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Over the past few years, Chris Brown has been a constant presence in the media. In today’s digital age, it’s easy to find out his every move, leaving the public ready to drop an opinion about his actions — good and bad. While the ‘New Flames’ singer has tried to ignore the haters, it’s obviously rough. With the release of his new album, ‘X,’ on the way, he’s finally opening up about his tribulations in Billboard’s latest cover story.
“I just have to realize it comes with the territory in this day and age of social media,” he tells Billboard. “My age group and younger stay on the phone and Internet. It’s easy access. So I just like to focus on what I’m doing instead of getting caught up.”
While he’s still an avid social media user, Brown explains that he won’t take every bad comment to heart and seems rather at peace.
“…Not everyone in the world is going to particularly love me,” he states. “But I’m cool with that. As long as I love myself and my music, I’m fine. People are going to say what they want to say. I don’t look over my shoulder or wish I could turn back the hands of time. Life is a learning experience, so I’m learning as I go. I’m not walking around angry about anything. So you just have to let it be.”
Although he’s tried to keep mum about Rihanna since his 2009 conviction for assaulting her, he can’t escape the talk surrounding the incident. “As long as you’re doing something good, people will always bring up old stuff or negative stuff because they don’t want you to surpass a certain level or elevate,” the 25-year-old shares. “But as long as you have your head on straight, it shouldn’t matter what people want to say.”
Since that very public scandal, Brown couldn’t avoid run-ins with the law. He recently left prison after doing 108 days for breaking parole after he got into an altercation with an individual outside a Washington, D.C. hotel last year. And even though some thought that he was able to tap into his creative juices while in the pen, he begs to differ.
“…jail isn’t a place of many creative spirits,” Brown says. “But as far as my creativity, I put it on hold until I got out. Jail is more of a regimen and a structure. I’m more of a free spirit when it comes to creating music, painting and art. So when I got out, I was very excited to get into the studio. I didn’t have any ideas or concepts; they usually come as I go [in to record]. I was drawing and sketching most of the time, biding time.”
Read the crooner’s full interview over at Billboard.
