CHRIS BROWN
Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actor. He made his recording debut in late 2005 with the self-titled album Chris Brown at the age of 16. The album featured the hit single "Run It!", which topped the Billboard Hot 100, making Brown the first male artist as a lead to have his debut single top the chart since Puff Daddy in 1997. The album has sold over two million copies in the United States and was certified double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Brown's second studio album, Exclusive was released in 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 Billboard Hot 100. Brown released a deluxe version of his album called The Forever Edition in 2008. The first single from it, "Forever" reached number two. Exclusive has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. The third studio album, Graffiti was released in 2009. The first single "I Can Transform Ya", featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz, peaked at number 20, becoming Brown's eighth Top 20 hit. He has had various other hit singles, and his dance routines have been compared to Usher.
In 2009, he pleaded guilty to felony assault of singer and then-girlfriend Rihanna. He was sentenced to five years probation and six months of community service. The case received extensive media attention and negatively affected his career as a singer and all-around entertainer.
Brown's fourth album F.A.M.E. earned him the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, his first Grammy, at the 54th Grammy Awards.
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. The youngest child of the couple, he has an older sister, Lytrell Bundy, who works in a bank. 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, but eventually, Brown began to show interest in the hip-hop scene.
Brown taught himself to sing and dance at a young age, often citing Michael Jackson as his inspiration. He then began to perform in his church choir and in several local talent shows. While mimicking an Usher performance of "My Way", his mother recognized his vocal talent and they began to look for opportunities of a record deal. 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.
At the age of 13, Brown was discovered by a local production team, Hitmission Records, who 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 and approached contacts in New York to seek a record deal; Brown moved to New York at around the same time. Tina Davis – then-senior A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings 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."
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." 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."
He attended Essex High School until early 2005, when he moved to New York to pursue his music career.
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. Due to his dance routines, Brown has been compared to R&B artist Usher and has cited him as a large influence on his music.
Discography:
CHRIS BROWN
(2005)
Chris Brown is the eponymous debut album by American R&B recording artist Chris Brown, released on November 29, 2005 in the United States on Jive Records. It was a commercial success, certified double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for scanning two million in the United States, and sold one million copies worldwide. The album also earned Brown his first two Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 49th Grammy Awards.
The album's lead single was "Run It!", which features rapper Juelz Santana and was produced by Scott Storch and Moe Faisal. It received continuous airplay(topping the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay), and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for five weeks. It replaced "Gold Digger" by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, and was replaced by Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us". It also topped Billboard Pop 100. Other singles released from the album include "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)", another U.S. top ten hit for Brown, as well as "Gimme That", released as a remix featuring rapper Lil Wayne, and the fourth single, "Say Goodbye", which peaked at number ten in the U.S. The fifth and final single from the album, "Poppin'", charted outside the U.S. top forty.
The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 154,000 copies. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As of April 2011, the album has sold 2.1 million copes in the United States alone. Worldwide, it has sold more than three million copies.
EXCLUSIVE
(2007)
Exclusive is the second studio album by American recording artist Chris Brown. The album was originally scheduled to be released August 28, 2007, but was pushed back to October 30, 2007, then pushed back even further to its final release date of November 6, 2007.
The album was both critically and commercially successful, reaching number 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart on its debut. It sold 295,000 units within a week of release. The album yielded three Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, and was successful in music markets, entering the top twenty of many charts worldwide. Exclusive was re-released on June 3, 2008 as an expanded double-disc deluxe edition; a DVD counterpart was also released, featuring behind the scenes footage and music videos from his tour. The album has earned double platinum certification in the United States from the Recording Industry Association of America; worldwide sales stand at three million copies sold. The album ranked number thirty-four on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.
