And this is a man with a history of drug problems, anger management issues and-just like Brown-domestic assault charges against women. Keep in mind that even before his recent escapades made him a permanent TMZ category, Charlie Sheen was television’s highest paid star, on the highest-rated comedy on television. As the rule goes, Michael Jackson’s biggest problem wasn’t that he was accused of inappropriate behaviour with young boys: it’s that he didn’t deliver a pop song good enough to make us forget about those accusations.Ĭallous? Sure. Kelly rule,” so named for how quickly discussion of his supposed (and filmed!) sexual encounters with a 14-year-old girl quieted down when “Ignition (Remix)” became the jam of spring 2003. That as long as you keep being good at what the public originally liked you for, the culture-starting with the media, filtering down through the audience-will eventually get over the scandals and indiscretions. This posed a blow to one of my working theories of pop: that all is forgiven if you deliver a killer track.
CHRIS BROWN DEUCES COMEBACK SONG FULL
So despite the enthusiasm I saw for it on the dance floor, “Yeah x3” didn’t seem to provide Brown a full and proper “comeback.” Its lack of impact is really felt when you compare it to some of Brown’s pre-scandal singles-I remember “Kiss Kiss” being particularly inescapable at one point. The song did reach number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, but that seemed like a rather low plateau for a song this catchy, its broader cultural impact negligible (especially compared to, say, the latest from his pop/R&B contemporaries). (You can check out a video of their reaction here.)īut until the Canada Games, I felt like I was the only person who thought so.
It’s infectious-and the kids dancing to it at the Canada Games seemed to agree. Lacking a guttural or primal feeling, its electro riff keeps the festivities on a higher plane of pop living. In contrast to a lot of the bass-heavy pop tracks that populate the charts these days, it floats with a helium-like jubilation. I know that “Deuces” is the track that got a lot more blog and reviewer cred among Brown’s pre-release singles from F.A.M.E., but there’s something about “Yeah x3”’s buoyancy that’s captivating. A big highlight each week of the Games was the dance, where a DJ spun the latest top 40 hits and the gaggles of teens went gaga for the latest from Ke$ha, Enrique and, well, Gaga.īut I was kinda blown away when Chris Brown’s “Yeah x3” got, from where I stood, one of the biggest reactions of the night.Ĭonfession: I think “Yeah x3” is kind of an amazing pop song. But it actually first sprung to mind last month when I was helping plan and implement activities for athletes during the Halifax-hosted Canada Winter Games. The question is relevant this week because Brown is releasing F.A.M.E., his second album since he was charged with physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna. But pop culture has a rather fascinating ability to forgive, if not to forget entirely, the indiscretions of its stars, and I find it peculiar that it hasn’t done so for Brown.
I’m not suggesting that we should, mind you.