Chris Brown (album)

Chris Brown
Studio album by Chris Brown
Released November 29, 2005
Recorded February – May 2005
Genre R&B, hip hop, pop
Length 55:44
Label Jive, CBE, Zomba
Sony BMG (International distribution)
Producer Chris Brown, Tina Davis, Mark Pitts (co-exec.)
Scott Storch, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, Kendrick Dean, The Underdogs, Dre & Vidal, Shea Taylor, Tyler Matthews, Cool & Dre, Sean Garrett, Nick Pope, Hunter Atkins, Dabling Harward, Shannon "Slam" Lawrence, Moe Faisal, Oak, Eddie Hustle, Carlos Paucar, LRoc
Chris Brown chronology

Chris Brown
(2005)		 Exclusive
(2007)
Alternative cover
International cover
Singles from Chris Brown
  1. "Run It!"
    Released: June 30, 2005
  2. "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)"
    Released: December 13, 2005
  3. "Gimme That"
    Released: May 7, 2006
  4. "Say Goodbye"
    Released: August 8, 2006
  5. "Poppin'"
    Released: November 21, 2006
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]

Chris Brown is the eponymous debut studio album by American R&B recording artist Chris Brown, released on November 29, 2005 in the United States on Jive Records. It was a commercial success, certified 2x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for scanning two million in the United States,[3] and sold three million copies worldwide. The album also earned Brown his first two Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 49th Grammy Awards.

Background

Chris Brown, born in Tappahannock, Virginia, started as a rapper. Chris took pride in his singing. At age 13 in 2002, Brown was discovered in his father's gas station by a production team who were looking for local talent. By August 2004, Brown, who had adapted the stage name "C Sizzle," and T.J. attracted the attention of Tina Davis, Def Jam Recordings' senior A&R executive, and auditioned them in front of Island Def Jam Music Group CEO Antonio "L. A." Reid.[4][5] Afterwards, Reid offered to sign both of them on the spot but Brown claimed Allen had become "greedy" during the prolonged negotiations that spanned two months.[4][5] Davis advised Brown not to sign the deal.[4] Davis later lost her job due to restructuring after Island Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records merged.[6] That same day, Brown hired her as his manager and moved in into her New Jersey home.[4] After weeks of label searching, Brown had a deal with Jive Records, known for their pop and R&B artists such as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and R. Kelly, by Christmas Eve 2004.[7][5] He also dropped out of the 10th grade at Essex High School in Virginia in favor of tutoring. Brown recorded the album in Miami with Mark Pitts, the Jive A&R who signed Brown to the label. They recorded up to 50 songs. The album was initially titled Young Love, but the idea was discarded as "too kiddie".[8]

Music

"Run It!" takes place in a party setting, with Brown explaining, "It's really a guy checking for a girl, or a girl checking for a guy...asking to see if they can run it. If they can be eligible to be your girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever. 'Let me see if you can run it; show me what you got.'"[9] "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" discusses the first conversation someone has with a girl: "Fellas, first thing they say when they see a girl is 'Yo! Yo!'. I'm saying it like that, but technically not like that. She takes my breath away, all I can say is 'Yo, let me just talk to you for a minute. Chill with me for a minute.'"[9]

Singles

The album's lead single was "Run It!", which features rapper Juelz Santana and was produced by Scott Storch and Moe Faisal. It received continuous airplay(topping the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay), and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for five weeks. It replaced "Gold Digger" by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, and was replaced by Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us". It also topped Billboard Pop 100. Other singles released from the album include "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)", another U.S. top ten hit for Brown, as well as "Gimme That", released as a remix featuring rapper Lil Wayne, and the fourth single, "Say Goodbye", which peaked at number ten in the U.S. The fifth and final single from the album, "Poppin'", charted outside the U.S. top forty.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 154,000 copies.[10] It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[11] As of April 2011, the album has sold 2.1 million copies in the United States alone.[3] Worldwide, it has sold more than three million copies.

