I was watching VH1 Soul the other night and I came to a
realization; I wanted to be Bobby Brown! I wanted to grow a Gumby, I wanted
those genie pants, biking shorts, the headset he wore in the "My
Prerogative" video, the 560SC Benz from the "Don't Be Cruel"
video and to dance like he did in "Every Little Step". At the time,
Bobby Brown and Big Daddy Kane were as big as it gets in my eyes; Michael
Jackson was on another echelon. It was 1988; I was 10 years old and perfected
that kick-step from "My Prerogative".
We were introduced to Bobby and New Edition five years
earlier and while most of the girls fell in love with Ralph's syrupy sweet
voice, Bobby was there with his hoarse singing voice and that shag. He sang
"Mr. Telephone Man", but it was clear that it was Ralph's group and
we soon found out that didn't sit well with Bobby, he wanted to be the
"King of Stage"! The group voted him out in 1986, because he was
breaking the cookie-cutter mode that they created in.
The next time we hear from Bobby is that horrible
"Girlfriend" song and I remember thinking that he needed to beg New
Edition to let him back. The next summer, New Edition added Johnny Gill to the
lineup and released N.E. Heartbreak
and it was a hit! I jammed to the album, thinking Bobby needs something. Boy
did he give us something...the album Don't
Be Cruel was released in June of 1988 and became the biggest thing to hit
radio in years. The single, "Don't Be Cruel" was a good song, but it
was "My Prerogative" that was the hit! It was hard! Bobby declared
that it was his life and he was gonna do what he wanted to. I didn't even know
what a prerogative was at the time, but I wanted one, because Bobby brown one.
Bobby introduced the word "prerogative" into our lexicon, as well as
"Roni". Shoot, I wanted a tender Roni, hell, I want a tender Roni
now!
After "On Our Own" (from the Ghostbusters 2 soundtrack), Bobby sort of disappeared for a little
while. When he returned, he was married to Whitney Houston (WTF?!?) and had
gained some happy weight. By the time we get the "Humpin' Around"
video, we have a happy, heavier Bobby and the music was good, but not as
spectacular. We found out years later that an abusive marriage and abusing
drugs were depleting Bobby's talents. For the next few years, we only saw Bobby
in court, on the way to rehab or jail or in the audience while Whitney was
performing. Who can forget when she was visibly high and called Bobby the King
of R&B and Chris Rock retorted rocks & blunts!
However, in 2005, we had a BB resurgence in the form of the
reality show "Being Bobby Brown". We saw Bobby the man, the father
and one-time superstar. We also saw Whitney the drug addict! The most
interesting part of the show was watching the private lives of two people who
had lived in the public eye for so long; it almost humanized them...until we
heard Whitney say, "Hell to da naw!" We realized we were watching two
niggas!
Sadly, they were divorced less than two years after and Whitney
blocked the DVD release of "Being Bobby Brown". Musically, Whitney
has released an album that pretty much flopped and not much from Bobby, but he’s
done a tour with Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill. In the interim, he appeared “Celebrity
Fit Club”, had a new baby and seems to be piecing his life back together.
Damn, I guess to be Bobby Brown then, I would have to be Bobby Brown now...
Damn, I guess to be Bobby Brown then, I would have to be Bobby Brown now...
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