Opinion: Why won’t Chris Brown just go away?

By MIGUEL TAMAYO

You can’t really blame Chris Brown. His internal clock was ticking. How long had it been? Two, three months? It must’ve been killing him. Touring the world, performing on stages in front of throngs of adoring fans — and not an ounce of controversy or violence?

Sure, it would be nice if this were enough for him, if his thirst for attention could be quenched by the idolatry and reverence shown to him by his millions of supporters, or if the endless string of zeros he sees in his bank statement could convince him of how much he has to lose.

But then he wouldn’t be happy. And who are we to deny Chris Brown his happiness? The man needs to be an idiot. He needs to further sully his reputation every chance he gets. It’s an inescapable urge that drives him forward, punching, biting, all-caps tweeting, and throwing chairs through windows. 

So it comes as little surprise that in his new freestyle over Kanye’s “Way Too Cold” (formerly “Theraflu”) beat, Brown decided to toss in some thinly veiled (read: blatant) references to his ex, Rihanna. And, suffice to say, his comments aren’t exactly glowing:

Don’t fuck with my old bitch
It’s like a bad fur
Every industry nigga done had her
Trick or treat like a pumpkin just to smash her 
Bitch is breaking codes, but I’m the password

Though he denied the lyrics were about her during a quick back and forth between the two on Twitter, Rihanna decided to unfollow him, then a short time later he unfollowed her. (By the way, next to de-friending someone on Facebook, this is the weakest excuse for a “take that” type move in the world. Alas, this is … actually I’ll let Brandon Flowers explain.)

Yet childish, public spats over the Twittersphere aside, Brown has once again planted himself firmly under the public spotlight. And, once again, it’s for the wrong reasons.

His lyrics, put gently, are immature, devoid of any of the skillful artistry that others such as Jay-Z and Kanye have become so famous for, and (surprise, surprise) troublingly violent. 

Not to mention, they are completely asinine.

I mean the first three lines are pretty straightforward, and I understand the implications of whom he’s saying she’s slept with (although, if we were to really read into it, his reference to bad furs might whittle the list of candidates down a bit), but what I don’t get is the “trick or treat like a pumpkin” line. I guess he means you can treat her like a ho (“trick”) or treat her well (“treat”)? I’m not sure. But then again, Chris Brown has never been known for his lyrical prowess, so I won’t dwell on it much.

The bottom line is that, regardless of whether Rihanna had sex with a rapper or two, or the entire Flipmode Squad, I think Brown’s lyrics are much more than a poor choice of words. I don’t think he’s a complete idiot (at least I think I don’t think that), and I think he was acutely aware of the double entendre-ness of the word “smash” when he decided to use it. But even if he didn’t (perhaps, especially if he didn’t), how has no one just told this guy to shut the F up?

It’s gotten to a point where I no longer wonder if these are mistakes, or the result of youthful stupidity, a bad management team, etc — I honestly think he’s just a bad person who happens to dance well.

I would really love it if he just went away. We have Usher, Ne-Yo, and now Bieber, doing exactly what Brown does with varying levels of success — he’s superfluous in pop culture and harmful to society.

So Chris, on behalf of myself and others who have grown weary of your antics, finish up your tour this year, release your album, and then please, please, just go away. You’ll be doing yourself and a lot of others a big favor.