Track listing

Standard edition
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Intro"  Christopher Brown, Edmund ClementEddie Hustle 0:56
2. "Run It!" (featuring Juelz Santana)Scott Storch, Moe Faisal, Sean Garrett, LaRon JamesScott Storch, Moe Faisal, Sean Garrett* 3:49
3. "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)"  Johntá Austin, Andre Harris, Vidal DavisDre & Vidal 3:49
4. "Young Love"  Vinny Barrett, Antonio Dixon, Bobby Eli, Keri Hilson, Harvey Mason, Jr., Patrick "J. Que" Smith, Damon ThomasThe Underdogs, Antonio Dixon 3:38
5. "Gimme That"  S. Storch, S. GarrettScott Storch, Sean Garrett* 3:06
6. "Ya Man Ain't Me"  Erik Dawkins, A. Dixon, D. Thomas, H. Mason, Jr., Steve Russell, Durrell "Tank" BabbsThe Underdogs, Antonio Dixon* 3:34
7. "Winner"  C. Brown, Bryan-Michael Cox, Kendrick Dean, Adonis ShropshireBryan-Michael Cox, Kendrick "WyldCard" Dean* 4:04
8. "Ain't No Way (You Won't Love Me)"  Warren Felder, Zhang Fuquan, S. GarrettSean Garrett, Oak* 3:23
9. "What's My Name?" (featuring Noah)C. Brown, Andre Lyon, Stephens Noah, Marcello ValenzanoCool & Dre 3:52
10. "Is This Love?"  E. Dawkins, A. Dixon, H. Mason, Jr., S. Russell, D. ThomasThe Underdogs 3:17
11. "Poppin'"  J. Austin, A. Harris, V. DavisDre & Vidal 4:25
12. "Just Fine"  C. Brown, Daniel Glass, Moe Faisal, Lance Bennett, Michael Winans, Peter Zora, Shannon LawrenceLance Bennett, Mike Winans, Shannon "Slam" Lawrence 3:52
13. "Say Goodbye"  B. Cox, K. Dean, A. ShropshireBryan-Michael Cox 4:49
14. "Run It! (Remix)" (featuring Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri)Jermaine Dupri, Moe Faisal, S. Garrett, Shad Moss, S. StorchJermaine Dupri^, Scott Storch, LRoc*^, Sean Garrett* 4:04
15. "Thank You"  C. Brown, Tina Davis, Lamont "LA" Fleming, Shea TaylorShea Taylor 4:27
16. "Gimme That (Remix)" (featuring Lil Wayne)S. Storch, S. Garrett, Dwayne CarterScott Storch 3:56
Total length:
 55:44
Samples credits

Promotion

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.

Charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Album Charts[12] 57
Austrian Albums Chart[13] 66
Belgium Albums Chart (Flanders)[13] 47
Dutch Albums Chart[13] 47
European Top 100 Albums[14] 42
French SNEP Albums Chart[13] 51
German Albums Chart[13] 31
Irish Albums Chart[13] 71
New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart[13] 8
Swiss Albums Chart[13] 18
UK Albums Chart[13] 29
U.S. Billboard 200[15] 2
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[15] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[16] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[17] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[19] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Personnel

  • Executive producers: Chris Brown, Tina Davis, Mark Pitts
  • Art Direction: Courtney Walter
  • A&R: Leticia Hilliard, Matt Schwartz
  • Assistant Engineers: Val Brathwrite, Vadim Chislov, Anthony G. Crisano, Patrick Magee, Lucas McClelland, Tadd Mingo, Aaron Renner
  • Bass: David Cabrerra
  • Design: Courtney Walter
  • Engineers: Wayne Allison, Vincent Dilorenzo, Conrad Golding, John Horesco IV, Eddie Hustle, Charles McCrorey, Oak, Keith Sengbusch, Sam Thomas
  • Guitar: Val Brathwrite, Aaron Fishbein
  • Keyboards: Kendrick Dean
  • Mastering: Herb Powers
  • Mixing: Kevin "KD" Davis, Vincent Dilorenzo, Jermaine Dupri, Jean-Marie Horvat, Eddie Hustle, Rich Keller, Phil Tan, The Underdogs
  • Mixing Assistant: Val Brathwrite, Steve Tolle, Mike Tschupp
  • Multi Instruments: Bryan-Michael Cox, Vidal Davis, Kendrick Dean, Andre Harris
  • Photography: Clay Patrick McBridge
  • Remix Producer: Jermaine Dupri, L-Rock
  • Vocals (background): Steve Russell
  • Vocal Producer: Lamont "LA" Flemming, Shannon "Slam" Lawrence
  • Vocal Recording: Charles McCrorey
  • Vocal Tracking: Ian Crosse

References

  1. ↑ Kellman, Andy. 2005. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2012-02-12
  2. ↑ Hoard, Christian. . Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2012-02-12
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Grein, Paul (March 23, 2011). "Week Ending March 20, 2011: Songs: The Chris Brown Matter". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Is Chris Brown Violent?" (ONLINE). Giant. 2006-03-02. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hildebrand, Lee (2006-10-01). "Brown runs with it". Hearst Corporation (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2009-05-28.
  6. ↑ MacDonald, Patrick (2006-03-24). "Chris Brown, triple threat: singer, dancer, songwriter". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  7. ↑ Eggar, Edgar (2006-02-12). "The new Michael Jackson". The Times (London: Times Online). Retrieved 2009-05-28.
  8. ↑ Guzmn, Rafer (April 13, 2006). "COOL@NIGHT, CHRIS BROWN: Letting his feet do the talking, Only 16, he has moves like Michael and a No. 1 record". Newsday (Fred Groser).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Reid, Shaheem (October 5, 2005). "Chris Brown Dancing His 'Run It!' Straight Up The Charts". MTV News. Viacom. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  10. ↑ Grein, Paul (March 30, 2011). "Week Ending March 27, 2011: Albums: Chris Brown's Recovery - Chart Watch". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  11. ↑ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  12. ↑ http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20060410-0000/issue833.pdf
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 "Chris Brown - Chris Brown - Music Charts". aCharts. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
  14. ↑ "European Top 100 Albums - Chris Brown - Chris Brown". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Artist Chart History - Chris Brown - Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  16. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2006 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  17. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Chris Brown – Chris Brown". Music Canada.
  18. ↑ "British album certifications – Chris Brown – Chris Brown". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Chris Brown in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  19. ↑ "American album certifications – Chris Brown – Chris Brown". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH