Brown's second studio album, Exclusive was released worldwide in
November 2007. It spawned two successful singles; his second U.S.
number one hit, "Kiss Kiss" featuring T-Pain and "With
You", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.[4][5]
Brown has released a deluxe version of his album called The Forever
Edition. The first single from it, "Forever", was released
in May 2008 and reached number two on Billboard Hot 100.[6] Exclusive
has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.[3] The third studio album,
titled Graffiti, was released on December 15, 2009. The first official
single was "I Can Transform Ya", featuring Lil Wayne and
Swizz Beatz, which peaked at number-twenty on the Billboard Hot 100,
becoming Brown's eighth Top 20 hit on that chart.
In addition to his solo commercial success, Brown has been featured
on several hits such as "No Air", a duet with singer Jordin
Sparks, "Shortie like Mine" with the rapper Bow Wow and "Shawty
Get Loose" alongside Lil Mama and T-Pain. The songs have peaked
on number three, number nine and number ten on the Billboard Hot
100 respectively.[7][8][9] Due to his dance routines, Brown has been
compared to renowned R&B artists such as Usher and Michael Jackson,
citing both as large influences on his music.[10] In 2009, Brown
pleaded guilty to felony assault of singer Rihanna, and was sentenced
to five years probation and six months of community service.
Christopher Maurice Brown was born on May 5, 1989,[11] 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.[12][13] The youngest child of the couple, he has an older
sister who works in a bank.[12] Since his childhood, music was something
which always had been present in Brown's life. He used to listen
soul albums that his parents had owned,[13] but eventually, Brown
began to show interest in the hip-hop scene.[11]
Brown taught himself to sing and dance at a young age, often citing
Michael Jackson as his inspiration.[12] He then began to perform
in his church choir and in several local talent shows.[14][15] While
mimicking an Usher performance, his mother recognized his vocal talent
and they began to look for opportunities of a record deal.[14] At
the same time, Brown had been through personal issues. His parents
had already been divorced, and he said his mother's boyfriend made
him terrified all the time due to the domestic violence his mother
endured from her boyfriend.[16]
At the age of 13, Brown was discovered by a local production team
who visited his father's gas station while searching for new talent.[17]
The singer then, moved to New York.[12] In 2004, Tina Davis — then-senior
A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings — discovered him while
he was working with some local producers. She loved what she heard
and saw when Brown auditioned in her office at Island Def Jam Records
in New York. 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 at the same day. "I knew that Chris
had real talent," says Davis. "I just knew I wanted to
be part of it."[18]
The negotiations with Def Jam lasted two months until Davis lost
her job due to a corporate merger. Brown then asked her to be his
manager and Davis accepted, starting to "promote" the singer
to 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
the 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."[19] Brown ultimately
choose Jive, due to its successful work with then-young acts such
as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Brown claims, "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."[18]
2005–06: Chris Brown
Brown performing at KISS 106.1 Seattle Jingle Bell Bash 8
After being signed to Jive Records in 2004, Brown started the recording
process in February 2005. By May, there were 50 songs already recorded,
14 of which were picked to the final track listing.[12] The singer
worked with several producers and songwriters—Scott Storch,
Cool & Dre and Jazze Pha among them—commenting that they "really
believed in [him]".[20] Brown also made some input on the album,
receiving co-writing credits of five tracks.[12] "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."[21] The whole
album took less than eight weeks to produce,[21] being released on
November 29, 2005.[22] Self-titled Chris Brown, it debuted at number
two on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 154,000 copies.[23]
Chris Brown was a relative commercial success with the time; selling
over two million copies in the United States—where it was certified
two times platinum by the RIAA—and three million copies worldwide.[24][25]
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 additionally weeks.[11] Three of the other singles—"Yo
(Excuse Me Miss)," "Gimme That" and "Say Goodbye"—peaked
within the top twenty at the same chart.[26]
On June 13, 2006, Brown released a DVD entitled, Chris Brown's Journey,
which shows footage of him traveling in 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 $50,000 in ticket
proceeds from Brown's 2006 "Up Close & Personal" tour.
Brown was also the opening act for R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles
on the Australian leg of her The Beyoncé Experience tour.
