"Three weeks ago, Chris Brown didn't exactly f*ck with VIBE." This is how the magazine started its cover story on Brown—a story that's long overdue, since the two parties haven't sat down for an interview since 2009. In December of that year, there was a lot of drama between the magazine and the entertainer concerning a controversial cover that, frankly, pissed Brown off. But six years later, it seems as though the singer is ready to let bygones be bygones-another sign of the maturity that Brown seems to wear now, like a comfortable cloak that he needed to grow into. It's that maturity that seemed to be evident in this interview that had Brown talking about his 1-year-old baby girl, Royalty, what he feels about being called a role model and coming back from the edge after years as the talented black sheep of the music industry.
The word is still out on whether it was age or his child that had Brown growing up after years of over-the-top tantrums, but according to VIBE, much of his interview was filled with what they called "lofty rhetoric," statements such as: "At the end of the day, the only thing you can do is fail," "Everything starts with an idea," "I'm just a vessel" and "I don't give a f*ck." These zen-isms seem to mark Brown's new desire for peace and harmony in his life-which wasn't the case even a few months ago (*cue Karrueche Tran breakup*).
But the calm might be more for the newest love of his life than his fans, known as "Team Breazy." This is probably especially true since Brown is quick to say he's no one's role model. "It's not my job to be your role model; my job is to be your inspiration. There's a difference," he explained to the magazine. "You can be that rose in the concrete, or you can be that underdog, or you can be that person that people already cast out, and still be able to maintain and live your life, understand change, and make a difference."
With all of that said, Brown does think he has a responsibility to the public as an African-American male. "I'm the general statistic of the young black male: a father out of wedlock, tattoos, sags my pants, hangs with people that would be called outcasts, been to jail, has a criminal record," he said. "If I can complain about the diamonds not being bright enough on my chain or my ring, I should also be fighting just as hard to put somebody else in a house, helping somebody that's homeless, feeding somebody, showing my concerns."
There is one person that will definitely be looking to the artist as a role model and inspiration, though: his daughter, Royalty, whom he didn't know about for awhile after her birth. "I had thought about it. I had saw pictures, and I was like 'Damn.' So I asked, and [Nia Guzman, Royalty's mother] was like, 'Nah, it's not you.' So I was like cool, I didn't think it was an issue. But when I found out, it was kind of like, 'Damn, she looks just like me.' And I didn't care about how me and her mother didn't have a relationship, I didn't care about any situation. I just wanted to see her. I just wanted to be able to have that opportunity, as something personal to me. I'm not gonna be upset, I'm not gonna be mad. I have to be honest with myself and pick the priorities over the situation. I had to make my priority my daughter."
Catch the full article here and and be prepared to say "awww" as you watch a snippet of Brown bringing his daughter out on stage with him during a concert in LA.
