Lord, Christopher Maurice Brown, aka C-Breezy, aka Chris Brown on Sunday night’s annual BET Awards had somewhat of a meltdown.
Well, he had a full meltdown actually.
He gave one of the best dance performances of the night and clearly killed his tribute to Michael Jackson with his dance moves. Perhaps his moonwalk wasn’t the smoothest, but damn, the performance was on point. And then he came back out to sing and he didn’t get one decent note out. All of us were just sitting waiting for him to belt out one good note and he’d be good from there and he never quite found his footing, ergo a complete meltdown.
So, now the listening public was left trying to figure out if this was sincere or some grand PR stunt. It’s a fair question. We’ve experienced plenty of PR stunts in the past from celebrities to make us more than leery at the end of the day. However, Chris Brown has left an interesting taste in our mouth, and a funky after taste over the last year or so since the Grammy’s last spring. We’ve endured, and I do mean endured the following:
First his orange shirt apology joint that got parodied endlessly.
His CNN Larry King interview where he looked like Baby Smurf
And when his album sales didn’t move like he wanted, he went off on Twitter and then he deleted his account only to get it back up again. Not to mention he got banned from doing concerts in the United Kingdom, which to a 20/21 year old artist has to be demoralizing (particularly since the UK hasn’t banned plenty of other artists with egregious offenses of the law).
Now this.
His performance prior to the breakdown was the Chris Brown that everyone had fallen in love with (as a performer and dancer, let’s be clear) and Chris Brown’s talent speaks for itself as it should. That’s my advice for him: let his talent do the talking.
On the other hand, none of us have ever walked a mile in his shoes. Its interesting how sanctimonious and self-righteous we can get when we start the celebrity bashing. Yes, some of them are pure damn fools you just can’t help but go, for real? what were you thinking even when you weren’t snorting blow. But in this case, I mean not at all excusing his behavior, but the fall out, could any of us imagine dealing with our hurts and pains in the public spotlight at the age of 20? I remember five years ago and frankly, I think CB handled it better than I would have.
That being said, I hope he has turned over a new leaf. I’ve long been a Chris Brown supporter with regards to give him a fair chance to be rehabilitated and reconcile himself to the public, so I hope this is a sign he’s turned over a new leaf and can be given a second chance. However, if he messes up again, fie upon thee!
Do you think Chris Brown’s performance was good? Was his following break down a fake or was it a sincerity of being caught up in the moment?
Joshua Lawrence Lazard 
WELL SAID!!!!!!
He gave an excellent performance on both ends. While he may have gotten a wee bit emotional about MJ I think that he was mostly emotional about being back on stage with the possibility of having his career come back full swing.
Peace, Love and Chocolate
Tiffany
I don’t watch BET but he wasn’t wearing a bow tie???
I am mad at Chris Brown for one thing. He made Bow Ties look bad…. ; (
@CO
the baby blue on baby blue was just a fashion FAIL….smdh
crying like someone just killed his puppy is just sad. sad in ways i don’t even know, but not in an empathetic way. sad in a way like “bruh….get your shit together!”. he needs to pull it together. i think we need to see more men cry and be open to it as a society, but he almost had a snot bubble….. i mean, thats just pathetic.
and i find it interesting how everyone is rooting for a domestic abuser. yes, he made a mistake. and yes, everyone makes mistakes. and they are forgiven when/if they show genuine remorse for it. i don’t recall Chris Brown attending any real anger management classes or therapy or trying to educate others on domestic abuse. if i recall right, he was attending parties of Diddy’s and recording an album a couple months following.
to let what he did go as if it was nothing (as he apparently has done) shows that he and many people who support him now (most of which do so because he can dance good and has a 6-pack) don’t fully understand how much of an issue domestic violence is in this country, especially in the black community.
@ Nell
A couple of things
I’m not aware of him attending any anger management classes, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t. I’m sure that wouldn’t be newsworthy enough. I think its unfair to say he hasn’t without proof—now if you have proof, by all means, I would consider your point more than valid on that issue.
Secondly, and more importantly, I think our response to Chris Brown really isn’t an issue of the black community, but really how we treat our celebrities in general. Joe Jackson beat the crap out of his kids, Ike beat Tina Turner, we’ve started numerous “FREE _________ (insert rapper of choice)” movements, and hell enough black people still support R. Kelly and his foolishness. Not to mention, the levels of sheer crapola that white celebs go through from Robert Downey’s drug problem, to Brittney Spears parenting choices and we still move on. Chris Brown merely falls in a line of celebs doing what they will and us, the public in general, trying to figure it all out.
