Bobby Brown Could Have Ruled The 90s But Chose Drugs & Complacency Instead...

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

In order to understand the force of nature this guy was we should take a look at the numbers during his peak years

Don’t Be Cruel Era

Don’t Be Cruel (7x Platinum)
My Perogative (Gold)
Don’t Be Cruel (Gold)
Every Little Step (Gold)
Rock Wit Cha (Gold)
On Our Own (Platinum)

His Perogative VHS (Platinum)

This was basically a money grab that was Bobby talking about each of his hit singles at the time. People basically paid to hear him talk about the videos they were seeing on MTV for free

Dance!...Ya Know It (Platinum)

This was basically a remix album his label threw out to capitalize on his momentum

Bobby (2x Platinum)
Humpin Around (Gold)
Good Enough (Gold)
Get Away (#14 on Hot 100)

So basically in the span of 4 or so years this guy accounted for basically 15 million copies sold. Keep in mind RIAA hasn’t updated his certifications since the 90s so who knows what the current tallies should be. Pretty fukking staggering. In my mind however it could have been so much more but he fukked it all up. Here’s how...

Took wayyyy to long between albums
It took this guy 4 years to follow up Don’t Be Cruel. The DBC tour granted was a huge success but he went away at a time that black music was about to undergo serious changes. New Jack Swing would be all but finished by 92 and 90s R&B wasn’t going to be at that same frenetic pace that NJS was known for. In spite of that the Bobby album still went Double Platinum so imagine if he came out in 1990 like he should have instead of waiting so long...

He didn’t have his eyes on the future
On the Bobby tour Mary J. Blige was one of the openers. MJB was basically a label mate on MCA via Uptown records and it would have made sense to insert himself into what Puff/Andre Harrell had going with Jodeci, Mary, Father MC, Heavy D etc had going but he was too busy partying with no focus. Considering that Uptown was making the sort of music that he popularized it would have been a logical fit. Bobby’s lack of focus is also cited as the reason the Bobby & Kool G Rap album never got off the ground



Drugs
We all know the story..

Moral of the story? There is absolutely no reason this guy couldn’t keep on as the 90s went on. By the time he was 23 it was basically over. He basically removed himself from contention and proceeded to go down a rabbit hole with Whitney. The hip hop/R&B Bad Boy lane he basically gave birth to went on without him. Usher/Ginuwine didn’t even break until the mid 90s so he should have been afforded years before any competition. The difference however between him & Whitney however was she was able to keep on getting bigger and he allowed himself to become a footnote in her story. Of course eventually even she couldn’t overcome her drug use but that’s neither here nor there.

fukk it...life ain’t shyt without memories right?

 

[bigbadbossup2012]

Bob was that nikka but no one was getting in Kell's way, Bob, Aaron hall, nobody

 

[PlayerNinety_Nine]

Bobby was a child star if you take New Edition into account, so the things you're describing didn't happen in a vacuum.

It sounds cliche to say that 'Oh - he was living his childhood over once he got money' but that's how it goes for a lot of people who get famous at a young age. Bobby was a big deal all over the world - he did what damn near anyone else his age, in his position would have done.

Dude is a legend, but there are plenty of stories in music where people who were on top of the world missed out on some great opportunities because they were chasing instant gratification.

 

[Jplaya2023]

Being with whitney make bob complacent as explained in his story. He'd rather snort nose candy than make records

 

[puppetmaster]

He left a window open thru his vices that Usher/JD was able to recognize and jump thru

 

[a murda]

I blame Whitney low key

 

[jackson35]

his competition on the charts had better managers, a better record label and others artist had a vision for their career

 

[darryl]

Naw, once king kellz came on the scene, his time was up

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

Naw, once king kellz came on the scene, his time was up

I understand the sentiment but there’s no way a focused Bob in his mid 20s would have been flat out done. I agree that 12 Play is 12 Play regardless

 

[Ziggiy]

Bobby was lets say Michael Jackson without a Joe around to provide early discipline and Protection.


Say what you will about Joe Jackson (the man was NO saint) but he kept SIX boys drug/alcohol free in a cut throat business and taught all of them how to keep their eyes on the prize. Imagine if someone as talented as Bobby would’ve had that during the New Edition run who knows how much bigger he could’ve been

 

[THEREALBRAND]

Naw, his sound and style had started to fade by the mid 90s. There’s a reason all of those New Edition dudes started to fall off and were forced to do the Home Again album and tour. None of them really wanted to do it, but their individual success was floundering because music had moved on at that point.

 

[THEREALBRAND]

Bobby was lets say Michael Jackson without a Joe around to provide early discipline and Protection.


Say what you will about Joe Jackson (the man was NO saint) but he kept SIX boys drug/alcohol free in a cut throat business and taught all of them how to keep their eyes on the prize. Imagine if someone as talented as Bobby would’ve had that during the New Edition run who knows how much bigger he could’ve been

That sounds nice, but you basically just described Ralph Tresvant. He was driven, clean, and arguably the most talented of the original group. But he had the least success on his own.

If Bobby was focused he probably never gets kicked out of New Edition and he wouldn’t have went solo until it was too late. And what made him so popular when he did leave was the fact that he was wild on and off stage, and he lived up to the bad boy image. His first album flopped because his label wanted to portray him as a good, clean cut guy and nobody wanted that.

 

[Ziggiy]

That sounds nice, but you basically just described Ralph Tresvant. If Bobby was focused he probably never gets kicked out of New Edition and he wouldn’t have went solo until it was too late. And what made him so popular was the fact that he was wild on and off stage, and he lives up to the bad boy image.

Bobby in my opinion had more of an upside than Ralph as a solo artist

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

Naw, his sound and style had started to fade by the mid 90s. There’s a reason all of those New Edition dudes started to fall off and were forced to do the Home Again album and tour. None of them really wanted to do it, but their individual success was floundering because music had moved on at that point.

I agree with your initial point. NJS was dated by 92 hence why he should have been back out by 90. I also mentioned that he should have sought out Puff for that MJB Jodeci energy

 

[BO BARON]

Bobby in my opinion had more of an upside than Ralph as a solo artist

Ralph would've been super duper huge as a solo had he not brought his friends along all those early songs could've easily been solo songs especially with that voice j\s