Chris Brown -- Bad Bad Choice

Hypothetical question: If you were a singer accused of beating your girlfriend to a pulp and your preliminary hearing was set for Monday ... would your next release be a song called "Smash" ?????

By the way ... Monday will be extremely interesting. Rihanna is set to take the stand and give the blow-by-blow.

The big question -- will Chris Brown's lawyer, Mark Geragos, cross-examine Rihanna. As we reported, Rihanna was aggressive with Brown in the car, striking him repeatedly after seeing a text message on Brown's phone from another woman.