This is how Chris Brown poses on his new album "BROWN".
He had actually promised to make it shorter. It turned out to be 27 tracks. Far too long! Nevertheless, Chris Brown's new album is surprisingly good.
Today sees the release of "BROWN", Chris Brown's twelfth studio album. Even the title is typical of this man: an acronym that breaks down "Break Rules Only When Necessary". Whereby "necessary" is obviously interpreted generously in Brown's case. Since he shot straight to number one on the US Hot 100 with his first single as a 16-year-old in 2005, he has rewritten the rules of the R&B game to suit himself.
He couldn't have come up with a better cover: Brown is lying there in a tan suit and fedora. This pose is an allusion to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" cover from 1982, but perhaps also to the great R&B patriarchs Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross.
Musically, "BROWN" is divided into two parts. And that is meant literally. The first half belongs to the bedroom, the bass and Hitmaka productions that are optimized for placements in playlists. Those who persevere will be rewarded: from track 16 onwards, Brown pulls back, the beats slow down and the lyrics become more honest. "Hate Me" sounds like real self-destruction, "Won't Let Me Leave" like a man watching himself lie.
The strongest moment is delivered by the song that is furthest removed from classic R&B: "Holy Blindfold", produced by Jon Bellion, layers dream pop over gospel harmonies and finally allows the arrangement to breathe. And "It Depends" with Bryson Tiller, which samples Usher's "Nice & Slow", climbed to number three in the R&B charts and topped the airplay list. Because it just works without giving it much thought.
Brown won't be spending the summer in the studio anyway. From June, he will be sharing the stage with Usher on their joint "The R&B Tour": two generations, one stage, probably a lot of confetti. Anyone who missed Breezy Bowl XX, which grossed almost 300 million dollars last year, will get a second chance.