Can Chris Brown rally from scandal and someday win a Grammy?
In 2008, Chris Brown and Rihanna were the top male and female pop singles artists in America, and both were just nominated for Grammy Awards. The music industry's highest honor has eluded Chris Brown so far, while Rihanna won a golden gramophone for "Umbrella" (best rap/sung collaboration) last year.
Rihanna's "Umbrella" was also up for one of the loftiest Grammy Awards — best record of the year — and many pundits believed it could win. Alas, it got skunked by Amy Winehouse's "Rehab."
Chris Brown has not yet received that kind of Grammy love. The highest category he's reached with a nomination has been best new artist, losing to Carrie Underwood. His other few bids were in the R&B slots. Now that he's tinged by scandal, can he ever win?
As Gold Derby often notes, bad boys don't win Oscars. Russell Crowe hasn't been nominated since he attacked that BAFTA producer and Manhattan hotel clerk. (Crowe apologized in the first incident and settled a lawsuit in the second.)
Since the Grammys are music's equivalent to the Oscars, the same issue applies. These academies represent the conservative establishments of their industries and they don't like to give awards to people who reflect poorly upon them. True, in music — especially in the R&B, rap, metal and hard rock genres— a rebellious, anti-establishment spirit is tolerated, sometimes celebrated, but that's because edginess drives mass music sales. That's not true of movies or TV, so that's why the Oscars and Emmys are even more conservative than the conservative Grammys.
But the Grammys can still be a bit fuddy-duddy. Rap artists who tend to win, for example, are more likely to be of the safe Will Smith or Jay-Z variety (four Grammys each) than the thuggish kind like Snoop Dog or Notorious B.I.G. (none). When gangsta rappers triumph, they tend to be of the establishment kind like Dr. Dre (four). Just a few years ago, music critics widely hailed 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Trying" as the best disc of the year, but its music couldn't break into the top Grammy races. 50 Cent's been nominated for Grammys but only in those second-tier slots. He's never won. When he was nominated for best new artist of 2004, he lost to Evanescence.
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Photo: WireImage
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WHAT CHRIS HAS DONE WAS WRONG YESSS....BUT YALL IS FORGETTING SOME OF YOUR FAV ACTORS, ACTRESS, AND ENTERIANERS HAS SKELETONS IN THEIR CLOSETS HAS WELL.....
SEAN PENN THE GUT WHO JUST WON AN OSCAR ABUSE MADONNA.... WHERE IS HER SYMPTHY.....NAOMI CAMPBELL..NOT ONCE OR TWICE BUT FOUR TIMES ABUSE HER PERSONAL ASSTIANT WITH PHONES AND ALL BUT YALL DONT CARE ABOUT THAT...RKELLY WAS CHARGED WITH CHILD PORNAGHY BUT YALL WAS STILL LISTENING TO HIS MUSIC ON THE RADIO......SO WHY WHEN CHRIS AND RIHANNA GET INTO A FIGHT ALL OF A SUDDEN THE CHRISTIAN COME OUT OF US....LIKE I SAID BFORE IT WAS WRONG BUT WE DONT KNOW WHAT EXCALTY HAPPEN...UNLESS YOU LISTEN TO"RESOURCES" AND HOW WILL THE COPS KNO IF THEY WASNT THERE......SO DONT HANG HIM FOR THIS ITS ALL ABOUT FORGIVEN WE ALL GOING TO DO SOMETHING STUPID ONCE ITS ABOUT IF THEY DO SOMETHING STUPID THE SECONG TIME....
Posted by: KEYONNA | March 10, 2009 at 05:30 PM
Since when does hitting one person counts as people or women. Women is more than one. When u can prove that he hit more than one woman then say women. Until then shut up. P.S. stop making things appear bigger than they r.
