Chris Brown (American singer)

Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to ''Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contemporaries as the " King of R&B". His musical style has been defined as polyhedric, with his R&B being characterized by several influences from other genres, mainly hip hop and pop music. His lyrics develop predominantly over themes of sex, romance, fast life, desire, regret, and emotional conflict. Brown has gained a cult following and wide comparisons to Michael Jackson for his stage presence.

In 2004, Brown signed with Jive Records, and released his self-titled debut studio album the following year, which was later certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). With his debut single " Run It!" peaking atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Brown became the first male artist since 1995 to have his debut single top the chart. His second album, '' Exclusive'' (2007), was met with even bigger commercial success worldwide, and it spawned his second ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number one "Kiss Kiss". In 2009, Brown pled guilty to felony assault of his then girlfriend, singer Rihanna.Settlement reached in Chris Brown's alleged beating of Rihanna
''Los Angeles Times'', June 22, 2009 In the same, year he released his third album, ''Graffiti'', which was considered to be a commercial failure compared to his previous works. Following ''Graffiti'', Brown released his fourth album '' F.A.M.E.'' (2011), which became his first album to top the ''Billboard'' 200. The album contained the commercially successful singles: " Yeah 3x", " Look at Me Now" and " Beautiful People", and earned him the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. His fifth album, ''Fortune'', released in 2012, also topped the ''Billboard'' 200.

Following the releases of '' X'' (2014) and '' Royalty'' (2015), his 2017 double-disc album, '' Heartbreak on a Full Moon'', consisting of 45 tracks, was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units after one week, and was later certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Brown's ninth studio album ''Indigo'' was released in 2019, also debuted atop on the ''Billboard'' 200. It included the Drake featured track "No Guidance" which reached the top five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and broke the record for the longest-running number one on ''Billboard'''s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Its chart success was outdone with the single " Go Crazy" released the following year, alongside Young Thug as part of their collaborative mixtape ''Slime & B'' (2020).

Brown has sold over 197 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He is also one of the highest-grossing African American touring artists of all time. Brown has the most ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entries of any male singer in history; as well as the most top 40 hits of any R&B singer in history. Brown was also ranked third on ''Billboard'''s top R&B/Hip-Hop artists of the 2010s chart. Throughout his career, Brown has won several awards, including a Grammy Award, eighteen BET Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, and thirteen Soul Train Music Awards. Brown has also pursued an acting career. In 2007, he made his on-screen feature film debut in '' Stomp the Yard'', and appeared as a guest on the television series '' The O.C.'' Other films Brown has appeared in include '' This Christmas'' (2007), ''Takers'' (2010), '' Think Like a Man'' (2012), and '' Battle of the Year'' (2013) and ''She Ball'' (2020).

Early life

Christopher Maurice Brown was born on May 5, 1989, in the small town of Tappahannock, Virginia, to Joyce Hawkins, a former day care center director, and Clinton Brown, a corrections officer at a local prison. He has an older sister, Lytrell Bundy, who works in a bank. Music was always present in Brown's life beginning in his childhood. He would listen to soul albums that his parents owned, and eventually began to show interest in the hip-hop scene.

Brown taught himself to sing and dance at a young age and often cites Michael Jackson as his inspiration. He began to perform in his church choir and in several local talent shows. When he mimicked an Usher performance of " My Way", his mother recognized his vocal talent, and they began to look for the opportunity of a record deal. At the same time, Brown was going through personal issues. His parents had divorced, and his mother's boyfriend terrified him by subjecting her to domestic violence.

Career

2002–2004: Career beginnings

At age 13, Brown was discovered by Hitmission Records, a local production team that visited his father's gas station while searching for new talent. Hitmission's Lamont Fleming provided voice coaching for Brown, and the team helped to arrange a demo package, under the name of "C. Sizzle", and approached contacts in New York, where Brown started to sojourn, to seek a record deal. Brown attended Essex High School in Virginia until late 2004, when he moved to New York to pursue his music career. Tina Davis, senior A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings, was impressed when Brown auditioned in her New York office, and she immediately took him to meet the former president of the Island Def Jam Music Group, Antonio "L.A." Reid, who offered to sign him that day, but Brown refused his proposal. "I knew that Chris had real talent," says Davis. "I just knew I wanted to be part of it."

The negotiations with Def Jam continued for two months, and ended when Davis lost her job due to a corporate merger. Brown asked her to be his manager, and once Davis accepted, she promoted the singer to other labels such as Jive Records, J-Records and Warner Bros. Records. According to Mark Pitts, in an interview with HitQuarters, Davis presented Brown with a video recording, and Pitts' reaction was: "I saw huge potential ... I didn't love all the records, but I loved his voice. It wasn't a problem because I knew that he could sing, and I knew how to make records." Brown ultimately chose Jive due to its successful work with then-young acts such as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Brown stated, "I picked Jive because they had the best success with younger artists in the pop market, ..I knew I was going to capture my African American audience, but Jive had a lot of strength in the pop area as well as longevity in careers." Brown said that during his permanence in Harlem, when he was trying to get his music heard by major labels, his artistic intention was to both rap and sing on his records, but Jive convinced him to stick to just singing, because he said that "it wasn't acceptable yet" for an R&B singer to also rap on records.

