mickey Mouse ears, and her swagger gun sent to stun in her new video, "Hard." Rihanna's had a tough year, and now it's time to blow shiz up.

In the "Hard" preview and photos from the set, Rihanna made it clear that the look of "Hard" is total military couture. But aside from the obvious salute to the unlikely intersection of high fashion and the armed forces, (and fighting as metaphor for her tough-as-nails attitude), this is Rihanna (doing her best Grace Jones) in her role of a lifetime -- Queen Bitch Bawse. Like a total boss, Rihanna cleans house at poker, puts bloggers on blast (um...), symbolically drags you through the mud, and pretty much destroys everything in her path. Grabbing her crotch and sneering, Rihanna gets to be a dude for a day. This is Rihanna not giving a f++k, but, again, Mickey Mouse ears, you get the sense that despite the endless reminders of how hard she is, Rihanna's hard-ness comes with a sly wink and a smile.

Watch Rihanna's "Hard" video, featuring Young Jeezy, directed by Melina.

Tags Melina, Rihanna, video, Young Jeezy

Looks like Nate Archibald... err, Chace Crawford (not to be confused with the former NBA baller) learned a few things about moving money around from his no-good dad. But why's he gotta take sweet, innocent Leona Lewis down with him? (Probably for the same reason he bagged all those Gossip Girls too... THOSE CHEEKBONES! THOSE ICY EYES! THAT SCRUFF!)

Watch Leona Lewis and Chace Crawford break the law for love in Leona's brand-new video, "I Will Be," co-written by Avril Lavigne and directed by Melina, who also directed Katy Perry's new "Thinking of You" video.

Tags Avril Lavigne, Chace Crawford, Gossip Girl, Katy Perry, Leona Lewis, Melina

Uch, Katy Perry. THANKS A LOT. As if your split from Travie wasn't SAD enough, you dropped a total depression session into our laps in the form of your new "Thinking Of You" video, which, with its World War II-theme, looks kinda like if the Jonas Brothers' "Lovebug" video ended really really badly.

"Thinking Of You" was directed by Melina, who directed Keri Hilson's "Energy" video, Ashanti's "Good Good," Ne-Yo's "Closer" and Snoop's insta-classic "Sensual Seduction."

And the other dude in the video is Matt Dallas -- the guy with no bellybutton from Kyle XY! -- who was also in James Blunt's "Goodbye My Lover" video with Mischa Barton. (Watch it below the jump.)

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Tags Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry, Melina

If Beyonce Knowles is the type of girl you'd want to have tea with, Solange Knowles is the type of chick you'd wanna do shots with. At least we would. Girl is astute, blunt as a spoon, and totally fearless, daring to take the TRL stage in killer heels only days after breaking her foot. And while she's just 21, she's got an Erykah Badu/ old-soul vibe about her, which explains why her "I Decided" single, off her upcoming album, SoL-AngeL and The Hadley Street Dreams, has a retro Motown sound, while the video has more history than an archaeological dig.

Here's what the solo artist and mom -- "My son's definitely a tour bus baby. He was up on the bus last night at 11 o'clock last night playing hot hands with my band," Solange said of her son, Daniel -- told us about her new moniker, her irresistible new video, and knowing when to say "eff you."

Buzzworthy: The video is amazing. What inspired the historical theme?

Solange Knowles: I saw the movie Across the Universe, which was inspired by the Beatles, and I loved how they mixed archival footage in with the actual performances of the songs. So I thought it would be cool because I didn't just want the video to be another glossy R&B-chick, no-message, no-creativity type of video. I just wanted to visually express what the album is like. So I traveled through all the different eras to get to this guy. I wrote the entire treatment from top to bottom, and I co-directed the video with Melina. It was final say, up to me, which was a blessing, because every artist doesn't get to do that. Thank God it was a decent idea because my label would've lost their bonkers if it wasn't!

Buzzworthy: What was it like working with Cee-Lo?

SK: He is incredible. He's a genius how he conceptualizes. I was telling him ever since I've been divorced and dating how I'm very very skeptical and feel like I will always be in a fragile state. And he was like, 'Yeah you're kinda like a sand castle. You don't wanna be blown away!' I was like, 'You smart MF'er!!' He was really cool. Very fun!

BW: How was working with Mark Ronson?

SK: Mark was great. I met with him the day he won the Grammy. So I was like, 'I'm not gonna hear from him again!' But he sent the music, and he's just really hot right now. And very cool how he takes this old sound and kinda modernizes it. I love that about him!

BW: What made you decide to use the name SoL-Angel?

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Tags Melina, Solange Knowles, TRL