Joe Stevens - 3/23/2011

Chris Brown's "F.A.M.E." is his 4th studio album release, and in my opinion his best release to date. "F.A.M.E." features a number of genres including dance, hip-hop, R&B and pop with Chris Brown managing to pull off all genres down to his great vocals and surprisingly impressive rapping skills, which are highlighted in the track "Look At Me Now" alongside rap veterans Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne. "F.A.M.E." features an impressive list of guest appearances with artists from many genres of todays music scene such as worldwide pop star Justin Bieber to Pittsburgh icon Wiz Khalifa who shot to fame after his 2010 mega hit "Black & Yellow". There is something for everyone in F.A.M.E. from a teenage fan obsessing over Chris and Justin on "Next To You" to the hip-hop knockout "Love The Girls" featuring rap heavyweight The Game.

Just from the album artwork which was created by one of Chris Brown's favourite artists, renowned graffiti artist Ron English, you get a feeling that Chris has had perhaps his greatest control over the content of this album. He's been let loose with his creativity which has allowed him to produce some of his greatest work to date which his evident with his US no.1 break-up song "Deuces" with Young Money star Tyga and CBE's Kevin McCall, as well as his UK Top10 feel good track "Yeah 3x". There is no shortage of music in "F.A.M.E." with an impressive 18 tracks filled with potential chart hits alongside love focused songs such as the rather explicit "Wet The Bed" featuring Illinois born rapper Ludacris. However a more vulnerable side of Chris Brown is shown in the track "Should've Kissed You" in which he sings about failing multiple times in trying to get a girl, in stark contrast to the themes of "Wet The Bed". His vulnerability is most present in Chipmunk's "Champion" which is featured as an additional track on the album. The lyrics "I used to see my momma getting beat down, is that the real definition of me now?" are an obvious reference to the assault incident with his ex-girlfriend Rihanna, but shows how he has progressed and put the past behind him which is evident when he raps "I fell off, back on my feet now, headed to the sky can't even see down". Another surprise collaboration on "F.A.M.E." is with euro-pop sensation Benny Benassi (the man behind club hit "Satisfaction") on Chris's track "Beautiful People". You can see the track as an Ibiza floor filler but also features feel-good lyrics such as "Don't let them bring you down no, the beauty is inside you, don't let them bring you down, cos you start your life today" which is an impressive change to the usual sexual themes of many euro-pop dance tracks. However there are a couple of tracks that are rather generic and don't really stand out from the mostly impressive "F.A.M.E." album such as "Beg For It" and "Say It With Me", but the quality of every other track more than makes up for these minor drops in quality on what is otherwise an incredible album.

"F.A.M.E." is a fantastic album from Chris Brown which offers a wide range of genres, all pulled off with great conviction from an artist that has incredible talent both vocally and in his song writing/producing ability. "F.A.M.E." is an essential buy for both Chris Brown fans and those just interested in great music across some of the most popular genre's of today.