Rihanna Debuts New Short Haircut at VMA Rehearsals

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Rihanna changes her hair color and style the way most women change their clothes.

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In recent memory, she’s worn blonde, black and red, and experimented with straight hair, full fros, assymetrical cuts and blunt bobs.

Now she’s cut off her long wavy black hair and gone super short, debuting a new 'do at the Staples Center when she arrived for rehearsals in advance of the Thursday's MTV Video Music Awards

Persistent paparazzi managed to snap a few shots as she entered the venue. (Check out Rihanna's new look here.)

The cut is eerily reminiscent of the androgynous style she wore in Battleship. And it harkens back to the short style she sported in 2009, as seen in the photo above.  Except that cut was longer on top --- creating a fringe for a more feminine feel. The new look is definitely the shortest and most drastic Rihanna has ever sported.

Rihanna usually previews any and all of her hair changes on Twitter. But not this time. Perhaps such a social media reach-out is too old hat now that Miley Cyrus tweeted out her punk blonde 'do and Jessica Alba tweeted her ombre blonde transition. Even Ellen DeGeneres tweeted her version of Miley's crop.

Rihanna works with celebrity stylist Ursula Stephen to come up with inventive new styles. The hair expert says that singer's hairstyle depends on what’s she wearing and how she’s feeling.

So how is Rihanna feeling and what is she wearing to grace the VMA stage?

We’ll find out the answers to both of these questions when Rihanna's opens the event with a performance of her new track "Cockiness" (Love It) alongside A$AP Rocky.