‘Fortune’ for Chris Brown’s new album
Posted on Jul 26, 2012 in Features
Chris Brown follows up "F.A.M.E." with "Fortune."
What’s fame without fortune? That’s one dilemma Chris Brown doesn’t face, yet he still has found deeper meaning on both subjects. His fifth studio album, “Fortune” is the follow up to the stellar album that was “F.A.M.E.,” back in early 2011. Originally this album was supposed to be just more a continuation of his last album, but he clearly decided to go all in and create a masterpiece. Released on July 3, it came two days after his performance at the 2012 BET Awards, which he did good on but the award show itself was decent. So far, it’s not critically acclaimed but his fans are going crazy over this record, which means way more to him.
In recent years, Chris has made it clear that he only continues to do what he loves because of his fans (teambreezy) but that comes to a halt with rumors that this will be his last album. Hopefully not though because this will be his second number one album in the U.S., first number one in the U.K. and lowest first week sales to date. Regardless of what success it does and doesn’t have, the record is beautiful and extremely rich in colorful sounds that take it’s listeners on a journey they won’t want to end.
“Fortune” sets in motion with the lead dance single, “Turn Up the Music,” which is a great way to introduce listeners to the unique sound that they are going to hear throughout. It continues with the multiple-beat driven, “Bassline” which is by far the most diverse song you‘ll hear on this record. “Till I Die,” featuring Big Sean and Wiz Khalifa and “Mirage” featuring Nas are swag filled tracks that showcase some of Chris’s rapping abilities. “I don’t wanna go there, we should never go there.” These lyrics are the opening line of an emotional track on the album called “Don’t Judge Me.” Chris may have his personal issues but when hearing songs like this, you can’t knock his ability to make good music.
Then the album continues with straight love making music, which stems from “2012” to the amazing urban single “Sweet Love.” He has a lot of fun in a short amount of time with the club-banger “Strip,” featuring Kevin McCall, which was the first single from this album. He also keeps things short and sweet on the interlude “Classic,” featuring his artist Sevyn. The song has a simple retro sound to it but superb vocals from both artists. He slows things down with the ballads “Stuck on Stupid” and “4 Years Old.” Coming near the end he continues the love songs with the latest’s dance single “Don’t Wake Me Up.”
The fact that all the singles from this album have amazing videos only makes the music from “Fortune” that much better. He also has a deluxe version of the album which includes five additional tracks. All of the songs have amazing vocals on them and should have just been part of the album. Just like he did with “F.A.M.E.,” the last track on the deluxe edition is an extremely sensual song that leaves you wanting more. Both tracks include Sevyn and this time around, it’s called “Touch Me.”
He did a great job of dispersing faint accents of Sevyn’s angelic vocals throughout the entire album actually. Whenever she does release her debut album under CBE Entertainment, people will recognize that voice. The only thing “Fortune” could have used less of was auto-tune. In most cases it worked but it would been a more pure experience without it. Still, “Fortune” is extremely cohesive with a colorful track arrangement that makes for a beautiful experience. Hopefully he gets another Grammy for this one, along with support from all his fans to continue to make great music.
Jamel Coles
Staff Writer
jcoles@uab.edu
this was the best overview/review ever GREAT JOB !!!