Chris Brown (American entertainer) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Chris Brown Brown performing at Supafest Australia, April 2012. Background information Birth name Christopher Maurice Brown Born May 5, 1989 (age 24) Origin Tappahannock, Virginia, U.S. Genres R&B, pop, hip hop, dance Occupations Singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, actor Years active 2004–present LabelsJive, Zomba, RCA Associated acts Big Sean, Bow Wow, Game, Juelz Santana, Justin Bieber, Keri Hilson, Kevin McCall, Lil Wayne, Rihanna, T-Pain, Tyga Website chrisbrownworld.com Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American recording artist, dancer, and actor. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, he taught himself to sing and dance at a young age and was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows. Having signed with Jive Records in 2004, Brown released his self-titled debut studio album the following year. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was later certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). With his first single "Run It!" peaking atop the US Billboard Hot 100, Brown became the first male artist as a lead since Diddy in 1997 to have his debut single top the chart. His second album Exclusive (2007) spawned his second Hot 100 number one "Kiss Kiss", in addition to "With You" and "Forever". The album was also certified double platinum by the RIAA. In 2009, Brown received much media attention after pleading guilty to felony assault of singer and his then-girlfriend Rihanna; he was sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community service.[1] His third album Graffiti was released later that year, and included the top-twenty single "I Can Transform Ya". Brown's fourth album F.A.M.E. (2011) became his first to top the Billboard 200; it spawned hit singles "Yeah 3x", "Look at Me Now", and "Beautiful People". F.A.M.E. earned Brown his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 54th Grammy Awards.[2] His fifth album Fortune was released in 2012. However, apart from Exclusive, Brown's albums were not well received by music critics.[3] Apart from his work in the music industry, Brown has pursued an acting career. In 2007, he made his on-screen feature film debut in Stomp the Yard, and appeared as a guest on the television series The O.C. Other films Brown has appeared in, include This Christmas (2007), Takers (2010) and Think Like a Man (2012). Throughout his career, Brown has won numerous awards, including two NAACP Image Awards, three American Music Awards and nine BET Awards. Contents [hide] 1 Career 1.1 1989–2004: Early life and career beginnings 1.2 2005–06: Chris Brown and acting debut 1.3 2007–08: Exclusive 1.4 2009–10: Graffiti and mixtapes 1.5 2011–12: F.A.M.E. and Fortune 1.6 2013–present: X 2 Business ventures 3 Image and personal life 3.1 Success and comparison to other artists 3.2 Domestic violence case 3.3 Relationships 3.4 Altercations with Drake and Frank Ocean 4 Discography 5 Filmography 6 Tours 7 See also 8 References 9 External links Career 1989–2004: Early life and career beginnings Christopher Maurice Brown was born on May 5, 1989,[4] in the small town of Tappahannock, Virginia,[5] to Joyce Hawkins, a former day care center director, and Clinton Brown, a corrections officer at a local prison.[6][7] He has an older sister, Lytrell Bundy,[8] who works in a bank.[6] Music was always present in Brown's life beginning in his childhood. He would listen to soul albums that his parents owned,[7] and eventually began to show interest in the hip-hop scene.[4] Brown taught himself to sing and dance at a young age and often cites Michael Jackson as his inspiration.[6] He began to perform in his church choir and in several local talent shows.[9][10] When he mimicked an Usher performance of "My Way",[11] his mother recognized his vocal talent, and they began to look for the opportunity of a record deal.[9] At the same time, Brown was going through personal issues. His parents had divorced, and his mother's boyfriend terrified him by subjecting her to domestic violence.[12] At the age of 13, Brown was discovered by Hitmission Records, a local production team that visited his father's gas station while searching for new talent.[13] Hitmission's Lamont Fleming provided voice coaching for Brown, and the team helped to arrange a demo package and approached contacts in New York to seek a record deal.