Soundcheck: Chris Brown – The Cost Of F.A.M.E.
posted in: Music News • Urban
Chris Brown‘s temper has made headlines again, this time, on the heels of his latest full-length release, F.A.M.E. The freshly-tatted, newly blonde, Brown destroyed his dressing room, threw a chair through a window and stormed out of the Good Morning America offices after he was offended by host, Robin Roberts‘ questions related to his 2009 attack on Rihanna. The following day, Brown apologized to the public and blamed GMA for exploiting him.
Once again, fans are puzzled, critics are swarming and famous friends are rushing to Brown’s defense, including Russell Simmons, who urged the public to give Brown a break. “I know how good of a young man he is. He’s having the same type of struggles that all those other Disney kids have and all the other people who have instant fame… and because of that one regretful incident, no one will give him a break.”
I can sympathize with the idea. I’m one of the few who still considers Lindsay Lohan a victim of her celebrity.
Imagine for a moment, being a sixteen-year-old boss. You pay your team to cover your mistakes. You pay your parents. No’s turn to yes’s instantaneously and before you know it, you’re a kid in control”which is exactly the same as a kid out of control. When you turn 18, you’re technically an adult, but one who hasn’t had any boundaries or consequences for years; and are suddenly expected to be accountable for your actions. Without the structure and discipline others take for granted, you are ill-equipped to deal with real life, having never experienced it before. And to top it all off, any and all mistakes you make along the way will be broadcast for the entire world to judge, turning your hardships into water-cooler banter for strangers. Does fame at an early age come at a cost? Of course it does.
My issues with Chris Brown are a bit more complicated than that. My frustration now is the same as it was then. Where’s the true remorse? The true accountability? Where is the acknowledgment of the severity of his indiscretions? Brown’s latest stunt only proved that he hasn’t learned his lesson. His half-hearted apology was followed by more blame-shifting. He was bullied. He was frustrated. He was just letting off steam. Once again, Brown has trivialized a very serious incident. He skipped a national performance. He damaged private property, behaved aggressively towards bystanders and likely violated his probation. He didn’t like what he heard from a woman, and he had an aggressive, violent temper tantrum. Again.
Fame does have a cost, and that cost is accountability. It’s the one thing Brown can’t seem to grasp. What’s even more hard to swallow is his sense of entitlement. He went on a talk show to promote the album he wants so badly to succeed. To show us what he’s been up to since the last time he made headlines, and to move us past it. In an interview, people are asked questions, and Robin’s was a fair one. She wasn’t drudging up a decades old skeleton in the closet. She was asking about a relevant subject. Brown’s beatdown was one of the biggest stories of 2009 and is newsworthy again because of his new release and because Rihanna’s restraining order against him was recently relaxed.
You’re famous, Chris. You beat up one of the most famous females in the world. It was two years ago, not ten years ago. To expect the public to move on and give you another chance is a fair request. To ask us to erase it from memory and never speak of it again is absurd. If you’re truly sorry, you have to own it. If you want back in, you have to own it. If you want us to believe you care about anything but your wallet¦you have to own it.
This was the problem before, and last week’s GMA performance only reiterated it. That’s not really a big deal to me anymore, as Chris so delicately put it, is precisely the problem. You didn’t think it was a big deal then, because you didn’t have to pay the same price as everyone else. The consequences were not real. Had you been contemplating your actions in a jail cell for the last two years, you may have taken a more humble approach to get back into the public’s good graces.
Instead, Brown leads with arrogance. He’s clearly convinced that he’s the exception. He’s likely decided that he knows better than his advisers, better than the critics and better than his publicist, who abruptly resigned last week. His approach is counter-productive. One week after he releases his best album to date”I’m not writing about the music. I’m writing about the drama, about the beating, about another transgression. As a troubled Brown fan, my back is against the wall. Every time I want to move on and focus on the music, he reminds me that his problems are too big to ignore.
But Chris probably won’t change. His bad behavior will again be rewarded. As he so proudly reminds us in his current hit, “Look At Me Now”: “I get what you make in ten years in two days.” Controversy sells records and at press time, F.A.M.E. is poised for next week’s Number 1 spot. In the meantime the public, (myself reluctantly included) will be tuning in to ABC tonight to watch Chris redeem himself on his Dancing With The Stars performance. And the cycle continues…