Chris Brown can’t help himself.
He does something shitty, goes to jail/rehab/therapy, “reforms” for a hot minute, and then does something shitty again. His laundry list of verbal and physical outbursts (mainly against women), crazy offensive social media posts, and general douchebaggery is never-ending. (Seriously, it’s exhausting — take a gander at his Wikipedia page.)
Breezy’s temper is as unpredictable as the wind. Just in the last week or so, he’s blatantly disrespected and degraded a female crew member on a private flight, dissed Caitlyn* Jenner, and thrown a temper tantrum at on-and-off-again girlfriend Karreuche Tran’s doorstep at 3 a.m. The latter resulted in the police being called. ClASSy.
Bottom line: He’s a violent, scary dude. But we knew that already.
Let’s not forget the incident that started the public downward spiral. Of course, I’m referring to that time Chris beat the shit out of Rihanna, sending the “FourFiveSeconds” singer to the hospital looking like this:
Take a good look at this picture. She’s got a split lip, black eye, and multiple bruises and marks. Then ask yourself, How could this be? How could America support the career of a man who is capable of this? A man who continues to act out? See also: Floyd Mayweather, the new American “hero.”
If the Rihanna episode had been an isolated incident, after which Chris had worked hard to sincerely reform and become a decent guy, I could probably forgive him. And I could also probably listen to his music without wanting to punch someone (which I wouldn’t do, because I’m not Chris Brown).
As someone who works in the music industry — specifically radio — I regularly question why this horrible human being continues to attain mainstream airplay across the nation. Is the decent music he puts out more important than standing up to domestic violence and refusing to tolerate barbaric behavior? Do we, as a society, care so little about women that we’ll celebrate the work of a man who shamelessly abuses them?
Right now, Chris Brown has four singles on the radio, including: “Ayo,” “Five More Hours,” “Post To Be,” and “Fun.” It’s inarguable — he has a good voice and the beats are fire. He sounds smooth and effortless on any and every track he encounters.
Cool. Awesome.
There are plenty of vocally-gifted dudes out there who could fill in the void if Breezy’s music career went under. Justin Bieber, Jason Derulo, Usher, Ne-Yo, Jeremih, Jay Sean, Taio Cruz, Trey Songz, Jacob Latimore — the list goes on.
In general, men forgive Chris for what he did to Rihanna, and women are willing to overlook it — to enjoy his music. Worse yet, people treat it like it’s irrelevant. “That was years ago.” “He did his time.” “Who cares if he’s a tool? His music is dope!”
How f*cked is that?
And further, what kind of a message does that send to America’s youth? Scratch that. What kind of a message does it send to women? As a woman, it tells me that violence is excusable — and a catchy club song more important — to my culture than the safety and wellbeing of my sex.
So, Americans have made their choice. Instead of taking action , we foolishly continue to support Chris Brown’s empire, and Chris Brown continues to act a fool.