Chris Brown: Bad Boy of R&B

Courtesy of Rolling Stone 

Since 2009, one of the most polarizing figures in music has been R&B singer Chris Brown. In 2009, Brown was arrested for assaulting pop star Rihanna. As a part of a plea deal, Brown plead guilty to one felony count of assault with the intent of doing great bodily harm. Brown received five years of probation and to serve a 180 days in jail or an equivalent in labor-oriented community service. The R&B singer chose the latter choice. Brown has since apologized and rekindled an on again off again relationship.

         Since that brush with the law, there have been a few more incidents that have occurred. One of those incidents being an alleged hit-and-run and recently another alleged assault. Brown just cannot seem to keep his name out of the headlines. Better yet, the tabloids tend to highlight only the bad things Brown has been involved in. Since the assault of Rihanna in 2009, Brown has released three albums and two mixtapes. According to Billboard, Brown’s fourth studio album F.A.M.E. debuted at number one on Billboard 200 in 2011. Brown earned five BET Awards, three BET Hip Hop Awards, and a Grammy Award. This album would be considered Brown’s biggest success since the Rihanna incident.

         The R&B singer has been promoting his upcoming album X, which is suppose to come out hopefully out before the year’s end. On the journey to releasing this album, Brown has endured a few stops in the road. Aside from a few run-ins with the law, Brown also developed a beef with rapper Drake over relations with Rihanna. Since the summer of last year, both artists have released music taking subliminal shots at each other in their songs and has made for quite the talk on social media.

         This past Sunday, the R&B singer was taken into custody and charged with felony assault after allegedly having an altercation with a man outside the W Hotel in Washington, D.C. Brown checked himself into a rehab facility Tuesday night according to his representative. Brown’s agent also said this has nothing to do with the wrongdoing in the D.C. case. The final statement released revealed Brown’s intentions, “He just decided he wanted to take some time off and do some introspection.”