Southern Plug Magazine: Leaders of the New School 2017 Volume 2 Issue 1 A | Page 31

BY: DARREN JAMES
Chris Brown arrived the mid-2000s as a squeaky-clean teen R&B
artist with "Run It!," the first debut single by a male artist to top the
Billboard Hot 100 in over a decade. While there was nowhere to
go but down, at least in terms of chart positions, the singer and
occasional rapper was only getting started, despite the swift
subsequent shedding of his wholesome image. By the end of the
decade, he was one of the biggest active pop stars, with a clutch of
Top Ten singles and platinum albums to his credit, along with
constant comparisons to a young Michael Jackson, and several
acting roles on the side. His momentum slowed little when, in 2009,
he pleaded guilty to assaulting girlfriend Rihanna. His commercial
clout remained, as his successive albums into the next decade
topped the Billboard all-genre and Brown came from a small
Virginia town called Tappahannock. Like a lot of kids born during
the mid- to late '80s, he was initially into his parents' favorite music
but eventually fell under the spell of hip-hop. Around the time he
reached puberty, he discovered his singing ability and switched his
focus away from MC'ing. A move to New York led to being
discovered by Tina Davis, a Def Jam A&R executive who became the
singer's manager shortly after losing her position to the Sony-BMG
merger. The Jive label, due in part to its track record with younger
artists who had established longevity (like Britney Spears and
Justin Timberlake), won the bidding war for Brown and lined up
several production and songwriting heavyweights, including
Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, Dre & Vidal, Sean Garrett, and
Storch, for his self-titled first album. An immediate Top Ten hit
when it was released in 2005, Chris Brown not only featured the
number one "Run It!" but two other Top Ten singles in "Yo (Excuse
Me Miss)" and "Say Goodbye." Exclusive, released in 2007 and a bit
of a departure from the squeaky-clean image displayed throughout
the debut, was even more successful, featuring the number one
single "Kiss Kiss" and two other Top Five hits. Yet another Top Five
hit came with "No Air," a duet with Jordin Sparks that appeared on
Sparks' own self-titled album. In March 2009, Brown was charged
with felonious assault of Rihanna -- an altercation that had
prevented his then-girlfriend from taking the stage at the Grammy
Awards. Brown was scheduled to perform as well, but he did not
appear and maintained a low profile for several months. A fairly