R&B Singer Raheem DeVaughn Explains Controversial ‘She’s Single’ Video

Since the release of his latest racy music video for “She’s Single,” R&B crooner Raheem DeVaughn has been receiving a lot of slack from naysayers, similar to responses to Keri Hilson’s “The Way You Love Me.” The controversial video, dubbed soft porn, has become a viral phenomenon, even trending on Twitter. “I wanted to create an image that was tasteful, but cutting edge, provocative, grown… real,” DeVaughn tells Vibe.com of the raunchy clip. “I wanted to have people guessing and jaw-dropping. I knew it was going to be big but I didn’t guess all this. I was curious to see just how many people are checking for me, but it looks like a lot of people are.” “She’s Single” is lifted off DeVaughn’s new mixtape ‘Jackin’ 4 Beats,’ and is a remake of Lil Wayne’s song “Single.” The “Customer” singer says the song is not a cry for attention. “It’s not a moment of desperation. Technically there ain’t no records to sell. It’s a free mixtape. I paid for the video to be shot myself. It’s just another way for me to display my artistry,” he tells Vibe. “I’m constantly reinventing myself. It’s a constant thing that I do. No diss to any of my homies, but I pay very close attention to what people say about me. I maybe saw five negative comments out of thousands. And what’s interesting is it was from dudes. But I made this for women. I made this for a woman to say that’s how I want to be loved down. And for the brothers who do ride with me I made it for them to say yeah that’s how I put it down.” Unlike Keri Hilson, DeVaughn’s video was only created for promotional use and not for commercial sales. Understanding the double standard, DeVaughn says he’s cool with her video as well, even though he didn’t have a chance to view it. “I haven’t seen her video yet, but I’ve seen some of the comments. Someone created a blog page on just me and her,” he says. “They had our pictures up like mug shots like how does this dude go from “Customer” to this? Easy. It’s art man, don’t take it so seriously. I’m a fan of Keri. Unfortunately for women though, if they decide to be promiscuous they’re going to get a bad rap. It is what it is. We all know that. But hopefully it was her decision. If she’s cool with it, I’m cool with it.” Read the rest of this interview on Vibe.com.