His Best & Worst Solo LPs

2009’s Graffiti arrived during one of the most challenging and transitional moments of Chris Brown’s career. As the follow-up to the massively successful Exclusive, the album had a different kind of pressure around it, but it still debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, giving him his third consecutive top-10 album in the United States.

With production from names like Swizz Beatz, Polow Da Don, Ryan Leslie and The Runners, Graffiti pushed Chris further into experimentation. He co-wrote most of the album and leaned into a fusion of R&B, pop, rock and Euro-dance, marking a noticeable shift toward electropop and Eurodisco compared to his earlier sound.

A standout from the project was the lead single “I Can Transform Ya”, featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz that he first released on his blog Mechanicaldummy.com. the track peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its eighth week on the chart. — CHRIS CLAXTON

Hidden Gem: “So Cold”

Chris Brown’s 10th studio album was a hodgepodge of trap-laden records, starry features and soul-baring entries that ultimately missed the bullseye. While Breezy marked a clean departure from Brown’s previous double-disc efforts, the project lacked the signature grand slam we’ve become accustomed to from the Virginia polymath. Despite the uneven effort, Brown still squeezed out an RIAA gold-certified album and a few indelible moments, including the slow-winding “Call Me Everyday” with Wizkid and the hypnotic “Hmhmm.” — CARL LAMARRE

Hidden Gem: “Show It” (feat. Blxst)

On Breezy’s 2017 effort, Heartbreak on a Full Moon, he takes an overly ambitious swing — 45 songs deep. His Herculean attempt to satiate his zealous fans’ appetites came with a few clutch wins: “Party” with Usher and Gucci Mane morphed into a must-play at summer cookouts, while “Pills & Automobiles” found a forever home on Breezy’s tour setlist. Though Brown’s unbridled dedication to mending a broken heart deserves commendation, a two-hour-and-38-minute commitment may have been too tall a task for listeners. — C.L.

Hidden Gem: “Paradise”

Coming off the commercial heights of F.A.M.E., Fortune was once cryptically billed as Chris Brown’s last album at the 2012 BET Awards. Brown leaned into EDM-fused dance music with DJs like David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Avicii veering into pop in the early 2010s. CB’s swings for the fences landed home run singles with “Don’t Wake Me Up” and “Turn Up the Music” cracking the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10. However, parts of the LP slog through Brown’s braggadocio and titillating romantic escapades, but Fortune remains one of the most overlooked albums in the R&B icon’s discography over a decade later. — MICHAEL SAPONARA

Hidden Gem: “2012”

If Chris Breezy’s goal with his mononymous 12th studio album was to display growth, he nailed it within the 27 records. The single “Fallin” with Leon Thomas is one of the most soulful performances of his career. He acknowledges his flaws as a partner in multiple records as well. “Theme Song” is the soundtrack for ladies night out, “Slow Jamz” is a brilliant bedroom anthem with Lucky Daye, and “#BODYGOALS” with Tank may just increase gym membership numbers across the country. BROWN is comparable to a night Russell Westbrook scored 30 points, but needed 25 shots to do so. — ARMON SADLER

Hidden Gem: “Something in the Water”

This project had the potential to creep into his top five, and it may for some. However, it’s a bit too long at 22 songs — while the deluxe version is downright bloated, as it clocks in at 35 tracks, which makes trying to listen to it in one sitting a chore. 

With that being said, 11:11 opens up in a promising way with “Angel Numbers/Ten Toes” setting things off, before turning things up with “Sensational” alongside Davido & Lojay for some international flavor. “Press Me,” “Feel Something” and “Best Ever” with Maeta are my favorite tracks, and will be added to the Best of Breezy playlist I just started working on for research purposes. That’s a three-song run that fully encapsulates why Chris Brown continues to be relevant in today’s R&B space. — ANGEL DIAZ

Hidden Gem: “Press Me”

Releasing a double-album can be a double-edged sword. On one side, Indigo contains something for just about every Chris Brown fan, but at 32 tracks, it’s tough to digest in its entirety. Commercially, loading up the LP paid off as CB earned his most recent Billboard 200 No. 1. Brown’s hitmaking comes forward on top 40 cuts like “Undecided” and “Heat,” while sleepers such as the apologetic “Sorry Enough” and the Justin Bieber-assisted “Don’t Check on Me” are mixed in. However, the crown jewel comes with Breezy and Drake squashing their feud to join forces for “No Guidance,” which cracked the Billboard Hot 100’s top five and netted Brown his highest-charting entry as a lead artist in over a decade (since “Forever”). — M.S.

