Chris Brown may have moves like Michael Jackson, but he’s following the blueprint of Bobby Brown.
Breezy's name used to hold so much promise. Remember back in 2005 when the then squeaky clean teen dropped his debut single “Run It,” and he was thought to be the second coming of The King of Pop? Fast forward to almost a decade, numerous arrests and tons of tattoos later, and Breezy’s life in stardom’s fast lane has taken many wrong twists and dramatic turns.
The latest detour finds the singer sitting in a Los Angeles jail without bail and in solitary confinement after he got kicked out of rehab last week. This is the same rehab facility that praised Brown for his progress and dedication to community service during a court appearance in February and revealed that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, severe insomnia and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Those revelations were key in getting many, including this writer, to understand that Brown doesn’t just have more issues than VIBE magazine, but that he in fact has some serious mental problems that were finally getting addressed with long overdue professional help. Then this probation violation stemming from the 2009 Rihanna case happened, and it’s not looking nor sounding good for Breezy at all.
All the tomfoolery and trouble that Chris Brown is involved in now? Bobby Brown has been there, done that, got the t-shirt and sent postcards. Chris is trying his darndest to outdo his predecessor, however, and in many ways he’s succeeding. But instead of becoming the new “bad boy of R&B” he’s turning into more of a lost cause.
The parallels between the two artists are unfortunately uncanny. Both Browns were in line to be the next big R&B thing before their runaway trains derailed thanks to a perfect storm of mental illness, substance abuse and legal problems. Both Browns were involved with two of the biggest pop stars of their day — Whitney Houston and Rihanna — with both relationships turning into the hottest of messes.
It took Bobby Brown a while and he lost a lot in the process, but the King of R&B finally seems to have learned his lesson and cleaned his act up. He’s remarried and performing regularly with his New Edition brothers to their adoring fans. We’ve mostly forgiven and forgotten his transgressions.
Chris Brown on the other hand, is in the midst of a bunch of madness right now, and it’s anyone’s guess what is on his horizon. For the immediate future, he’ll be sitting in jail thinking about his life and his choices and hopefully coming to the conclusion that he ain’t bout that three hots and a cot. His legion of fans would much rather see him on stage popping, locking and doing some gravity-defying dances while singing his past hits and new songs, but Brown has to first want that for himself.