2005–2006: ''Chris Brown'' and acting debut

After signing to Jive Records in 2004, Brown began recording his self-titled debut studio album in February 2005. By May, there were 50 songs already recorded, 14 of which were picked to the final track listing. The singer worked with several producers and songwriters—Scott Storch, Cool & Dre, Sean Garrett and Jazze Pha among them—commenting that they "really believed in im. Brown co-wrote half of the tracks. "I write about the things that 16 year olds go through every day," says Brown. "Like you just got in trouble for sneaking your girl into the house, or you can't drive, so you steal a car or something." The whole album took less than eight weeks to produce.

Released on November 29, 2005, the self-titled ''Chris Brown'' album debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 with first week sales of 154,000 copies. ''Chris Brown'' was a commercial success with the time; selling over three million copies in the United States—where it was certified three times platinum by the RIAA—and six million copies worldwide. The album's lead single, " Run It!", made Brown the first male act (since Montell Jordan in 1995) to have his debut single to reach the summit of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100—later remaining for four additional weeks. Three of the other singles—" Yo (Excuse Me Miss)", " Gimme That" and " Say Goodbye"—peaked within the top twenty at the same chart.

On June 13, 2006, Brown released a DVD entitled ''Chris Brown's Journey'', which shows footage of him traveling through England and Japan, getting ready for his first visit to the Grammy Awards, behind the scenes of his music videos and bloopers. On August 17, 2006, to further promote the album, Brown began his major co-headlining tour, ''The Up Close and Personal Tour''. Due to the tour, production for his next album was pushed back two months. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received $10,000 in ticket proceeds from Brown's 2006 "Up Close & Personal" tour. Brown has made appearances on UPN's '' One on One'' and The N's ''Brandon T. Jackson Show'' on its pilot episode.

2007–2008: ''Exclusive''

In January 2007, Brown landed a small role as a band geek in the fourth season of the American television series '' The O.C.''. Brown then made his film debut in '' Stomp the Yard'', alongside Ne-Yo, Meagan Good and Columbus Short on January 12, 2007. In April 2007, Brown was the opening act for Beyoncé, on the Australian leg of her The Beyoncé Experience tour. On July 9, 2007, Brown was featured in an episode of MTV's '' My Super Sweet 16'' (for the event, it was retitled: ''Chris Brown: My Super 18'') celebrating his eighteenth birthday in New York City.

Shortly after ending his summer tour with Ne-Yo, Brown quickly began production for his second studio album, '' Exclusive''. When the album's lead single, " Wall to Wall", was released, it didn't have a great commercial success, peaking at number 79 on US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and number 22 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, being his lowest charting single at the time. However, "Kiss Kiss", featuring and produced by T-Pain, released as the album's second single, received huge success, reaching number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and becoming Brown's second number one single following "Run It!" in 2005. " With You", produced by Stargate (duo of producers known at the time for their work with R&B singer Ne-Yo), was released as the third single from ''Exclusive'', had even bigger success than "Kiss Kiss", becoming one of the all-time best-selling singles, and reaching number two on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. ''Exclusive'' was released in the United States on November 6, 2007. The album is musically R&B, having slight pop influences that were absent in the previous hip hop soul-influenced disc, reaching a big international success. The album debuted at number four on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 294,000 copies in its first week, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. As of March 23, 2011, it has sold over 1.9 million copies in the United States.

In November 2007, Brown starred as a video host for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Math-A-Thon program. He showed his support by encouraging students to use their math skills to help children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. On November 21, 2007, Brown appeared in '' This Christmas'', a family drama starring Regina King. To further support the album ''Exclusive'', Brown embarked on his The Exclusive Holiday Tour, visiting over thirty venues in United States. The tour began in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 6, 2007, and concluded on February 9, 2008, in Honolulu, Hawaii. In March 2008, Brown was featured on Jordin Sparks' single "No Air", which had worldwide success peaked at number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. He also made a guest appearance on David Banner' single " Get Like Me" alongside Yung Joc. The song peaked at number sixteen on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number two on the US Hot Rap Songs chart. Brown re-released ''Exclusive'' on June 3, 2008, as a deluxe edition, renamed ''Exclusive: The Forever Edition'', seven months after the release of the original version. The re-released version featured four new tracks, including the Eurodisco single "Forever", which became one of his most known singles, reaching number two on ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In August 2008, Brown guest-starred on Disney's ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' as himself. Towards the end of 2008, Brown was named Artist of the Year by ''Billboard'' magazine.