I really don’t think it’s simply a misunderstanding of domestic violence in our community per se.
On Chris and Miles
Let me start by saying, I’m old enough to be Chris Brown’s GM. I like Chris Brown. I don’t like what happened between he and Rihanna. DV should never be tolerated. I was very angry with him. I also want to add that I studied DV in the African American community during my Master’s studies. It is a serious problem in our community. Actually, it’s a problem in all communities. But that’s another story.
I remember reading an essay by Nikki Giovanni about Miles Davis and why she stopped listening to his music – another DV story. I stopped listening to Miles as well, based upon her essay. But I also like Miles.
But I’ve lived long enough and done enough myself to know that forgiveness is a great thing. I’ve learned to separate the act from the person, and his talent.
So, I’m back to enjoying Miles and Chris. I agree with you, until told differently, I hope that Chris gets the help he needs. If he does this again, I will again be upset and very disappointed. But he is too young and too talented to kick to the curb – today. I vote to move forward.
@ Teridmc
Thanks for your comment!!!
I don’t buy R. Kelly’s music, not necessarily because of his child molestation issues, but those do aid in my motivation for disliking his music. Is it the same thing with Chris Brown as far as support in the black community vs. those that don’t support him? Or bottom line is it an issue of forgiveness across the board?
I don’t buy R Kelly either, mainly because he’s not on my top 10 list. But mostly because I believe there to be something sinister about him. I think the issues with Chris B have more to do with our inability to forgive. But even that argument is lacking – we forgive our athletes, movie stars, and for the most part all celebs, but why Chris is having such an issue beats me.
I think Chris got caught in a trick bag with Ms Rihanna. Though DV is no answer, we do seem to forget or not know or understand that in our community women are just as violent with the men as they are with women. I think that if you do your research you will find that in our community it is sometimes hard for the police to discern the attacker – both parties are bruised and bloody. We don’t hear about men being abused because its not manly – and Black men want to maintain their manhood.
The real issue is that we have a legacy of violence in our community that goes way back to slavery. Unfortunately we have not overcome. The Chris B situation feeds that legacy and causes embarrassment on a deep level we don’t want to face.
@uppity negro
Chris getting a chai latte is newsworthy, so him going into therapy for putting the beatdown on a female celebrity would definitely be newsworthy as well. problem is he hasn’t done it. and thats not just on Chris. Rihanna has also taken this situation too lightly by not seeking therapy as well and thinking that an interview in Glamour magazine and a new album qualify as therapy.
our response to this situation hasn’t been an issue of the black community. but it should be.
@teridmc
where is the line drawn?
say a white singer you like dresses up in blackface at a party, or…gives credence to the holocaust. would you still listen to their music if their talent was on point?
i understand what you’re saying, but i can’t like someone’s talents without liking them. i loved john mayer. LOVED him. and after his comments, i had to delete him from my ipod. what he said wasn’t even all that racist, but if thats what he’s let the public hear, i can almost guarantee he’s got some deeper superiority and inferiority complexes about the races. theres no way i can now separate his (amazing) voice from someone i think is a racist. and the same goes for a man who beats on women….or does anything else i’m personally/politically against.
I believe in second chances, as does the God I serve. Thank God he does! Don’t get me wrong, I have never witnessed DV in my family, though I have experienced it ( verbal abuse as opposed to physical – just as deadly). If Chris B continues to show himself in the same light, then he loses my vote, but if he seeks redemption , how can I not forgive? How can I be so self righteous? Wouldn’t I want and expect the same from him if the roles were reversed? Chris B doesn’t appear to be an evil man, maybe lost confused and misdirected – but not evil. I feel he deserves a chance and much prayer.
@Nell I pray you always walk the straight and narrow, and never have to seek redemption.
there is no such thing as the “straight and narrow” and if there is, its subjective. and if i were to ever seek “redemption”, i would do so with full and genuine intent.
when chris seeks redemption genuinely, then he will get it, even from those who hate him the most. crying in an awards show and appearing on Larry King is nowhere near genuine remorse.