These days, it seems like a lot of veteran acts would rather squabble with their musical heirs than make peace with them, but that’s not the case for R&B veteran Bobby Brown. Brown has been busy on the road again with his New Edition brothers and is even gearing up for his own comeback album, The Masterpiece. And while he’s looking to reclaim his throne, Brown is making it a point to praise R&B’s new guard of superstars, namely Chris Brown.
During his heyday, Brown was known as the premier bad boy of R&B as he consistently grabbed headlines with his sexual numbers, over-the-top antics, drug use and volatile love life with late wife, Whitney Houston.
And many of those same qualities — or rather bad habits — have become trademarks in Chris Brown’s sizzling career. And while many have complained about the new bad boy’s wild behavior, Bobby is praising Chris.
“He’s good; he’s a church boy compared to me,” Brown said in an interview with MTV News.
“Chris Brown is incredible. [He’s] an incredible dancer, incredible singer. I respect him a lot because he’s held his head up throughout everything that he’s been through,” Brown said, addressing the singer’s much-publicized assault case against ex-girlfriend, Rihanna. “He’s only been through a little bit, but the boy is talented and you can’t take talent away. Talent is given from God, you can’t learn what he does. He’s a bona fide entertainer and he should be respected.”
Brown went on to also praise Trey Songz and Usher and though he has love for the younger generation of singers as well as his New Edition crew, he’s intent on proving he’s still got what it takes to be a solo star.
“This project is about me as an individual and me as far as growth in my life, so I didn’t really want to go all commercial with it, and to make it something that became a spectacle.” Brown admitted. “This is all about Bobby right now. It’s just to get this off my heart and once this is released and people are able to hear it and appreciate it, then I can move forward with my life.”
Brown’s The Masterpiece hits stores on June 5. Check out some of R&B’s other famous bad boys below. –nicholas robinson
