Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. He is a contemporary R&B musician,[note 1] who has been referred to by several contemporary musicians as the "King of R&B".[note 2] While an R&B singer and songwriter, his music has also been influenced by pop and hip hop genres. His lyrics have sometimes addressed emotional and hedonistic themes.[note 3] His singing and dancing skills have sometimes been compared favorably to those of pop icon Michael Jackson.[16]
In 2004, Brown signed with Jive Records and released his eponymous debut studio album the following year, later certified Triple Platinum.[17][18] With his debut single "Run It!" peaking atop the Billboard Hot 100, Brown was the first male artist since 1995 to have his debut single top the chart. His second album, Exclusive (2007), was commercially successful worldwide, spawning his second Billboard Hot 100 number one single, "Kiss Kiss".[19]
In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault of singer Rihanna, who was then his girlfriend, and was sentenced to five years probation and six months community service.[20] The same year, he released his third album, Graffiti, which was considered to be a commercial failure.[21] Following Graffiti, Brown released his fourth album F.A.M.E. (2011), which was his first album to top the Billboard 200. The album contained the commercially successful singles: "Yeah 3x", "Look at Me Now" and "Beautiful People", and earned him the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.[22][23] His fifth album, Fortune, released in 2012, topped the Billboard 200.
Following the releases of X (2014) and Royalty (2015), both peaking in the top three of the Billboard 200, his eighth album, Heartbreak on a Full Moon (2017), a double-disc LP consisting of 45 tracks, was certified Gold for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 after one week, and later certified Double Platinum. Brown's ninth studio album, Indigo (2019) found similar success, debuting atop the Billboard 200.[24] It included the single "No Guidance" which broke the record for longest-running number one on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.[25][26] Its chart success was outdone with the single "Go Crazy" released the following year, which broke Brown's own record for longest-running number one.[27][28][29] In 2022, his Indigo album spawned a sleeper hit with its song "Under the Influence", which was re-released as a single.[28][30]
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