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

[Crumple]

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?

Good observations. What drugs was on? Coke? Anything else?

 

[Complexion]

Bobby and Whitney highlight perfectly how important who you marry can be when it comes to how your life plays out. There are two forces that reside within us and are activated by our spouse. The choice of the combos is what defines the outcome of the relationship and consequences. When Bad meets Worse (like Bobby and Whitney) the initial attraction is immense as is the potential for destruction as its all gas, no brakes.

The chances for it ending well are very, very slim and the end result is usually an early death for one or both by misadventure, general overall loss or a lack of realized potential. The children usually suffer as well due to the environment this creates so the implications are far reaching.

I've seen this "algorithm" play out again and again and again in so many peoples lives and its one of the first things that gave me a hint that the Game of Souls follows a script. Most people are totally unaware of this these days but back in the days when the village was your tribe and you only married outside it the ancestors lived by it because it works so well. Its amazing how much we've progressed in terms of tech and regressed in terms of knowledge of Self because people base major life decisions on the most basic of things that are designed to fade whilst ignoring what goes on beneath the surface and is of greater importance.

No one caught up in the mix (especially with kids) would say "I'd like a do over with another option" because most people lack that mental flexibility but if they could see the alternate, unactivated timeline version of themselves whose path split at the choice of another partner they'd switch in a heartbeat.

Case in point had Bobbys Bad met a Better people would've thought he settled for less than what he was worth, "What's he doing with her? He's Bobby Brown!" and all that jazz but best believe the internal security he craved and she provided would've propelled him into the stratosphere artistically, emotionally and spiritually and what a sight that would've been to see. Same with Whitney. Two empty pots can never fulfill themselves, let alone another.

Its why knowledge of Self is so important because once you've got it then you can play the Game with a much better insight of whats at stake as opposed to rolling the pair o' dice (paradise, get it?), taking a chance and either crapping out or riding your luck:

 

[TripleAgent]

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

You're both right to a degree. Both images have a limited shelf life. Someone in the middle, ideally Bobby with SOME level of discipline, would have ruled. He had the swag and personality. Ralph would have faded eventually IMO.

 

[FromStLouis]

He wouldn't have survived in the 90's much less ruled it. 12 Play, Jodeci and many others would have got him out the paint.

Brown Sugar? No, he's not surviving that.

He's a Boy Band member, nothing more than that.

 

[KidJSoul]

Bobby actually recorded an album that was supposed to drop before "Bobby" called "Mystic Magic" but got shelved because of constant touring. By the time he was done touring that sound was dated.

Here's 2 songs that were supposed to be singles from that album



@ 0.38 sec

Thanks for the info, I learned about this too

They should have released that in 90

 

[Jcotton1]

So it's tough being Bobby Brown, to be bobby then you have to be bobby now. Now the question is it better to have had and lost better than not having love at all. Hov

 

[shopthatwrecks]

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?

whitney hoe ass fault