Why Chris Brown isn’t really retiring
OPINION - Oh Breezy, you’re so dramatic. Of course no one is taking this 'probable' retirement shtick from a 24-year-old very seriously...
Chris Brown went to jail for a few minutes the other day (He had to turn himself in for an alleged hit and run) and he promptly hopped on Twitter to proclaim that he is going to retire after his next album.
He said “Don’t worry mainstream America. After this X album, it’ll probably be my last album. Being famous is amazing when it’s for ur music and talent. I’m tired of being famous for a mistake I made when i was 18. I’m cool & over it!”
Oh Breezy, you’re so dramatic. Of course no one is taking this “probable” retirement shtick from a 24-year-old very seriously.
Over the years entertainers and athletes have all played the “No really, I’m going to retire” game. Jay Z announced his retirement iwhile promoting The Black Album. That was 10 years and five albums ago. Too Short claimed he was going to call it quits in 1996 after his tenth album Gettin’ It was released. He’s on number 20 now. For both Jay and Short Dog, the motivation behind announcing a retirement was likely just to boost album sales. Pure salesmanship at its finest.
The king of not retiring is of course Michael Jordan, but he seems to have had a different reason for playing coy with the history books. Jordan is addicted to competition. He played minor league baseball after his first retirement, returned to the league and copped three more championship rings, retired again, joined the Washington Wizards and then retired for real. At 50 years old today, he’d probably still suit up if he could.
But Brown’s reasons for tossing out the r-word do not seem to (completely) be for the purpose of promoting his album and he certainly doesn’t have the “greatest of all time” cloak that is often bestowed upon Jordan. Brown is just straight whining.
The “Fine China” singer pummeled his then-girlfriend Rihanna on Grammy night in 2009. That is the “mistake” he referenced in his tweet. Brown is quite young and frankly, if Rihanna were not famous, the incident would not have gotten nearly the amount of attention it has garnered. The list of celebrities who have had legal proceedings about or at least serious allegations of domestic violence is quite long and that is troubling.
As a society, we should take domestic violence seriously no matter how famous the people involved are. Brown has been treated differently than other entertainers who have had domestic violence issues. After a while, their headlines fade away, while pretty much any story about Brown doing anything mentions the incident with Rihanna. That’s not to say that it’s not fair game (He did a horrible thing that night), that is just to say he has been treated in the press in a different way.
However, Brown has done pretty much everything he can possibly do to evaporate even the tiniest drop of sympathy one might have for him. He simply can’t stay out of trouble. Between trying to throw a chair out of a window after an interview with Robin Roberts (Who doesn’t love Robin Roberts?), being involved in a nightclub melee with Drake, getting involved in another fight with Frank Ocean and painting graffiti on the walls of his tony Hollywood Hills neighborhood, Brown has shown time and time again that he has very little (if any) act-right.
So, to whine about being famous for a mistake at 18 is just that, whining. If Brown wants to outshine that incident, he would do well to stick to the studio and stage and leave the chest thumping theatrics for the WWE. From the Rihanna beating to the incidents in the years after that, he has made a reputation for himself of being a knucklehead, which makes him easy prey for opportunistic people looking to falsely accuse him of things, make a few dollars and get their 15 minutes of fame. If Brown were to retire right now at age 24, it would be nothing but trouble.
Plus, Brown is actually talented. I don’t own any of his albums, but I like to see him perform on award shows and such. It would be a shame for him to throw away his gifts because there are people who will not tip toe around the more sordid bits of his past and present. Get yourself together, Breezy.
Brown’s team has yet to release an official statement about his retirement tweet and they probably won’t. No need to. He’s not retiring.
Follow Demetria Irwin on Twitter at @Love_Is_Dope and connect with her on Facebook.
