Chris Brown (album)

At age 13, Brown was discovered by Hitmission Records, a local production team that visited his father's gas station while searching for new talent.[4] 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.[4] Tina Davis, senior A&R executive, promoted the singer to labels such as Jive Records, J-Records and Warner Bros. Records. After Mark Pitts heard of him he immediately offered him a contract that Brown signed with Jive Records on Christmas Eve of 2004. At the time, he dropped out of tenth grade at his Essex High School in Virginia, in favor of tutoring.[5]

Brown developed the concept for the album along with Mark Pitts and Tina Davis, and began recording it in Miami, Florida. Brown's original intention on the album was to both rap and sing on the records, but Pitts convinced him to stick to just singing, he said that "I was trying to keep it at, ‘You’re a singer’ I was caught up in the idea of ‘Stay in your lane’".[6] Brown worked on 50 songs before coming to a final 14 tracks to be included on his first album. Brown wrote half of the tracks.[5] Brown said: "I write about the things that 16 year olds go through every day, keepin it real with what it is. 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".[7] The album was initially titled Young Love, however, with that idea for the album title has been discarded as being "too kiddie".[8]

Chris Brown is an R&B and hip hop soul album, that was described by Pitchfork's critic Jules Verano as "the perfect epitome of 2000's R&B music sound" along with Ne-Yo's debut album In My Own Words.[2] The album is essentially about teenage lovelife, mixing themes of first approaches to love involvement, infatuation, physical attractiveness and coolness. The album also has few episodes where the singer mentions sex with older women, explains his growing up, portrays his "young street credibility", and talks about his relationship with his mother.[1]

Brown performing at KISS 106.1 Seattle Jingle Bell Bash 8, December 4, 2005

Through the winter, Brown joined the Scream V Encore Tour, featuring Ciara, Bow Wow, Omarion and Marques Houston, as a supporting act. Later, he headlined the Xbox 360 Presents: Chris Brown Tour, supported by T-Pain.

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.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Billboard	[9]
Pitchfork	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	A[10]
The Guardian	[11]
Rolling Stone	2.5/5[12]
The Chicago Tribune	[13]

Chris Brown received positive reviews from critics. Andy Kellman of AllMusic said that the album "almost always involves an even push-and-pull between what appeals to kids who don't consider street credibility and those who do" praising Brown's introduction in R&B music as "a refreshing presence, a high-schooler who's neither as family friendly as Will Smith nor as comically vulgar as Pretty Ricky.[1] Katie Bain from The Guardian defined it as "a smooth delightful slice of commercial R&B".[14] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly complimented its lyrical content stating that "it really showcases what a street teenager thinks and is up to", comparing Brown's performances to the early ones of Michael Jackson.[10]

Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot expressed a positive response stating "if you want to listen to a record from a really talented youngster that is not sugar coding it, this is the one".[13] Pitchfork's critic Jules Verano praised the album for being "an impeccable blend between Scott Storch street-rap beats and a gifted fifteen year old's melodious melisma".[2]

Chris Brown debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 154,000 copies in its first week.[15] This became Brown's first US top-ten debut.[15] The album also debuted at number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, becoming his first number one on that chart.[16] On December 18, 2006, the album was a certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over two million copies.[17] As of April 2011, the album has sold 2.1 million copies in the United States alone[3] and over three million copies worldwide.[18]

Credits adapted from BMI and ASCAP.[19][20]

Notes

• (*) Denotes co-producer.
• (^) Denotes additional producer.

Samples credits

• "Ain't No Way (You Won't Love Me)" contains a portion of the composition from "Song of the Dragon & Phoenix" written by Zhang Fuquan.
• "So Glad" contains a portion of the composition from "It's Great to Be Here" performed by Jackson 5.