Chris Brown - Graffiti

With 2 studio albums to your name, you've got to be ready to deliver on some pretty large expectations as an artist. After an ugly scene with ex-girlfriend Rihanna -- that divided the industry into two camps -- the ruling notion was that CB's career was over. Luckily for us he stayed focused and entered the recording studio to deliver us "Graffiti" as a result. The question on our minds: is "Graffiti" as "Exclusive" as "Chris Brown"?

The first track (and with it the first official single) off "Graffiti" is 'I Can Transform Ya', featuring Chris Brown's good friend Lil Wayne -- who returns for a third consecutive time on a CB album -- and producer Swizz Beatz. The single is doing very well in the US (selling well over 240.000 downloads to date) and ranking at #20 on Billboard's Hot 100 list. Fans of the Transformers movies should feel right at home with this track, incorporating that typical Swizz Beatz sound with some loud guitar plucks and the 'Transformers' sample as the most dominating factor.

A song that shares some similarities with 'I Can Transform Ya' is 'Wait', featuring Game and a half singing/rapping Trey Songz. Game -- who delivers poorly on this track -- is easily outmatched by Trey Songz. Polow da Don did a good job on the beat, which will do well in the clubs with its hard-hitting bass.

Another Polow da Don production is the song 'I Love You'. When this track starts and the happy polka melody kicks in (played on an accordion of course) you'll start asking yourself if you are part of some elaborate hoax, but as soon as Chris starts singing you'll realize that it's a great (and very addictive) track, just like 'Take My Time'.

Complete with some excessive moaning and other sexual oriented sounds, this production from Tha Bizness sounds like an R&B track from the late 90's happily drumming around in your ears. Chris Brown sounds good on this but when the second verse starts he's outclassed and outmatched in every way by R&B-legend Tank. It begs the question why Tank isn't using this for his own album?

If you're a fan of up-tempo songs then you are in luck with Graffiti. With tracks like 'For Ur Love' and 'Chase Our Love' there's enough here to keep even the most up-tempo desires satisfied.
'Chase Our Love' starts off as a slow pop song, but as soon as the chorus kicks in you'll instantly get in the right mood, the dancing mood that is. With lyrics like "Drink in London, dance in Paris, lets chase our love, lets chase our love. Shout real loud now and let them hear us, lets chase our love, lets chase our love", Chris sure knows how to get the girl's hearts pumping. Unfortunately the track ends before you know it, leaving you craving for more. 'I.Y.A' is another one of those tracks. This potential hit single is already making rounds on the internet as "the new 'Forever'" and we can't disagree as the similarities are noticeable. The downside to 'I.Y.A' is the excessive use of auto-tune at the end of every hook.

If you can recall 'Call on Me', a track by house-producer Eric Prydz, you'll certainly feel right at home with 'Pass Out’. This -- by Brian Kennedy ('Forever', Rihanna's 'Disturbia') -- sampled production sounds very good but starts off very awkward. The sample goes great with the chorus, which is followed by the first female voice on this album. This voice belongs to Eva Simons, a singer from Dutch descent.

Brian Kennedy is also the man behind the keys on 'I'll Go'. Written by James Fauntleroy (who also wrote 'Heart Ain't a Brain' and 'Lottery' for CB) really jumps out to grab your attention, as it's the slowest song on "Graffiti". Or it could just be the beautiful words Chris Brown uses to serenade the listener: "But if I don't come back, girl you're love was worth it, that's the one thing I'll know".

The man with the golden touch, Ryan Leslie, adds some freshness to the mix with his composition on 'Famous Girl'. This track is geared towards Rihanna where Chris sings he was wrong for writing her 'Disturbia'.
Crawl is another song about his relationship with Rihanna. CB himself calls it the best track he ever made. The production is great and the lyrics are good, but for this author it just can't outmatch 'Say Goodbye' ("Chris Brown" - 2005) or 'Fallen Angel' ("Exclusive: the Forever Edition" - 2008).

Music duo Rock City delivered on 'Lucky Me', one of our favorite songs on "Graffiti", but alas also dropped the ball with their other addition to this album 'Brown Skin Girl'. This track is just horrible and a failed attempt to pull the non-relevant (at least nowadays) Sean Paul back into the spotlight. Scott Storch by the way should be ashamed for his production. If Jive/Zomba, Chris Brown's label, had any brains they would've pulled this track in favor of iTunes pre-order bonus, 'Graffiti' (prod. by Cool & Dre). A song that is obviously one of the better tracks on this album, but regretfully is nowhere to be found (which we find very strange as this track has the same name as the album).

with a tough year behind him, Breezy -- as he is known to his friends and fans -- still manages to deliver a great sounding album. "Graffiti" isn't as good as CB's debut, but is without a doubt on the same level as "Exclusive".
Chris headed in a new direction with this album and that has proved to be a terrific choice. With tracks like 'I Need This', produced by Oak ('Superhuman', 'Ain't No Way') and 'Fallin' Down', a song which at first listen reminds us of a Danja production, shows he's on the right track and makes us even more eager for album number 4. 

Chris Brown's "Graffiti" in stores December 8th 2009.

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