Tina Davis, Chris Brown‘s ex-manager, has explained how their team handled his career after the assault of ex, Rihanna.
During an interview with NandoLeaks, Davis recalled establishing Phase Too, a company through which she managed Brown early in his career. She was asked how she and her team handled the Rihanna incident and got him back on the radio in the aftermath of him pleading guilty to the assault.
Davis explained the difference in public perception of Brown before and after the assault, saying that “everyone loved him” initially and the country viewed him as a “sweetheart.” She added that parents started “dropping off their kids” for Brown to potentially marry.
“At that point, you had to have radio,” Davis described. “There were no DSPs and different other platforms for you to use to break. No TikTok. Twitter wasn’t even around really. It was just starting. So it was hard to try and get him over that hump or get people to change their minds because before it happened, everyone loved him.”
“Parents were dropping their kids off at hotels like, ‘Go get Chris Brown! Go get him!’ and I’m like, ‘If you don’t put your daughter back in your car. Stop!’ Parents were sending their kids to the hotel. It was that bad. Because he was a sweetheart to the world, right? So they were like, ‘He’s a good kid. I want you to marry this kid. Go get him.’”
Tina Davis reassured Nando that “nobody on the team” felt this behavior was appropriate, and they turned the parents away immediately. After the clarification, Davis then explained their blueprint for getting Brown back into the good graces of mainstream America. They decided they would have Chris Brown hop on artist’s songs as features since radio effectively blocked him as a leading artist. As this plan gained momentum, they then linked up with Tyga, with the two releasing mixtapes that spawned hit records like “Deuces.”
“[Tyga] was the only one that would stand right next to him and do videos and whatever else with him,” Davis added.
Singer Chris Brown (L) and rapper Tyga attend the 1st Annual Xmas Toy Drive hosted by Chris Brown and Brooklyn Projects on December 22, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.
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