The album was originally going to be titled Graduation, but was renamed due to rapper Kanye West's album going by the same name. In an interview with MTV Brown stated the following,
"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 first single, which was "Wall to Wall", garnered minor success compared to Brown's previous singles. The track was produced by Sean Garrett. Chris Brown confirmed in a 106 & Park appearance that the second single is "Kiss Kiss", which features and is produced by T-Pain. The song "Nice" featuring The Game samples Stacee Adams' club hit "The Last Call". The rap part in "The Last Call" was also performed by The Game and was also penned by one of Brown's producers, Scott Storch.
At the 2008 Grammy Awards, Exclusive was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" for "Kiss Kiss", his collaboration with T-Pain. However, the award was given to the 2007 rival single, "Umbrella" by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z. The album also nominated for a NAACP Image Awards in a category for "Best Album", while Chris himself won for "Best Male Artist". At the 2008 BET Awards Chris received 4 nominations in four categories, including "Best Male R&B Artist", "Best Collaboration" for "Kiss Kiss", and "Viewer’s Choice" for "Kiss Kiss" and "No Air", his duet with Jordin Sparks.
GRAFFITI
(2009)
Graffiti is the third studio album by American R&B and pop recording artist Chris Brown. It is the follow-up to his successful second album Exclusive (2007). The album was produced during 2008 to 2009 by several record producers, including Polow Da Don, Swizz Beatz, The Runners, and Brian Kennedy. Primarily an R&B and pop outing, Graffiti incorporates elements of electro-pop and hip hop music with synthesizers and electronic-influenced beats.
The album debuted at number seven on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 102,489 copies in its first week. To date, "Graffiti" has sold 341,000 copies in the US. It became his third consecutive top-ten debut in the United States and produced three singles that achieved moderate chart success. Upon its release, Graffiti received generally negative reviews from most music critics. Graffiti was nominated for two Grammy Awards, one for Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the track, "Take My Time" featuring fellow R&B singer-songwriter Tank.
In 2008, Chris Brown commenced work on his third studio album and confirmed the title, Graffiti, at the 2008 American Music Awards. It was revealed in June 2008 that Brown was working with producers The Runners to create an "amazing, insane record. Something you've never heard before." Producer Scott Storch, who had previously worked with Brown, also announced his involvement in the album stating, "He's good. I'm working with him in Orlando on some stuff." Recording for the album primarily took place in Orlando and on September 5, 2009, via Twitter, Brown announced that he had completed the album, and also revealed that the album would be released outside of the US on December 7 and in the US on December 8. Speaking to MTV, Swizz Beatz revealed, "he's got something to prove," and "has worked on 60–70 songs."
"I Can Transform Ya" was released as the album's lead single on September 29, 2009. The song received mostly positive reviews, noting the song's club feel and catchiness. "I Can Transform Ya"'s reached the top ten of New Zealand, whilst achieving chart success in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The song's dance-heavy accompanying music video features choreography with hooded ninjas, and makes puns on the Transformers series. "Crawl" and "Sing Like Me" were released on iTunes on November 24, 2009, the first as the album's second single, and the latter as a promotional single. The previous received positive to mixed reviews, reaching the top twenty in Japan and New Zealand. Its accompanying music video features Brown and American R&B singer Cassie as his love interest, as he yearns for their relationship on a winter night in a city and in a desert scene.
The album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200, selling 102,000 copies in its first week. Graffiti was the week's second highest debut, only behind Glee: The Music, Volume 2. It's total sales of 341,000 copies to date were disappointing compared to his previous two albums.
F.A.M.E.
(2011)
F.A.M.E. is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Chris Brown, first released on March 18, 2011 by Jive Records. Brown worked with several record producers and songwriters for the album, including Kevin McCall, Jean Baptiste, Brian Kennedy, DJ Frank E, The Underdogs and The Messengers, among others. The album featured several guest appearances, including McCall, Tyga, Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, Justin Bieber, Benny Benassi, Wiz Khalifa, Game, Timbaland and Big Sean.
Musically, F.A.M.E. combines the musical genres of R&B, pop, hip hop and euro. Upon its release, the album received mixed reviews from most music critics, who were ambivalent towards its songwriting and material. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 270,000, Brown's first number-one album in the United States. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for selling more than 500,000 copies.
The album spawned three hit singles, "Yeah 3x", "Look at Me Now" and "Beautiful People". "Yeah 3x" and "Beautiful People" were commercially successful in Oceania and some European regions. In the United States, "Look at Me Now" reached number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts. To support the album, Brown embarked on his F.A.M.E. Tour in Australia and North America.
Brown embarked on his F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011 in Australia. Jessica Mauboy, Havana Brown, and Justice Crew, served as the supporting acts on all dates of the Australian leg. 32 show dates in North America were later added to the tour, which began in September 2011. Kelly Rowland, T-Pain, Bow Wow and Tyga served as the opening acts of the North American leg.
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 270,000 copies, serving as Brown's first number-one album in the United States. Its first week sales also served as the second-largest one-week sales of 2011 in the United States alone. On the US R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, F.A.M.E. also debuted number one, giving Brown his third non-consecutive number-one album on the chart. It has since been certified gold in the US by the Recording Industry Association of 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 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". F.A.M.E. was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Album at the 2011 American Music Awards. On November 27, 2011, it won Album of the Year at the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards. F.A.M.E. and its second single "Look at Me Now", has earned Brown three Grammy Award nominations, including Best R&B Album. "Look at Me Now" is nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. F.A.M.E. is also nominated for the Outstanding Album award at 2012 NAACP Image Awards. At the 54th Grammy awards, F.A.M.E. won the Best R&B Album award.
FORTUNE
(2012)
Fortune is the upcoming fifth studio album by American recording artist Chris Brown, scheduled to be first released on March 16, 2012. The album will serve as Brown's debut release with RCA Records, following the disbandment of Jive Records in October 2011.
During a listening party for Brown's fourth studio album F.A.M.E. in March 2011, Brown told fans that he would be releasing another album in six months, saying, "That is the first part of the F.A.M.E. album ... I'm coming out with another album six months later." In an interview with Rap-Up TV on September 2, 2011, Kevin McCall revealed that he has been collaborating "heavily" with Brown on the album, and that it is now scheduled for an early 2012 release, contrary to what was originally planned back in March. McCall said, "The Fortune album is really done. Chris Brown has four albums done if he wants to ... But the album's done and it's great. I like it better than F.A.M.E. personally." Producer David Banner told NeonLimeLight.com on September 20 that the album will "bring people back to the clubs" and that it will "change the way people look at R&B." He also revealed details of a song that he and Brown worked on for the album, saying, "When I tell you, you know how they don't play that much R&B in the club no more? ... The song that me and Chris made, they are going to play it like they used to play Jodeci. Like they used to play Keith Sweat. The song that me and Chris made is so jamming."
In January 2012, Brown confirmed via Twitter that the album will include dubstep tracks. It was also made known that the album is in the final stages of recording. In addition, Brown has been in the studio working on the album with Asher Roth, Wiz Khalifa, will.i.am and Kid Sister. On January 20, Brown announced that Nas will appear on the album. In an interview with MTV News, producer Harvey Mason, Jr., half of the duo The Underdogs, who wrote and produced "Turn Up the Music", spoke more about the album, stating "The Fortune record is F.A.M.E to the next level. Similar material, but he's really being innovative with some of the music that you haven't heard before, taking pieces of other genres and integrating them into pop and R&B, which I think is really cool. Vocally, he sounds amazing; he's really, really coming into his own as a singer." Producer Damon Thomas, the other member of the duo, added "The only way I can describe Chris and what he's doin' with this record that he's making is that he's this generation's Michael [Jackson]."
Fortune will be released in Germany on March 16, 2012. In January 2012, Brown released the first promo shot from the album, which showed him dressed in a full length fur coat. "Strip" was released for digital download on November 18, 2011 as the album's buzz single. It was sent to rhythmic contemporary radio in the United States on December 6, 2011. "Turn Up the Music", the album's lead single, premiered online on January 26, 2012. It was released digitally in the United States on February 14, 2012.
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