2010 BET Awards (aka) My Thoughts on the Chris Brown thing.

We can discuss the actual Awards ceremony later, what's heavy on my mind -- and the mind of the Twitterverse and Blogosphere as well -- is Chris Brown's little performance last night.

First off, BET Awards devoted their entire telecast last year to Michael Jackson. The King of Pop died just a few days before that telecast, but they still managed to squeeze in about four nice tributes to MJ by Ne-Yo, and Ciara among others. So when Jermaine Jackson came on stage and talked about the tribute everybody had been waiting on, I immediately thought Usher or even Justin Timberlake. Because both of those artists are the ones waiting in the wings for that King of Pop title, and Timberlake has never done any sort of tribute to MJ since his death. Usher took part in the Grammy tribute, but I figured Jermaine might have been saying that Usher never did a tribute for him on BET. Either way, whoever it was, I also thought about how every award show since last year had a tribute to Michael in so many different ways. What on earth could we have not seen yet, that is something we've been waiting for.

And after Jermaine said "Here He is", and sometime before the white curtain showing just a silhouette was dropped, I figured it was Chris Brown. And I was somewhat excited. Brown has always been a tremendous dancer and he's always sited MJ as his biggest influence so it's a no brainer that he would do well in the dance tribute he provided to the audience. And still mid-way through I lost interest, because is that really fair? Let's just imagine if Brown's album "Grafitti" didn't tank and he was actually invited to the ceremony to perform. I would have no problem if he used his time on stage to tribute Michael since he didn't get the chance last year. But it seems obvious that BET invited him to come on and do the tribute, as a way to get him back in the good graces of the public by using the fact that he didn't take part last year (and, I wonder if they invited him last year?). Which, is basically like them giving him a do-over. And I have a bit of a problem with that. What has Chris Brown done to make BET feel the need to sympathize with him and help him out over all the other struggling artists?

I'm over the Incident with Rihanna. That's not really my issue with him. It's his behavior afterward that has soured my respect for him. His playing the victim in interviews, the trying to get people to feel sorry for him, even when he was the villain in the case was the wrong move. Even aside from that, and totally aside from the domestic abuse case, his behavior on Twitter following the disappointing sales of his album showed what an entitled cry-baby he is. He went on a Twitter tirade when he assumed that Walmart wasn't carrying his album (even though they officially came out and confirmed that they were, just not that particular store because they had sold out), and he begged his followers to boycott the chain store. He begged his fans to request his songs on radio, because in his own mind (with no proof what so ever) he felt they were blacklisting his music (and "I Can Transform Ya" actually played on radio stations and was building at a point), and than a negative piece of press from a female journalist had him going off on Twitter once again calling the woman names just like a little child would.

So what about his behavior this past year showed BET that he was this changed man? Why did they feel like he deserved a second chance? I personally don't feel like he's done anything, he put out a solid album and he should have focused on that and not the negativity and he would have possibly come out on top. Even if "Grafitti" turned into a massive, un-savable Flop, he should have known better to ignore the negativity and keep hustling. Instead he complained, whined, bitched and moaned. Acted just like a volatile kid, and here BET is giving him another shot. (SMDH!)

So back to his little tribute, after going through I think 4 different songs (just dancing by the way, he didn't even have a mic at that point) Chris slowed it down and the music for "Man in the Mirror" swelled up. And this is where #FAIL comes to play, he couldn't sing. I'm sure he was out of breath, and I'm sure he was genuinely emotional for various reasons after his dance tribute. The emotions from being back on stage, from tributing his idol, even from the lyrics of the song. Whatever it was, he started crying (Balling, literally sobbing and spitting) and he just couldn't get his vocals together to complete the song. And at a certain spot he seemed to stop trying altogether. And I don't blame him, the crowd was applauding him on as if his not-singing was a good thing!? I just feel like if you're going to be a professional, and this is supposed to be your big chance to show people what you can do, there has to be a point where you need to pull it together, look beyond the emotion or even use the emotion to help with your vocal, but do SOMETHING don't just walk back and forth crying and lipping the words.

Okay I know I may be a little harsh-sounding right now, because I understand where certain other people are coming from who said that he did a good job. For me, he did a great job in the dancing but I wouldn't have ever expected him to do less than a great job because he's a great dancer and he probably spent most of his childhood mocking Jackson's moves. The vocals were a hot mess, and I just can't forgive him for not at least trying to get it together and SING.

And than, Brandy and Ray-J (who I also can't stand, Ray-J a lot less than Brandy who I used to love but her new reality show has completely turned me off) presented an award for the best Fans (or some kind of bullsh*t award), and surprise surprise Chris Brown won. The thing that irked me about his acceptance speech (aside from Ray J. making everybody give him a standing ovation) was his "to my fans, I know I let you down but I promise I won't do it again". Okay dude just shut up! He's still on that "oh every one needs to feel sorry for me" kick and after almost two years we've heard that enough. Just let it go, Rihanna is on her world tour right now and she's gotten over it, why can't you!?