Posted by: Shay | March 07, 2009 at 03:52 PM
I am amazed at comments & articles written by people who clearly were not present at the night of the assault but who assume that they know what happened, can predict the future of chris brown and rihanna & who are so caught up in this entire story that they obviously dont have an exciting enough life of their own. Its pathetic actually. LEAVE CHRIS BROWN & RIHANNA alone, geez....ENOUGH ALREADY. Let these 2 people get the help & counselling they need, if they want to work things out because its clearly the case as she is back with him, why is everyone so eager to pass judgement. Please people, let it go now. I dont think any of us can even fathom what it must be like living your life under a microscope. You cannot assume or think you know how either of their careers will end up....so just wait and see!!!!
I cannot even believe how some Americans are so fixated on their "celebrities" lives....its shocking!!
Posted by: Lisa | March 07, 2009 at 04:19 AM
Rhianna is stupid 21 year old chick that should grow up and stop running after 19 year old teens but older men .
We will still love you CHRIS BROWN even if you KILLED Rhianna.
Posted by: PwIIncESS | March 07, 2009 at 01:01 AM
Wait a minute, are we talking about the same Grammy awards that gave several to Amy Winehouse just a year or two ago?? Yet the Grammy's are about class??Not wild animals??And Chris Brown beats women-this one incident makes this 19 year old a Tommy Lee jones or Mickey Rouke??
Stop with the double standards and let people be humans. If he never gets a Grammy, he will still rise above this, and be rich and happy with the woman he loves...
Posted by: asdff | February 28, 2009 at 09:00 PM
Chris Brown did not SAVAGELY beat Rihanna. And no one but those two know what happened that night. The Grammy hardly ever give awards to the people that deserve them. So what would be new about them not giving Chris Brown one. They should just throw out the RnB category. The best RnB singer never wins - it's Alicia Keys or someone else that's not RnB that wins. You people get amnesia about Mickey Rouke, Phil Spector,Robert Blake,Tommy Lee Jones-men that have actually beat savagely or killed their mates, but whose careers move on - why the double standard?
Posted by: asdff | February 28, 2009 at 08:54 PM
Tom, you're a sociopath. This post was so tasteless.
Posted by: BurmaShave | February 12, 2009 at 08:34 PM
Let's not forget Ike Turner. He won a Grammy for "Proud Mary" in 1972 with Tina. But when it became known what was really going on in that marriage, Ike was no longer welcome in music's mainstream.
Then in 2007 Ike won his second Grammy, this time in the Best Traditional Blues Album category. Chris Brown could definitely win a Grammy, but now he might have to wait 35 years for that victory night to come.
Posted by: Charles | February 12, 2009 at 09:21 AM
Rhythm & Blues shouldn't be highlighted as rebellious and anti-establishment. Granted a strong case can be made for Rap, Metal, and Hard Rock, but Rhythm & Blues is just as out of place there as is Pop.
Posted by: Blacktie | February 12, 2009 at 08:26 AM
Again you bring up Russell Crowe. What does he have to do with Brown? Nothing. You know that all Crowe did with that BAFTA producer was poke him in the chest with a finger during an argument. No charges were filed and no one was injured. And as for the Mercer hotel incident.... it was reprehensible, but the clerk wasn't beaten, he was hit in the cheek by flying debris, a minor injury, thank goodness. Crowe made no excuses and paid a high price in 2005. He has not been involved in any incidents since.
Tom, you are fixated on Crowe and it's becoming obvious that he must have spurned you at some point. Get over it.
Chris Brown savagely beat Rhianna.
Posted by: macca | February 12, 2009 at 05:11 AM
So not supporting domestic abuse is "fuddy-duddy"! Wake up people, Chris Brown beats women and should be in jail! Anyone who defends him should be ashamed of themselves. I think the grammys have enough class not to nominate this douche.
Posted by: Drew Teeger | February 11, 2009 at 08:33 PM
Such physical abuse is unforgiveble. The Grammy's are for human beings, not wild animals.
Posted by: Hannah Seegar | February 11, 2009 at 07:12 PM