Chris Brown: The Early Years

Hey Breakers- Chris Brown is in the headlines once again. This time the beat down was self inflicted....

Brown freaked out post GMA interview with Robin Roberts when asked about ex-girlfriend, Rhianna. The 21-year old singer allegedly yelled,  ripped his shirt off, and smashed a chair through a glass window.

Since Mr. Brown is back in the news for bad boy behavior and a new album dropping today, I thought it would be fun to take a look back on how he got his start.

Christopher Maurice Brown was born May 5, 1989 in Tappahannock, Virginia. From a young age, his parents knew he was destined to be a performer. Brown used Michael Jackson as his performance inspiration and would sometimes even impersonate R&B superstar, Usher. When his mother took notice of the talent her son had, they began to search for a record deal.

At the age of 13, Brown was discovered at his father’s gas station by a producing team. He moved to New York and met L.A Reid of Island Def Jam Music Group. Reid wanted to sign him but negotiations were in the works for two months, and instead of waiting around, the young singer decided to look elsewhere for a label.

Brown ended up choosing Jive Records because of its impressive list of hit makers. Brown was now in the big boys club with singers like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. He started recording in February 2005, working with many talented producers and writers like Dre and Scott Storch.

Self-titled Chris Brown, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 154,000 copies. His debut album went platinum twice, selling over 3 million copies world wide.

In 2007, Brown decided to take a swing at acting, first appearing on UPN's show, One On One. After landing a few small TV roles, he made his big screen debut in, Stomp The Yard. After the movie wrapped, Chris spent his time touring the US and working on more music.

In 2008 Brown was working on a new album, Graffiti, hoping to capture a new audience with sound emulating Michael Jackson and Prince. The album had disappointing sales, and the singer was falling out of the public eye, until domestic abuse charges surfaced. Brown turned himself in to Los Angeles Police Department Wilshire Station on February 8, 2008. He was booked on suspicion of making criminal threats. This was on top of an on-going domestic violence investigation with an un-identified woman, who we now know was Brown's ex-girlfriend, Rhianna. Following the arrest, radio stations boycotted the singers music, and he began to pull out of television appearances.

After many court appearances, Brown plead guilty to a felony and accepted a plea deal of community service, 5 years formal probation, and domestic violence counseling. After all was said and done, Brown posted a two minute youtube video apologizing to Rhianna and his fans for his recent actions.

Since the Rhianna incident, Brown has jumped back into the music world. He starting working on a new album in 2010 and even appeared in the movie, Takers, alongside Matt Dillion, Paul Walker, and TI.

His new album F.A.M.E is dropping today. So I have to wonder...Will his previous behavior and today’s freak-out affect album sales. Can anyone say Yeah 3X's?