2009–2010: ''Graffiti'' and mixtapes

In 2008, Brown began work on his third studio album, to be called ''Graffiti'', promising to experiment with a different musical direction inspired by singers Prince and Michael Jackson. He stated, "I wanted to change it up and really be different. Like my style nowadays, I don't try to be typical urban. I want to be like how Prince, Michael and Stevie Wonder were. They can cross over to any genre of music." Following the domestic violence scandal involving the singer and Rihanna on February 8, 2009, the majority of media took positions against the singer. The incident also caused Brown to lose significant commercial contracts, including one with Doublemint. The singer later participated in numerous television appearances during the year to express himself publicly about it. ''Graffiti''s lead single " I Can Transform Ya" was released on September 29, 2009. The song peaked at number 20 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. " Crawl" was released as the album's second single on November 23, 2009. The song reached number 53 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''Graffiti'' was then released on December 8, 2009, featuring an R&B sound mixed with Eurodisco and rock. Brown, with this album, started to take full control of his art, managing the artistic direction, and writing every song of the album (with the exception of the song "I'll Go", written and produced by Brian Kennedy and James Fauntleroy). Brown started to be the only artistic director of all his future projects. He said that his decision to entirely direct and write his albums and songs came from the fact that he wanted to give his "own perspective of the music ewanted to make" and by his wanting to "verbalize whatever ewas going through". The album, compared to its two precessors, was a commercial and critical failure, debuting at number 7 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 102,000 copies in its first week, and receiving generally negative reviews from critics. As of March 23, 2011, it has sold 341,000 copies in the United States.

While performing a Michael Jackson Tribute at the 2010 BET Awards, Brown started to cry and fell to his knees while singing Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". The performance and his emotional turmoil resonated with several celebrities present at the ceremony, including Trey Songz, Diddy and Taraji P. Henson. Songz said, "He left his heart on the stage. He gave genuine emotion. I was proud of him and I was happy for him for having that moment". Michael's brother, Jermaine Jackson, expressed similar sentiments stating, "it was very emotional for me, because it was an acceptance from his fans from what has happened to him and also paying tribute to my brother". Later during the award ceremony, Brown stated, "I let y'all down before, but I won't do it again...I promise", while accepting the award for the AOL Fandemonium prize. In August 2010, Brown starred alongside an ensemble cast, including Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Hayden Christensen and T.I. in the crime thriller ''Takers'', and also served as executive producer of the film.

During 2010 Brown released the 3 free mixtapes ''In My Zone (Rhythm & Streets)'', ''Fan of a Fan), and ''In My Zone 2'', which featured a new style of writing with grown themes, and a different musical style, mixing R&B with hip hop. For the mixtapes he worked with new producers, most notably Kevin McCall. The mixtapes were highly appreciated by the artist's loyal audience, consolidating it. The single " Deuces", extracted from the ''Fan of a Fan'' mixtape, obtained critical acclaim, also achieving a good success, peaking at number 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song was later remixed by the biggest names in the hip-hop scene of that time, including Drake, Kanye West, André 3000, Rick Ross, Fabolous, and T.I. He later released the solo track " No BS" as his second single from ''Fan of a Fan'', and decided to include the two singles from the mixtape as anticipation singles for his next album.

2011–2012: ''F.A.M.E.'' and ''Fortune''

In September 2010 Brown announced his album, F.A.M.E. ackronym for "Forgiving All My Enemies" releasing in October the first official single from the album, " Yeah 3x", a dance-pop song, different from his previous songs on the urban mixtapes. The single received enormous international success and entered the top-ten in eleven countries, including Australia, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.. It was succeeded by the hip-hop single " Look at Me Now", featuring rappers Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, that reached number one on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it remained for eight consecutive weeks. It also reached number one on the US Hot Rap Songs chart. The single became the best-selling rap song of 2011, as well as one of all-time best-selling singles in the United States.

Brown's fourth studio album '' F.A.M.E.'' was first released on March 18, 2011. The album debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 270,000 copies, giving Brown his first number-one album in the United States. The album's third single, " Beautiful People", featuring Benny Benassi, peaked at number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and became the first number-one single on the chart for both Brown and Benassi. "She Ain't You" was released as the album's fourth US single, while " Next 2 You", featuring Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber, served as the album's fourth international single. To further promote the album, Brown embarked on his F.A.M.E. Tour in Australia and North America.

Brown received six nominations at the 2011 BET Awards and ultimately won five awards, including Best Male R&B Artist, Viewers Choice Award, The Fandemonium Award, Best Collaboration and Video of the Year for "Look at Me Now". He also won three awards at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards, including the People's Champ Award, Reese's Perfect Combo Award and Best Hip Hop Video for "Look at Me Now". At the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards, ''F.A.M.E.'' won Album of the Year. The album has also earned Brown three Grammy Award nominations at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album, as well as Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for "Look at Me Now". On February 12, 2012, Brown won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. During the ceremony, Brown performed several songs marking his first appearance at the awards show since his conviction of felony assault.

Originally, Brown wanted ''F.A.M.E.'' to be a double-disc consistent of 25–30 tracks, but the label was contrary to that. Right before the release of ''F.A.M.E.'' Brown decided to follow his intentions in an acceptable way for the label, working on a sequel of ''F.A.M.E.'' called ''Fortune'', that would be a whole new album that contained new material and even some tracks that didn't make the cut of the previous album, releasing it six months after it. The artist later decided to take more time to work on the album, developing it as a project of its own, with its own concept and sound being different than the one of its precedent album. On October 7, 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, Brown (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release future material on the RCA Records brand. Brown's fifth studio album ''Fortune'' was released on July 3, 2012. The album debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200, but received negative reviews from critics. " Strip", featuring Kevin McCall, was released as the album's buzz single, with " Turn Up the Music" released as the lead single, and " Sweet Love", " Till I Die", " Don't Wake Me Up" and " Don't Judge Me" released as the album's following singles, respectively. To further promote the album, Brown embarked on his Carpe Diem Tour in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Trinidad.

2013–2015: ''X'' and ''Royalty''

After concluding his Carpe Diem Tour in 2012, Brown's next studio album started to develop. On February 15, 2013, the singer unofficially released the song "Home", with an official videoclip, where he expresses a reflection on the bitter price of fame, and on how the only moment of respite from that thought is when he returns to the neighborhood where he grew up with people who knew him from the start. On March 26, 2013, Brown announced the release of ''X'', in various interviews and listening sessions, releasing the song " Fine China" as the album lead single. In an interview with ''Ebony'', when Brown spoke of taking his music in a different direction and changing his sound from pop-infused and sexually explicit of the previous album ''Fortune'', to a more mature, soulful and vulnerable theme for the album. On March 29, 2013, he released " Fine China" as the lead single of the album.

Following the dropping of two other anticipation singles off ''X'', "Don't Think They Know" and "Love More", on August 9, 2013, at 1:09 am PDT, Brown was reported to have suffered a seizure from Record Plant Studios in Hollywood, California as a 9-1-1 call was made. When paramedics arrived, Brown allegedly refused to receive treatment and also refused to be transported to the local hospital. (Brown has reportedly suffered from seizures since his childhood.) The next day, Brown's representative reported the seizure was caused by "intense fatigue and extreme emotional stress, both due to the continued onslaught of unfounded legal matters and the nonstop negativity." On November 20, 2013, Brown was sentenced to an anger management rehabilitation center for three months, putting the December 2013 release of ''X'' in jeopardy. To "hold ansover until he ''X'' albumdrops," Brown released a mixtape, titled ''X Files'' on November 19, 2013. On February 22, 2014, it was announced that the album would be released on Brown's birthday, May 5, 2014. On April 14, 2014, Brown released a teaser of the new track "Don't Be Gone Too Long" featuring Ariana Grande. However, following Brown's arrest for felony assault in Washington, D.C., on October 27, 2013, the song and album were again delayed due to Brown's prison sentence. While incarcerated, " Loyal" was released as the album's fourth single, becoming one of his most successful songs, by peaking at the top 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and in the United Kingdom. On August 3, 2014, Chris announced via Instagram that the album's release date will be on September 16, 2014. On August 6, 2014, the album cover was revealed. The song ended up being never released as a single, instead " New Flame" featuring Usher and Rick Ross was later released as the album's final single. The title track " X" was released as an instant-gratification track alongside the album pre-order on iTunes on August 25, 2014.

Brown's sixth studio album, '' X'' was released on September 16, 2014. The album received positive reviews from critics, who celebrated the record's sound and Brown's vocal performances. The album was considered a big improvement compared to its critically panned predecessor ''Fortune''. At the 2015 Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for the Best Urban Contemporary Album, while "New Flame" was nominated for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song. Commercially, the album debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200 selling 146,000 copies in its first week, becoming his first album to miss the summit of the chart since ''Graffiti'' (2009) and his third album to go to number two on the chart overall following '' Exclusive'' (2007). It also became his sixth consecutive top ten debut in the United States. By the end of 2015, the album had sold 404,000 copies in the United States. It has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Pushing the promotion for the album further, Brown performed and appeared at several televised music events and music festivals across the United States.

On February 24, 2015, Brown released his first collaborative studio album with Tyga, titled '' Fan of a Fan: The Album''. The album was a follow-up to the pairs 2010 mixtape ''Fan of a Fan

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