PSA: Stop Playing Chris Brown at Parties

photo courtesy of @chrisbrownofficial instagram

Picture this. You’re at a party with your friends, hanging out, chatting, and singing along to the music. You’re having a great time, but then you hear it-- the familiar crooning voice that takes you straight back to 2007. A rollercoaster of emotions immediately runs through you: first confusion, then nostalgia, then realization, then awkward embarrassment. You can’t tell whether you should sing along or just sway back and forth uncomfortably. You begin to speak louder to try and block out the music, but out of the corner of your eye, you see people begin to dance to the song. This is going to be the longest three and a half minutes of your life, and it’s all thanks to Chris Brown.

Even if you’ve never heard any of his songs, you’ve definitely heard Chris Brown’s name at some point in the past decade. After all, his personal history has been tenuous at best, and outright abhorrent at worst. The controversy surrounding him and his music began in 2009 after he was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna to the point of physical abrasions on her face. Over the next ten years, he was repeatedly accused of and arrested for robbery, assault, and most recently, rape. Then in 2016, not one, but two of his managers quit working for him, both claiming that he had attacked them.

As you can see, the question is not whether Chris Brown is a good person. The question here is this: why did that song come on in the first place given all of these allegations and arrests? If “cancel culture” truly achieved its goal of putting “toxic” people out of a job, why is his music still being played? Luckily for you, we’ve compiled some frequently asked questions about this topic to get to the bottom of this.

Why do people still listen to Chris Brown?

Unfortunately, some people still think that Chris Brown is redeemable, or they at least like his music enough to sweep his past wrongdoings under the rug. This is probably why his song came on at the party-- that or Spotify radio did you and the 300 other people here really dirty.

How do I get them to stop?

It is very difficult to change people’s minds on this topic, although it never hurts to try. Just let them know about all the allegations leveled against him and go from there. Ultimately, though, go into it knowing that when people really want to like something, they’ll keep liking it, no matter what you tell them. Sometimes an honest conversation is all you can do,

But we shouldn’t judge him for his past mistakes, right?

This is a common defense used when people want to continue supporting a public figure who has done something wrong. Sure, one could say that since the situation with Rihanna was just over ten years ago, that crime should no longer be the highlight of his career. However, it is important to remember that in this case, his mistakes are not very far in the past. The most recent allegation of rape against him occurred in January of 2019-- that’s earlier this year. It does not seem like his behavior has changed markedly enough for this argument to be warranted.

So what do I do?

Honestly, there isn’t much to do except express that he and his music make you uncomfortable. If your friend puts on the music, for example, let them know that they might want to pick another track. After that, try not to explicitly support him (or any other abusers for that matter) in the future.