2007–08: Acting debut and Exclusive
Brown has made appearances on UPN's One on One and The N's Brandon
T. Jackson Show on its pilot episode.[27][28] In addition, Brown
landed a small role as a band geek in the fourth season of Fox's
The O.C. in January 2007.[29] Brown then made his film debut in Stomp
the Yard, alongside Ne-Yo, Meagan Good and Columbus Short in January
2007.[30] Brown next appeared in This Christmas, a family drama starring
Regina King, released on November 21, 2007.[31] 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.[32] Brown also guest-starred
on Disney's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody as himself.[33] Brown
is expected to star in the basketball drama film Phenom.[34]
Brown performing at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Shortly after ending his summer tour with Ne-Yo, Brown quickly began
production for his second studio album, Exclusive, which was released
in November 2007. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard
200, selling 294,000 copies in its first week.[35] It has sold 1.9
million copies in the United States.[36]
According to MTV News, Brown stated: "I am still going to keep
it so my younger fans can continue to listen to my music, but I got
a couple of joints on there that's for some of the older people." The
album's first single, "Wall to Wall", debuted on the Billboard
Hot 100 at number 96, and peaked at number 79 and number 22 on the
Billboard R&B and Hip-Hop Chart becoming his lowest charting
song to date. "Kiss Kiss", featuring and produced by T-Pain,
was released as the second single. "Kiss Kiss," became
more successful surpassing the success of "Wall To Wall," reaching
number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 to become Chris' second
number one single and his highest chart peak since "Run It!" in
2005.
On December 4, 2007, Brown released the third single from "Exclusive," entitled "With
You", a song produced by Stargate. "With You" reached
number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and had entered the charts in
various countries around the world, becoming one of Brown's most
successful released to date, entering the top ten in New Zealand,
Singapore, Canada, the United States, Cyprus, Ireland, France, the
United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Australia.
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 single "Forever" which reached number
two on Billboard Hot 100.
In support of the album, Brown embarked on his The Exclusive Holiday
concert tour, visiting over thirty venues in United States. He started
the tour in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 6, 2007 and concluded it
on February 9, 2008 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The documented footage was
released on June 3, 2008 as the double disc of Exclusive: The Forever
Edition. He performed "With You" at the BET Awards '08
in June 2008. He was then joined by Ciara to dance with him to a
snippet of the song "Take You Down".
Brown, alongside The Game, is featured on Nas' untitled album on "Make
the World Go Round", co-produced by The Game and Cool & Dre.[37]
He is also featured alongside Sean Garrett for Ludacris' single "What
Them Girls Like" off Ludacris's album Theater of the Mind. He
was also featured on T-Pain's third single "Freeze" off
T-Pain's new album Thr33 Ringz. Brown was named the top artist of
2008 by Billboard magazine.[38][39] Brown lent his efforts to promote
the Math-A-Thon benefiting that hospital by starring as the host
in a film to promote it.[40] Brown released his single "Take
You Down" in January 2009 in the UK and Ireland.
2008–09: Graffiti and domestic violence case
Since 2008, Brown started to work on a upcoming studio album. According
to him, he will experiment a different musical direction for his
new album—titled Graffiti—while hoping to emulate fellow
American singers Prince and Michael Jackson. He says, "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."[41]
Brown debuted his lead Graffiti single "I Can Transform Ya" on
September 29 as a digital download and the music video debuted on
MTV on October 27, 2009. Brown also confirmed that his next single
was called "Crawl". Brown released the Crawl music video
on November 13, 2009. Graffiti would follow with a December 15, 2009
release.[42] Following Graffiti's release, it debuted at a disappointing
#55 and it was ranked 1 out of 4 stars. Brown had confirmed in his
interview with MTV's Sway that his next single would be Pass Out,
featuring Dutch electropop singer Eva Simons but was replaced with
Sing Like Me which was the album's promotional single.
Brown turned himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department's Wilshire
station on February 8, 2009, and was booked on suspicion of making
criminal threats,[43] while under investigation for domestic violence
charges, following an argument with an unidentified woman. The police
report did not name the female in the incident as is policy, but
stated that the she had "suffered visible injuries".[44]
However, various news media such as the Los Angeles Times, CNN, and
MSNBC said that sources had identified the alleged victim as his
girlfriend and fellow R&B singer Rihanna.[45][46][47] Following
his arrest, several of his commercial ads were suspended, his music
was withdrawn from multiple radio stations, and he withdrew from
public appearances, including one at the 2009 Grammy Awards, where
he was replaced by Justin Timberlake and Al Green.[47][48][49][50]
Brown later released a statement saying, "Words cannot begin
to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired."[51]
On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with felony assault and making
criminal threats.[52][53] He was arraigned on April 6, 2009, and
pleaded not guilty to one count of assault and one count of making
criminal threats.[54] On June 22, 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to a
felony and accepted a plea deal of community labor and five years'
formal probation. Domestic violence counseling is also part of the
deal by Judge Patricia Schnegg in court.[55] Several organizations
against domestic violence expressed criticism over the plea deal,
advocating the punishment was not severe enough for the crime; the
level of Brown's influence over youth also came under scrutiny.[56][57]
On July 20, 2009, Brown released a two-minute video on his official
YouTube page apologizing to fans and Rihanna for the domestic altercation,
expressing the incident as his "deepest regret" and saying
that he has repeatedly apologized to Rihanna and "accepts full
responsibility".[58][59][60] Brown said he wanted to speak out
earlier about the case but was advised by his attorney not to until
the legal ramifications were settled.[58][59][60] On August 25, Brown
was sentenced to five years of probation, one year of domestic violence
counseling, and six months of community service; the judge retained
a five-year restraining order on Brown, which requires him to remain
50 yards away from Rihanna, 10 yards at public events.[61][62][63]
On September 2, 2009, Brown spoke about the domestic violence case
in a pre-recorded Larry King Live interview, his first public interview
about the matter.[64][65][66][67] He was accompanied in the interview
by his mother and attorney Mark Geragos, as he discussed growing
up in a household rampant with domestic violence; his mother had
been repeatedly assaulted by his stepfather. Brown said of hearing
details of what transpired the night of his own assault, his physical
altercation with Rihanna, "I'm in shock, because, first of all,
that's not who I am as a person, and that's not who I promise I want
to be."[64] Brown's mother, Joyce Hawkins, said Brown "has
never, ever been a violent person, ever" and that she does not
believe in the cycle of violence.[64] Brown described his relationship
with Rihanna as having been like Romeo and Juliet during widespread
media reports of the domestic violence case, and that it was the
media that drove them apart following news of the assault.[67] He
said he did not remember assaulting Rihanna but realized it occurred
and is sorry for his actions that night.[64][65][66][67][68] Following
criticism of saying he did not remember, Brown later said in a statement, "Of
course I remember what happened. Several times during the interview,
my mother said that I came to her right afterwards and told her everything." Brown
said despite this, "[that night] was and still is a blur".[65][66]
Earlier in the Larry King Live interview, he said that it is "tough" for
him to look at the famous photograph released of Rihanna's battered
face, which may be the one image to haunt and define him forever,
and that he still loves her.[64] "I'm pretty sure we can always
be friends," said Brown, "and I don't know about our relationship,
but I just know definitely that we ended as friends." In addition,
he stated he does not feel that his career is over.[67]
Brown appeared on 20/20 for an in-depth interview airing December
4, 2009. In the interview, which was conducted by Good Morning America's
Robin Roberts, Brown further discussed his assault of Rihanna.[69]
In June 2010, Brown's application for a visa to enter the UK was
refused on the grounds of him "being guilty of a serious criminal
offence."[70] Brown had been planning to do a tour of British
cities as part of a European tour but Sony stated that due to "issues
surrounding his work visa" the tour was to be postponed. The
British Home Office confirmed that Brown was refused permission on
the grounds of being guilty of a serious criminal offence – his
assault on ex-girlfriend Rihanna.[70][71]
2010–present: F.A.M.E.
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".[72] The performance and his emotional turmoil
resonated with several celebrities. Trey Songz commented at the after
party "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".[73]
Jermaine Jackson, Michael's brother 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".[74] Later on in the night during an acceptance
speech, Brown stated "I let y'all down before, but I won't do
it again...I promise".[73]
In May 2010, Brown released a collaborative mixtape with Tyga, titled
Fan of a Fan. "Deuces" which features Tyga and Kevin McCall,
was released from the mixtape in the United States on June 29, 2010.[75]
The song peaked at number one on U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart
for seven non-consecutive weeks, giving Brown his first number one
on the chart since his 2006 hit single, "Say Goodbye".[76]
It also peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100.[76]
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,[77] and also serves as executive producer
of the film. While hosting radio station KPEZ in September 2010,
Brown announced that his fourth studio album would be called, F.A.M.E.
(Forgiving All My Enemies).[78][79] Drake, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars,
Pitbull and Asher Roth, have reportedly been working on the album
with Brown.[80][81][82]
"
Yeah 3x" was released as the album's lead single on October
25, 2010.[83] The song peaked at number 15 in the United States and
Canada. It also charted in the top five in Australia[84] and New
Zealand,[85] receiving platinum certifications in both countries.[86][87] "Look
at Me Now" featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, was released
as the second single in January 2011.[88] Most recently, it was revealed
F.A.M.E will be released in March 2011.[89] In support of the album,
Brown will headline the F.A.M.E Tour, starting in Australia in April
2011.[89] Brown also announced via twitter that his upcoming fourth
album may be a 2-disc album, the second CD being titled Fortune.
Discography
Main article: Chris Brown discography
* Chris Brown (2005)
* Exclusive (2007)
* Graffiti (2009)
* F.A.M.E. (2011)
Tours
Headlining
* 2006: Up Close and Personal Tour
* 2007: The UCP Exclusive Tour
* 2009: Fan Appreciation Tour[90]
* 2010: The F.A.M.E Tour
Opening act
* 2007: The Beyoncé Experience
* 2008: The Good Girl Gone Bad Tour
Filmography
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Christmas in Washington Himself television special (TNT)
2007 Chris Brown: Journey to South Africa Himself Documentary film
of Brown's first trip to Africa (SABC 1)
2007 The O.C. Will Tutt three episodes
2008 The Suite Life of Zack and Cody Himself guest star
Film
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Stomp the Yard Duron small role/film debut
This Christmas Michael 'Baby' Whitfield main role
2010 Takers Jessie Attica Executive Producer