At the same time, I believe that, in certain cases, second chances ought to be given, especially when a person is young.
This past week, Chris Brown faced the first litmus test of his popularity following his shocking assault of pop superstar and girlfriend Rihanna. He released his album Graffiti, two weeks after Rihanna released her album, Rated R. When it was clear that his album was going to underperform, he went on his Twitter and had what can only be described as a Mariah Carey-style breakdown, where he outright accused retailers of blackballing his record. His evidence? Tweets from four disgruntled fans who were unable to locate the album. This prompted chart publisher Billboard to release a report which not only revealed that his CD was in stock in every major retailer, but it was underselling as well. Shortly after the article was published, his record label reportedly ordered that his Twitter account be deactivated. Then the sales came in; his album came in at #7, selling 101,000 copies in its opening week. It's a considerable difference compared to Rated R, which sold 188,000 copies, a big drop from the 294,000 copies he sold with 2007's Exclusive, and an embarrassing gap compared to this week's #1, Susan Boyle's 580,000-selling I Dreamed a Dream.With his singles effectively doing nothing and low expectations for next week's sale projections, it is very safe to say that Chris Brown's career is in free-fall. I'm sorry fans (and the crazy delusional fans who actually believe that Rihanna deserved what Brown did to her), but there is no getting around the fact that he is in serious trouble, and fast action is needed to salvage what is left of his career. Just last year, he essentially ran pop music. Now, pop music will barely touch him.
Although I believe in his karmic retribution, I don't enjoy seeing a person crash and burn. So, in the most objective way possible, here is the advice I give Chris Brown to save his career.
First, he needs to grow the hell up. The Twitter meltdown he had last weekend was pathetic. Considering his idol is Michael Jackson of all people, it boggles the mind that he would think that the general public (not the rabid fans I mentioned earlier) would welcome him back with open arms after he assaulted one of the biggest stars in the world. People are not automatically forgiving, and just because they aren't flocking to the stores on your behalf doesn't mean record stores across the country are blackballing him. If people really wanted his record, they would've bought it. Speaking of the album, my biggest issue with it was the lack of maturity it presented. Songs like "Lucky Me" and "Famous Girl" are simply unacceptable after what he has been through. He tries to present this adult image in his booklet, but he sounds just as juvenile as he did on his debut. He actually regressed from Exclusive, if that's possible.
Instead of releasing an album in the same year as his domestic incident, he should have taken the time to write material that shows he has grown as a person. Even if he didn't reference the incident, he could've come a lot harder than the hip-hop fluff he was offering, like "What I Do" or "Wait". His fans deserved better.
He needs to take time off; a lot of time off. His image was damaged before he started doing interviews, but he basically but a gun in his head with the disastrous Larry King appearance. Every interview following that was incoherent and completely ineffective. He kept trying to explain the incident, but failed to provide any details or reason for what happened. He didn't offer any wisdom that could help teens in similar situations, which would have made the tragedy a teachable moment, as Oprah said. Speaking of the most powerful woman in the world, what was thinking calling her ungrateful? Just because he did her a favor doesn't mean she owes him any kind of loyalty. She's Oprah, for heaven's sake. That little problem, piled on top of overdone, pointless appearances and discussions of the assault, and the release of the album dealt a serious blow to his public image. He has come off, despite his intentions, as completely oblivious about the scope of his actions and as an undeserved victim of the ridicule he does deserve.
So, after his next single flops, he needs to quit the music business for a time. He needs to go home and lay low. He needs to not be on television apologizing unconvincingly. He needs to learn exactly how his actions affected not only Rihanna, but other women and men. He was a role model, and whether he wanted that title or not, he needed to respect it. He needs to take responsibility for himself, instead of blaming everyone and their mother for it. He needs to allow us to either forget or forgive the accident instead of forcing it, which he was doing.
When I mean quit, I mean no guest appearances on tracks, no TV appearances, no radio, no promotion, no nothing. After this sabbatical, which I suggest lasts throughout 2010 and maybe some of 2011, he should come back with a lot of real, honest R&B and pop material. I'm not saying he can't be fun (I love his songs like that), but he just can't carry himself the way he did with Graffiti. Hopefully, the music he comes back with will be good enough to recapture the public's interest.
I'm sorry if my advice came off as harsh, but he needs a hard dose of reality, as does his fans. The career Chris Brown had before is long dead. He needs to build a new one, and the only way he can do it is with what I recommended: growth and time. If he takes the advice, then his career will eventually heal.
If not, then he can say goodbye to the pop dominance he had just eleven months ago.
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