Anyway the awards show was pretty cool. Not the best. I'll post a full review later.

Album Review: R. Kelly, Chris Brown, Adam Lambert

Every time R. Kelly releases a new album, I always underestimate him for some reason. He was the King of R&B in the 90's and portions of this decade, and even with a very nasty and potentially damaging public scandal he stayed consistent in his music. Over the past four albums, I've tired of him because I feel like he is struggling to stay relevant and young when he should be transitioning into an older sound. Having said that, I've said the same thing before listening to his past four albums, and surprisingly they've all been pretty great. And this new album "Untitled", now his 9th solo studio album (it's really his 12th if you count his debut with Public Announcement and his two collaboration albums with Jay-Z) is also just as great. Here's what, R. Kelly is, has always been, and will always be the best when it comes to R&B Sex Music. And this album is all about sex. In fact on one track he openly admits "There's only 2 things, in this world, That I'm the best at, it's true, Number 1 is music, Number 2, can't nobody rock your body out" and throughout this very pleasant and very well sequenced album he goes on to yodel "Echo", sing in spanish (the albums first single) "Number One" with Keri Hilson, and even get "Religious" all about sex. I can't hate, it's what he's built his career on thus far and obviously what works for him, at one point he even says this is "12 Play, 4th Round" referencing his most successful albums and the classic 90's album that started it all (and has had 2 sequels so far). He does a fine job of putting together a nice album, and there are even points where he ventures out of the R&B world on the club track "I Love the DJ", and "Be My #2" which has a nice disco feel to it. Nothing truly groundbreaking, but for R. Kelly fans they won't be disapointed because he stays in a very familiar, thus comforting territory.

Speaking of R&B Artists who are releasing albums after very public scandals, let's talk about Chris Brown. His new album "Graffiti" comes out December 8th, and for alot of reasons fans are looking for him to drop something amazing to bring the focus back to his music. The big problem with this album, now his third, is it's so all over the place conceptually. He goes from being the sad, love struck, "woe is me, my life as a celebrity is so hard" guy on tracks like "Lucky Me" and "So Cold". Than he goes on to reinforce a bad boy, Player image on tracks like "What I Do" and (the terribly innapropraite and sickening) "Wait". I think what's more disappointing about the album is the fact that he hasn't progressed much since his last album "Exclusive", and at times this album seems like a continuation of that album instead of being what it should have been, an improvement. There's alot of good stuff on the album, but even some of the better tracks like "Famous Girl" and "Sing Like Me" sound like they could have fit easily on that prior album. And what's funny, is this R&B crooner has some of his best moments on this album, and of his career when he ventures outside of that genre. "Crawl" is a really wonderful Pop ballad in the vein of his duet with Jordin Sparks "No Air", while "I.Y.A." and "Pass Out" (which sounds like "Disturbia", and I'm quite certain it was meant as a duet with him and Rihanna, but don't quote me on that) have him feeling confident and at home in the club music genre. And the albums closer "I'll Go" is phenomenal vocally and production wise. The track which is almost R&B somewhat Rock, is matched perfectly by the lyrics and the vocal delivery. If he had took more of a risk with this album and really went outside of his comfort zone this could have been a really great album. As it stand, it's average for the most part, but him stepping outside the box on those few songs shows a little promise for his career.

And for something completeley out of the box, Adam Lambert. He may not have officially won American Idol earlier this year, but undoubtedly he was the Star of the season. In fact, with his Rolling Stone cover (the only Idol alum EVER to cover the magazine solo) and the media circus surrounding his sexuality, and the "controversial" American Music Award performance have made him a true star. And, surprisingly, the music on his album "For Your Entertainment" is better than the hype. Normally these Idol albums are a pretty generic mix of the artists influences and ready made Radio hits. This album follows that format, and there are a few truly awful tracks but for the most part this is a very solid debut album. The album goes from Rock to Dance music and back a few times, with a few glimpses into Lambert's inspiration growing up. So you'll get tracks like the title track, "If I Had You" and "Sure Fire Winners", fun dance tracks with a little Rock attitude which Lambert more than handles even when you can tell he's less than thrilled with the material. "Whataya Want from Me" "Sleepwalker" and "Pick U Up" have him vying for time on Modern Rock and A/C radio stations and these are a few of the best tracks on the album. However Lambert is really at home on "Soaked" and beautiful "Broken Open", which show restraint over tracks obviously inspired by the Epic Power Ballads of the 70's by the likes of Queen and Meatloaf. Overall a very promising debut, it may be all over the place and a bit long, but Lambert's voice is unique and diverse enough to tackle it all. We will probably be hearing from this guy for a while now.