Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He made his recording debut in late 2005 with the self-titled album Chris Brown at the age of 16. The album featured the hit single "Run It!", which topped the Billboard Hot 100, making Brown the first male artist to have his debut single top the chart since Montell Jordan in 1995.[1] The album has sold over two million copies in the United States and was certified double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[2]

Brown's second studio album, Exclusive was released worldwide in November 2007. It spawned two successful singles; his second U.S. number one hit, "Kiss Kiss" featuring T-Pain and "With You", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.[3][4] Brown has released a deluxe version of his album called The Forever Edition. The first single from it, "Forever", was released in May 2008 and reached number two on Billboard Hot 100.[5] Exclusive has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.[2] The third studio album, titled Graffiti, was released on December 15, 2009. The first official single was "I Can Transform Ya", featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz, which peaked at number-twenty on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Brown's eighth Top 20 hit on that chart.

In addition to his solo commercial success, Brown has been featured on several hits such as "No Air", a duet with singer Jordin Sparks, "Shortie like Mine" with the rapper Bow Wow and "Shawty Get Loose" alongside Lil Mama and T-Pain. The songs have peaked on number three, number nine and number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively.[6][7][8] Due to his dance routines, Brown has been compared to renowned R&B artists such as Usher and Michael Jackson, citing both as large influences on his music.[9] In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault of singer Rihanna, and was sentenced to five years probation and six months of community service.

1989–2004: Early life and career beginnings

Christopher Maurice Brown was born on May 5, 1989,[10] in the small town of Tappahannock, Virginia,[11] to Joyce Hawkins, a former day care center director, and Clinton Brown, a corrections officer at a local prison.[12][13] The youngest child of the couple, he has an older sister who works in a bank.[12] Since his childhood, music was something which always had been present in Brown's life. He used to listen soul albums that his parents had owned,[13] but eventually, Brown began to show interest in the hip-hop scene.[10]

Brown taught himself to sing and dance at a young age, often citing Michael Jackson as his inspiration.[12] He then began to perform in his church choir and in several local talent shows.[14][15] While mimicking an Usher performance, his mother recognized his vocal talent and they began to look for opportunities of a record deal.[14] At the same time, Brown had been through personal issues. His parents had already been divorced, and he said his mother's boyfriend made him terrified all the time due to the domestic violence his mother endured from her boyfriend.[16]

At the age of 13, Brown was discovered by a local production team who visited his father's gas station while searching for new talent.[17] The singer then, moved to New York.[12] In 2004, Tina Davis — then-senior A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings — discovered him while he was working with some local producers. She loved what she heard and saw when Brown auditioned in her office at Island Def Jam Records in New York. 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 at the same day. "I knew that Chris had real talent," says Davis. "I just knew I wanted to be part of it."[18]

The negotiations with Def Jam lasted two months until Davis lost her job due to a corporate merger. Brown then asked her to be his manager and Davis accepted, starting to "promote" 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."[19] Brown ultimately choose Jive, due to its successful work with then-young acts such as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Brown claims, "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."[18]

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