We’re all familiar with the classic celebrity catastrophe: Celeb is clean-cut. Celeb makes fatal mistake. Celeb apologizes. But what comes after that is a bit hazy. As the adoring fans, we either hold our grudges until the celeb morphs into a has-been, or we forgive and forget. I’m here today to make a case for a current crossroads the public has arrived at: Either forgive Chris Brown or condemn him to Pop Culture Hell.
As a female with strong feminist inclinations, I am not condoning what he did or forgetting the mistakes he made. I’m only offering reasons to give him a second chance.
Let’s first look at his music. Not only was he just 16 when he became the first male solo artist to release a single (“Run It”) that shot straight to the top of the Billboard chart, but Brown was never one to sing about topics such as sex or drugs, like some of his contemporaries. Rather, his music has always been...well, pretty clean. One of his major hits “Forever” is about -gasp- dancing! And not even the booty-dropping, all-up-on-you, let’s-make-this-as-dirty-as-possible kind. The lyrics speak for themselves: “Feel the melody and the rhythm of the music around you.” As far as I’m concerned, that could be a line straight out of a song performed by Big Bird.
And now, he is imploring us to try and find space in our hearts for him once more. In fact, he’s groveling. No, really. His latest single is called “Crawl,” and it’s basically one giant apology put to a catchy beat and performed with soaring vocals. His opening lyrics:“Everybody sees it’s you, but I’m the one who lost the view.” That says to me that he is acknowledging his mistakes. He’s saying that he will crawl right up to whoever needs him to and beg for a second chance. I am by no means validating what he did and strongly believe that domestic violence is inexcusable. However, as a professional, Brown’s career continues to thrive. He currently occupies numbers 35, 78 and 173 on the iTunes Top 100 with “I Can Transform Ya,” “Crawl,” and “Forever,” respectively. Clearly, I’m not the only one out there still listening to his music.
So here we are at this crossroads again. To keep listening or to turn that radio dial off. I’ve shared my reasoning behind my choice, but now the decision is yours.
Editor’s note: The Alligator does not support domestic violence. If you or a loved one is a victim of domestic violence, contact Alachua County Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center at 866-252-5439.