Hidden Gem: “Sorry Enough”

Outside of the seemingly incongruent album artwork — Brown clutches his baby daughter on the cover of album packed with bedroom jams — Royalty is sneakily one of Breezy’s stronger LPs. Of course, “Back to Sleep” satisfied his penchant for a standard R&B sex anthem, but the oscillating opening synths of “Liquor” to the delicious talk-box woven throughout “Zero,” Royalty found Brown pulling from a few sonic influences that were outside of his routine wheelhouse — while still capturing his fun-loving persona — all without getting tripped up by the cringe factor that clouds so much of early 2010s EDM. — KYLE DENIS

Hidden Gem: “Make Love” 

Exclusive is what a quintessential sophomore album should sound like: hits and growth. Following up a stellar debut, Breezy ramped up the momentum and, in just two years, reached the apex of R&B. The cheeky “Kiss Kiss” with T-Pain still feels like pure fire emojis, while “Take You Down” belongs on the Mount Olympus of babymaking music. But even when Breezy isn’t indulging in bedroom theatrics, his Romeo qualities shine brightly on “With You” and the Lil Wayne-assisted “Gimme Whatcha Got.” — C.L. 

Hidden Gem: “Down” (feat. Kanye West)

Chris Brown was just 16 when he released his self-titled debut album, but the success of the project felt like it came from an artist already years into their career. I’ve been listening to this album pretty much my whole life: I was around six years old when it came out, and to this day it’s still my favorite project in his entire discography.

The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, earned a triple-platinum RIAA certification, and introduced one of the biggest new stars of the 2000s. Led by the chart-topping single “Run It!,” which made Chris Brown the first male artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a debut single, the album quickly became a defining moment in R&B. It also produced multiple Hot 100 hits, including “Yo (Excuse Me Miss),” “Say Goodbye,” “Gimme That (Remix)” with Lil Wayne and “Poppin’.” — C.C.

Hidden Gem: “Ain’t No Way (You Won’t Love Me)”

Few albums capture the essence of mid-2010s R&B as well as Breezy’s X. From the cross-format domination of “Loyal” — whose litany of regional remixes helped him return to the Hot 100’s top 10 — to generation-bridging slow jams like “New Flame” (with Usher & Rick Ross) and club-ready bangers like “Fine China,” X found Brown surveying every pocket of contemporary R&B.

Through it all, he balances his cavalier bad boy persona with more mature, soulful moments, making the album one of the rare Brown LPs that feels representative of a specific era in his life and journey as a young man. He packs piercing remorse into the self-penned “See You Around” as earnestly as he allows his most hidden emotions to unravel across tracks like “Autumn Leaves” and “Drunk Texting.” That range, which he achieved in less than 20 tracks for the set’s standard edition, elevates X to more than a mere smattering of surefire hits and semi-forgettable songs, marking it a true highlight in his catalog. — K.D. 

Hidden Gem: “Lady in a Glass Dress (Interlude)” 

Chris Brown is the five-tool player of R&B, in terms of his abilities as an artist and his flexibility across genres. His 2011 album F.A.M.E. is the ultimate expression of that. Whether you still like it or it got old fast, no one can deny the impact of the pop dance smash “Yeah 3x” and its running buddy “Beautiful People.”

Then there’s the nostalgia-inducing “She Ain’t You,” the grandiose Justin Bieber vduet “Next To You,” the sensual tandem “No BS” and “Wet the Bed,” and reminders he can thrive at the intersection of R&B and hip-hop “Look At Me Now,” “Deuces” and “Paper, Scissors, Rock.” Breezy successfully made something for everyone without sacrificing the quality of the records. If ever tasked with giving someone a sample of what he brings to the table as an artist, look no further than this LP; his best work. — A.S.

Hidden Gem: “All Back”