(ThyBlackMan.com) Chris Brown, the controversial, but yet talented 24 year old R&B singer continues to be a lightning rod of controversy, post the Rihanna escapade. Since the 2009 incident, Brown has witnessed his profession take several twists and turns, both personally and musically; his albums has declined in quality and in critical acclaim from his first two albums. His persona is now inflicted and perhaps, calculated with a bad boy image, choosing to let bad publicity be the driving force for promotion.
The irony of the situation is that Rihanna’s brand musically has increased; she’s achieved seven number one singles, platinum albums and constantly referred to as one of the prevalent pop stars in the world. Chris Brown’s numbers post Rihanna? Zero number one singles and not a single platinum album to his name. The decline in Chris Brown’s popularity consumes me to ponder the thought; would Chris Brown be one of the biggest R&B stars in music, if the Rihanna incident didn’t take place?
Two points that must be addressed before the question can be answered. One, Chris Brown’s fan base and demographic pre-2009 consisted of preteens, teenagers and young adults. That particular audience is the easiest to promote any form of media to. Second, it’s also important to be attentive that Brown was reaching his peak during that time period. Although Exclusive was
released a year and a half (2007) earlier to double platinum results, one would estimate that his record company would strategize musically to take his performance act to new heights if the Incident didn’t take place. Think about it, he would have had a plethora of opportunities to market his product as the next big musical act.
He would be furnished with the record labels trust; as well as reaching the two million sale mark on Exclusive, he released four top ten singles, including the number one record “Kiss Kiss.” One of those top 10 singles, “Forever” was a huge smash in 2008. It would make sense to market him in that fashion, mainly because of that success and most-likely belief in Chris Brown as a musician and as a brand.
But of course, the Rihanna incident occurred and the media coverage and scrutiny followed directly after. Brown released “I Can Transform Ya” with a soon-to-be-declining Lil Wayne and “Crawl” to promote his new album Graffiti. Although “Transform” charted at 20, “Crawl” stalled at 53 on the Hot 100 charts. The album underperformed, only selling 300k copies. F.A.M.E and Fortune, Brown’s last two projects followed, and to Browns’ credit, both albums achieved the number one spot on the Billboard 200, but neither came remotely close to the previous albums of his heyday.
Both albums were a sleek departure from the R&B-on-steroids sound of Exclusive, but it was an updated sound of Graffiti. All three albums released post-Rihanna incident, are considered critical and commercial failures, due in part to Chris Brown’s now tarnished image. Was the fact that it wasn’t a critical success, the reason it wasn’t a financial success? Yes. But plenty of albums have gone platinum albeit not being a critical darling. Those three albums mentioned post-Exclusive found Brown searching for a new avenue, a new outlet, instead of staying in his comfort zone via the R&B path.
With single after single being released (one of the singles, Fine China, one of my favorites for this year,) for his forthcoming album X, you may have to wonder how much longer he can sustain his career with a stain on it. That stain is from the media and music lovers and Brown haters who won’t let it go. It’s sad, though, his talent is extremely rare artistically; Brown is considered proficient in singing and dancing by many.
So would he have been one of the biggest R&B artists in the world had the Rihanna incident not happen? I would say, yes. In terms of career reach, age and the intended demographic, he could have taken the R&B/pop world by storm if the stars aligned correctly. But everything happens for a reason. We are now left, to ponder what if, for Chris Browns career.