The Cheetah Club in New York City is mad hectic on this Tuesday night, because
Bobby
Brown's album release party has given them a whole new right to boss
people around at the door. A bevy of bouncers, who take turns manufacturing
fragmented thoughts for no apparent reason than to hear themselves talk, are
making life hard for the guests trying to get inside tonight's hot spot--many
of whom are Bobby's friends and colleagues. Others waiting outside, dressed in
fatigue outfits from the artist's "Getaway" video, must have
duplicated the laminated invite on their friend's Macintosh computer, because
they couldn't possibly have been on the VIP list.
"Make a single line. I'm not gonna say it again," one beefy bouncer
shouts angrily into the frigid foggy air. Taking his career frustrations out on
the crowd, he looks at me with a "I mean you too," glare, but I don't
care. I'm not shifting an inch. Seconds later, another bouncer, who looks just
like the first, echoes his cohort's sentiments as if his words are being
propelled by a robotic on/off switch screwed neck Frankenstein-style into the
back of his neck, and then the first guy, contrary to his promise, warns the
crowd again. And again. And again, until his words carry no merit or
threat.
I quickly squeeze my way past the unnecessary chaos at the door after growling
over velvet-rope politics, and make my way past frozen-in-place good-time girls
who appear to have overdosed on the dynamic barbiturate known as Bobby (who,
contrary to what the media may think, is not doped up). I finally find a safe
corner roped off by a human chain of bodyguards, and behind all of the flashing
cameras and flapping gums sits Bobby's mother, dressed in Winter white just
like her son. Bearing a striking resemblance to Dorothy I. Height (the
president of the National Council For Negro Women), the woman who brought Bobby
into this world looks peaceful despite the hoopla surrounding her on all
sides.
Finally, a family friend introduces us, then gives me his seat so that Mrs.
Brown and I can chat for a second.
"This is my first drink in three years," she says about the glass of
spirits sitting between two big bottles of Cristal. Pointing to what is
probably a whiskey sour, she continues: "But this is a reason to
celebrate, so I figured I can have a drink. It's not everyday that a mother's
son comes out with an album."
True, it is not an everyday occurrence. The following is a conversation with
Mrs. Brown's son, Bobby, about his new album, Forever.
LAUNCH:
After being on the down low musically, solo-wise, for the last few years, how
does it feel to be back in the thick of things?
BOBBY:
Oh, it feels good. I like being in control of making all the major decisions
pertaining to my projects. That's something that you don't get to do in a
group. Everything has to be voted on--every minor decision. I don't mind
hearing someone else's opinion, but have you ever been in a situation where
people can't agree on a single thing?
LAUNCH:
Yeah, and it's aggravating to say the least. Is that the way it was on the New Edition reunion tour? Did you guys have a lot of disagreements? I was at one
of your video shoots and it was as if you all had grown in separate directions.
BOBBY:
I grew up and sold millions of records. Some of the other guys have had their
different levels of success, but some had very little success, so naturally,
there's gonna be some tension. We also just grew apart.
LAUNCH:
Why the reunion then? Were you guys at least friends?
BOBBY:
We didn't hang out. This was a business decision. Initially, that's why I wanted
to do the tour and then I find out that 10 years later, these brothers are
still the same way they were.
LAUNCH:
That's an important point, because it seems that when a group forms as boys,
when they become men the dynamics should change.
BOBBY:
Wasn't nobody ready for internationalism. I don't think we should have started
the tour in America. We should have went straight overseas. It would have been
better because it would have brought us closer together--as far as them being
allowed to see all of the places I've seen.
LAUNCH:
Your new album contains a lot of mature ballads. Are you still the same Bobby as
you were this time last year?
BOBBY:
It's all just Bobby really. I have many facets, and I love the album because it
has tender ballads and uptempo cuts. I'm still writing and producing a lot. As
far as what people will expect, I think people tend to read into things too
much. Everybody's thinking that I'm hardcore, but that's an image.
LAUNCH:
Are you outgrowing your hardcore image?
BOBBY:
Rock stars never outgrow their images. Look at Mick Jagger or Keith Richards. I'll be this way until it doesn't feel right, because I love
ballads and real singing. The album has a lot of slow songs that talk about how
I feel about my wife on it because that's the way I was feeling while I was
writing. In the beginning, the media was calling me a bad boy all the time
because of the way I act and feel onstage. None of them have ever taken the
time to get to know me when I climb offstage.
LAUNCH:
The media has had a field day talking about you and your wife, Whitney Houston. How do you find the courage to read the newspaper knowing that some
opportunistic gossip columnist might be using you as bait to catch more
readers?
BOBBY:
After a while, it's like they need to ask, "Will the real Bobby stand
up?" because they don't know who I am. They don't know how to separate the
stage Bobby from the Bobby who lives a life offstage. I could really care less
about what they think about me, but at the same time, I do have something to
prove. Whitney and I have fun reading the newspaper sometimes. You'd be amazed
at the places they say I've been. Nobody could do everything I've been accused
of, so I decided to laugh at the bullshit. It's making them money and making
them happy, so why should I mess up their small piece of happiness if that's
all they got to do?
LAUNCH:
What exactly are you trying to prove?
BOBBY:
That I have more hits in me. I have a lot more to say.
LAUNCH:
You've made some mistakes throughout your life, if anything we've read or saw in
the media with regard to your anger control and alcohol abuse is true. Trouble
seems to follow you, doesn't it?
BOBBY:
You know, I don't know why. Trouble must like being in my shadow or something.
[He laughs while lighting up another Newport.]
LAUNCH:
Can you tell me how the fight with the man in Orlando got started? According to
the papers, you started the fight.
BOBBY:
People shouldn't believe the lies. The reason why I tried to kill that man is
because he spat on me. That's the dirtiest thing you can do to a man. He got
$30,000 out of it, so he's happy. All he wanted was money. He was drunk and he
made that mistake of spitting. He won't spit on nobody else.
LAUNCH:
I guess not. People love starting shit with you. Why?
BOBBY:
Once people hear that I fight, then they wanna sue me after I whoop up on that
ass. They wouldn't have been sitting up in a hospital if they didn't approach
me in a wrongful manner. Deal with me as a man. I'm not disrespectful to anyone
who's not disrespectful to me. My father said "If somebody hits you, then
you hit them back harder." That's the nature of the black family.
