When Rihanna and Chris Brown released new music tracks featuring each other last month, fans were outraged. Why would Rihanna, who suffered abuse by her former boyfriend, Brown, just three years ago, reunite with him on two new remixed tracks? The singer explained her reasoning on “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” Thursday.

“I reached out to him about doing ‘Birthday Cake’ because that’s the only person that really made sense to do the record,” she said. “You know I thought about rappers, and I’ve done that so many times, and the hottest R&B artist out right now is Chris Brown.”

She continued, explaining that Brown then asked her to lend her vocal talent to his track, “Turn Up the Music (Remix)”

“We did two records,” she said. “One for my fans. One for his fans, and that way our fans can come together. There shouldn’t be a divide. You know? It’s music, and it’s innocent.”

The divide Rihanna mentions is likely a reference to the war of the words the singer started with Brown’s girlfriend, model Karrueche Tran, over Twitter earlier this month. The two exchanged veiled insults over the social networking site, which led tothreats being sent to Tran from some fans hoping for a Rihanna-Chris reunion.

Though rumors have been swirling for months that Rihanna and Brown have been secretly hooking up — neither party has officially addressed the stories — Rihanna isn’t exactly helping to quash the hookup rumors.

“When they see me with you, wonder what the crowd would say? When they find us together, what will all the people say?” she tweeted on March 10, quoting the Beres Hammond song “They Gonna Talk,” and leading many to speculate about whether or not she was referencing Brown.