Chris Brown & Tyga
Fan Of A Fan

A mixtape. An unofficial release, far from the usual placement on shelves and charts, seemingly distant and unknown to those who don't particularly bother to browse the web in search of music not made (voluntarily or involuntarily) completely public. A bold move, almost a crazy act, to release an album almost certainly destined for isolation from any chart. But no. Chris Brown's intent is not to return to selling millions of copies, but a serious and intentional attempt to win back that fan base that abandoned him after the scandal of the physical violence against his ex Rihanna, which happened in his Lamborghini (if I'm not mistaken, still quite a nice car) shortly before their performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards. And to win them back without frills, singles, trendy songs, ridiculous and pathetic publicity stunts. No. Through an album available exclusively on the web.

Born in collaboration with friend and rapper Tyga, Fan Of A Fan aims to positively redirect young Brown towards a career that started to falter with Graffiti, a decent attempt to mix electronics and R&B, almost snubbed by the public. With this mixtape Chris seeks to regain his musical style, his R&B and Hip Hop melodies that made him famous and appreciated in the music biz, which are the basis of hits like Kiss Kiss and With You. A return to the origins, a rediscovery of his musical roots.

The mixtape is preceded by the first single Deuces, a romantic and melancholic R&B ballad, warm and nostalgic, passionate and full of pain, in which Brown agonizes, reflects on the mistakes made, on their redemption. But don't worry, this album does not intend to drag the attentive listener into a state of comatose depression: with Drop Top Girl the rather dark atmosphere of Deuces becomes less rarefied and a simple and captivating Hip Hop with tribal undertones intends to cheer up and bring lightheartedness.

In Have It and I'm On It the Hip Hop gets dirty and dark, mixing strong beats with dark and angry tones, while No Bullshit, Make Love, Like A Virgin Again represent the more R&B side of the album, simple, unadorned, soft, gentle, and relaxed. The same goes for the romantic and also melancholic ballad Ain't Thinkin' 'bout You. Here Brown deliberately forgets love, his woman, seeking only fun and carefreeness (I'm not looking for love, I just wanna have a good time and keep you out of my mind).

The result turns out to be quite convincing and confirms yet again the great potential of Brown and his music, now more than ever underrated and disdained, confined to a pitiful and dark corner of the music biz that still struggles to forgive him for his grave act, made even more scandalous if examined in light of the singer's very young age. Can Chris Brown regain the right following that abandoned him? Can his music no longer unjustly suffer the pernicious effects of his deplorable attitude? Could this mixtape therefore be a prelude to new success, to a great and roaring musical and creative comeback? As they say... time will tell. For those who intend to be objective will judge his music regardless of his private life, for those who instead want to mix creativity and scoops, well, that's their business.