[14] Tina Davis, senior A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings, was impressed when Brown auditioned in her New York office, and she immediately took him to meet the former president of the Island Def Jam Music Group, Antonio "L.A." Reid, who offered to sign him that day. "I knew that Chris had real talent," says Davis. "I just knew I wanted to be part of it."[15] The negotiations with Def Jam continued for two months, and Davis then lost her job due to a corporate merger. Brown asked her to be his manager, and once Davis accepted, she promoted the singer to labels such as Jive Records, J-Records and Warner Bros. Records. According to Mark Pitts in an interview with HitQuarters, Davis presented Brown with a video recording, and Pitts' reaction was: "I saw the potential ... I didn’t love all the records, but I loved his voice. It wasn’t a problem because I knew that he could sing, and I knew how to make records."[16] Brown ultimately chose Jive due to its successful work with then-young acts such as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Brown stated, "I picked Jive because they had the best success with younger artists in the pop market, [...] I knew I was going to capture my African American audience, but Jive had a lot of strength in the pop area as well as longevity in careers."[15] Brown attended Essex High School in Virginia until early 2005, when he moved to New York to pursue his music career.[11] 2005–06: Chris Brown and acting debut Brown performing at KISS 106.1 Seattle Jingle Bell Bash 8, December 4, 2005 After being signed to Jive Records in 2004, Brown started the recording process in February 2005. By May, there were 50 songs already recorded, 14 of which were picked to the final track listing.[6] The singer worked with several producers and songwriters—Scott Storch, Cool & Dre and Jazze Pha among them—commenting that they "really believed in [him]".[17] Brown also made some input on the album, receiving co-writing credits of five tracks.[6] "I write about the things that 16 year olds go through every day," says Brown. "Like you just got in trouble for sneaking your girl into the house, or you can't drive, so you steal a car or something."[18] The whole album took less than eight weeks to produce.[18] Released on November 29, 2005, the self-titled Chris Brown debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 154,000 copies.[19] [20] Chris Brown was a relative commercial success with the time; selling over two million copies in the United States—where it was certified two times platinum by the RIAA—and three million copies worldwide.[21][22] The album's lead single, "Run It!", made Brown the first male act (since Montell Jordan in 1995) to have his debut single to reach the summit of the Billboard Hot 100—later remaining for four additionally weeks.[4] Three of the other singles—"Yo (Excuse Me Miss)," "Gimme That" and "Say Goodbye"—peaked within the top twenty at the same chart.[23] On June 13, 2006, Brown released a DVD entitled, Chris Brown's Journey, which shows footage of him traveling in England and Japan, getting ready for his first visit to the Grammy Awards, behind the scenes of his music videos and bloopers. On August 17, 2006 to further promote the album, Brown began his major co-headlining tour, The Up Close and Personal Tour. Due to the tour, production for his next album was pushed back two months. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received $10,000 in ticket proceeds from Brown's 2006 "Up Close & Personal" tour. Brown has made appearances on UPN's One on One and The N's Brandon T. Jackson Show on its pilot episode. [24][25] 2007–08: Exclusive Brown performing at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, November 1, 2008 In January 2007, Brown landed a small role as a band geek in the fourth season of the American television series The O.C..[26] Brown then made his film debut in Stomp the Yard, alongside Ne-Yo, Meagan Good and Columbus Short on January 12, 2007.[27] In April 2007, Brown was the opening act for Beyoncé Knowles, on the Australian leg of her The Beyoncé Experience tour. On July 9, 2007, Brown was featured in an episode of MTV's My Super Sweet 16 (for the event, it was retitled: Chris Brown: My Super 18) celebrating his eighteenth birthday in New York City.[28] In November 2007, Brown starred as video host for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Math-A-Thon program, to show his support by encouraging students to use their math skills to help children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.[29] Shortly after ending his summer tour with Ne-Yo, Brown quickly began production for his second studio album, Exclusive, which was released in the United States on November 6, 2007.