The Relentless Unmanning Of Chris Brown

Once again, Chris Brown, the social media world's most prized effigy, has hit the news for being an almighty prick, after an altercation with Frank Ocean. But aside from his obvious personality issues and almost demi-god-like belief that he and his career are invincible, no matter how many new acts of stupid he gets into, all roads lead back to Breezy knocking ten bells out of then girlfriend Rihanna, a woman who has since forgiven Brown for his actions and shacked back up with him. For better or worse, Brown’s career is, and will always be marred for this action, and waves of people will bin his (remarkably average) albums probably without even listening to them.

This differs from people like Lindsey Buckingham, who was outed for smacking girls in his ex-girlfriend Carol Ann Harris’ biography Storms. But who cares about that, right? That was like, what, 30 years ago probably? It’s in the past now, lets just all move on.

Except the people that continually lambast Brown for being a sick bastard are the very same ones who’re lauding the Mac’s return next April for their world tour.

Standards were different back then. Giving your missus a swift back hand after a day at the races was commonplace. If anything, you were LESS of a man if you DIDN’T break a dinner plate on your wife’s bonce, but it’s because you love her so much right? Oh, the passion of music! The demon drink! What monsters it makes of us.

Deifying musicians makes you look past their incredible flaws. Rick James kidnapped some poor girl for almost a week and periodically burnt her with a crack pipe, but it’s not going to stop me bumping "Ghetto Life" every single day of my shitty life. Chris Brown doesn’t have this cuz he makes trashy music for 14 year olds, and instead of being a transcendental ‘rock god’ he’s a brash, loudmouthed, unapologetic arsehole.

But do you know who doesn’t think he’s so much of a bastard? Rihanna doesn’t. Rihanna actually still quite likes Chris Brown, and good luck to her to be honest, she’s a grown woman who can make her own decisions.

Perhaps that’s what it really boils down to. Usually coked-up, drunken male musicians take their pot shots at nameless, faceless "groupies", people who’re two a penny in their world. But Breezy hit a fellow famer, her prominence greater than anyone that Miles Davis or John Lennon ever whacked.

It bears mentioning also that we live in accelerated times, and someone’s rap sheet is all over The Smoking Gun before you’ve applied a plaster to your grazed knuckles, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It lets us make the distinction between a passionate slap or a roid-rage-y episode of behind-the-wheel barbary. They didn’t have the digital invasiveness in the glory days, so people were free to do lines of blow off a hunting knife then throw it at a girl on a revolving disc. Brown has the disadvantage of being a complete prick in full view of everyone, with tons of evidence to back it up.

I’m not saying forgive Chris Brown (though unless he hit you in the face personally I don’t see how you’re in a position to "forgive" anyone, really) and I’m not saying don’t get psyched up for Fleetwood, but don’t pick and choose whose crimes you’re cool with because you like their music more, that’s what #TeamBreezy do when they say they’d let Chris elbow them in the gut for a cheeky fingering and a choc ice.

Illustration by Sam Taylor @SPTSAM / www.samtaylorillustrator.com

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