My Album Is Art, Chris Brown Tells YRB

On December 8, Chris Brown will release his first album after the February assault and backlash, a moment that reportedly came extremely close to costing him his entire career. “Graffiti” is the singer’s way of getting his side of the story out there, while also trying to find redemption as an artist and to show that his personal mistakes don’t outweigh his merits as an artist.

Brown is the featured artist in the latest issue of YRB magazine, which comes not only with a futuristic, post-apocalyptic photospread that shows him as a more mature artist, moving away from the heartthrob image he once had, but also with a lengthy interview. Among the topics tackled, Chris explains why he chose “Graffiti” for the title of the upcoming material and how he feels he’s now the wiser having learned from his past mistakes.

“‘Graffiti’ is the art of me, the art of Chris Brown. That’s why I named it ‘Graffiti’ – because graffiti is art.” the singer says of what stands behind the rather unusual album name. In the end, the title can be all about learning to look at things from a different perspective, including here his own music, just like is the case with urban art. “I know it’s a form of vandalism, but not lookin’ at it on a negative aspect, it’s art and my music is my graffiti,” Brown adds.

Having people judge him for the mistakes he made in his relationship with Rihanna was one of the most difficult situations he’s ever been in, Brown says. It wasn’t fair either, meaning the treatment he got in the media, but, now, he wants people to know he’s learned his lesson. “…At the end of the day it’s not right to judge somebody when people make mistakes all the time… I regret every second of it… There’s always problems in relationships and it’s how we handle them and the choices we make that shapes them and makes them better,” Chris says.

The other day, Chris Brown premiered a promo / preview of the album, which, just like the YRB photospread, heavily relies on the idea that we’re dealing here with a changed man – and a more mature artist to top. For the full YRB interview and spread, please refer here.