Graffiti is the third studio album by American singer Chris Brown. It was released on December 8, 2009, by Jive Records. The album serves as a follow-up to his previous album Exclusive (2007). Recording sessions took place from 2008 to 2009, with several record producers, including Polow da Don, Swizz Beatz, the Runners and Brian Kennedy, among others.

Primarily an R&B outing blended with synthpop and rock, Graffiti incorporates elements of hip hop and Eurodisco, with its production showing a heavy usage of synthesizers. With this album, Brown sought to expand his musical boundaries beyond the genres of his earlier works. Its lyrical content has been characterized as multifaceted, exploring themes that range from remorse and regret to desire, affection, and the hedonistic allure of a playboy lifestyle.

The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, selling 102,000 copies in its first week. The album became his third consecutive top-ten debut in the United States following Exclusive in 2007, while producing two singles that has achieved moderate chart success. Released months after Brown committed felony assault against his then-girlfriend Rihanna, Graffiti was considered to be a critical and commercial failure compared to the singer's previous works. In 2019, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Despite receiving generally negative reviews from most music critics, Graffiti was nominated for two Grammy Awards; including one for the Best Contemporary R&B Album and the other for the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the track, "Take My Time" featuring Tank.

Background In 2008, Chris Brown began working on his third studio album and confirmed the title, Graffiti, at the 2008 American Music Awards. In 2008 he said that with this album he wanted to experiment with a different musical direction inspired by singers Prince and Michael Jackson. He stated, "I wanted to change it up and really be different. Like my style nowadays, I don't try to be typical urban. I want to be like how Prince, Michael and Stevie Wonder were. They can cross over to any genre of music".

With Graffiti, Brown took complete control of his artistry, overseeing the entire artistic direction and writing every song himself, except for "I'll Go," which was written and produced by Brian Kennedy and James Fauntleroy. Brown said in a 2014 interview that this choice came from the fact that he wanted to give "[his] own perspective of the music [he] wanted to make" and by his wanting to "verbalize whatever [he] was going through". Following Brown's violent assault on his then-girlfriend Rihanna on February 8, 2009, Brown decided to express his emotional state after the incident on a significant portion of the album.

Recording for the album primarily took place in Orlando and on September 5, 2009, via Twitter, Brown announced that he had completed the album, and also revealed that the album would be released outside of the US on December 7 and in the US on December 8. Speaking to MTV, producer Swizz Beatz revealed, "he's got something to prove," and that for the album Brown "has worked on 60–70 songs."

Composition

The album's musical style is made by mixtures of R&B, synth pop, rock and Euro-disco. Critics noted that with the album's sound Brown aimed to expand his music beyond the genres of his previous works.Kot, Greg. Review: Graffiti. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2009-12-02. Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune said that Brown "borrows from the cross-genre experiments of Kanye West, Saul Williams, and Lil Wayne." According to Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times, the album is made of an "upbeat" part, that "can be considered the sonic sequel to "Forever"", mixed with power ballads, observed to express his remorse and feelings following the Rihanna incident.Wood, Mikael. Review: Graffiti. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2009-12-15.

Lead single and album's opener "I Can Transform Ya", lyrically is about introducing someone to a luxurious life, has a robotic synth rock groove, characterized by a heavy use of synthesizers and guitar riffs. "Pass Out" featuring Eva Simons, a Eurodisco song, samples the "Call on me" on Steve Winwood's "Valerie", which was also used in Eric Prydz worldwide dance hit, "Call on Me". The song has been compared to Lady Gaga's works.Greenblatt, Leah. Review: Graffiti . Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-12-03. "Sing Like Me" and "Take My Time" recall Brown's earlier R&B works in a more sexually oriented way. "Fallin' Down is a goth rock and synthpop song, that features lyrics about Brown falling in depression. The uptempo electro-hop "Wait", with The Game and R&B singer Trey Songz, features "bouncy sirens", and according to Jon Caramanica of The New York Times is closest to capturing the "frenetic energy" of Brown's early singles.Caramanica, Jon. Review: Graffiti. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-12-08. The song has been described as a sexual braggadocio record. According to Dan Gennoe of Yahoo! Music UK, "I.Y.A" is a tribute to 80's music, and the song has been compared to Blake Lewis' "Heartbreak on Vinyl".

"So Cold" has been described as a "piano-laden apology" as "Famous Girl" has been called a "heavy hearted dance track." The previous track as well as "Crawl" feature an apologetic Brown, pining at points. The previous has been described to bear a sonic resemblance to Madonna's "Drowned World/Substitute for Love." The latter, "Famous Girl", features new wave influences and a bouncy, light melodic line. The song references songs such as Drake's "Best I Ever Had", Keri Hilson's "Knock You Down", Keyshia Cole's "Heaven Sent", Beyoncé's "Halo", and Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows", as well as Rihanna's "Disturbia" and his "Forever". "Take My Time" is an R&B slow jam that features American singer Tank, and has slow drums, and heavy female breathing, prompting innuendo. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times said that "Lucky Me", lyrically about downs of life in the limelight, has a melody reminiscent of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". The song is an acoustic R&B and pop record that features minor influences of African music. "Girlfriend" is a synth rock song featuring Lupe Fiasco. The album's standard edition ends with the track "I'll Go", a soft rock track where the singer "tells the story of a lost love" and his determination to do anything for his loved one, including leaving her if that could make her happier.

Release and promotion Walmart controversy The week of the album's release, Brown took to his Twitter page to express his extreme displeasure with stores not visibly stocking the album, including a Walmart in Wallingford, Connecticut, stating: "The[y] didn't even have my album in the back... not on shelves, saw for myself, im tired of this shit. major stores [are] blackballing my cd. [They are] not stockin the shelves and lying to costumers. what the fuck do i gotta do. im not biting my tongue about shit else... the industry can kiss my ass. WTF... yeah i said it and i aint retracting shit... we talked to the managers and the[y] didn't even know anything. wow!!! but they had Alicia Keys album ready for release for this Tuesday comin ... the manager told me that when there are new releases its mandatory to put em on the shelves.. BUT NO SIGN OF #GRAFFITI. BS. no disprespect to alicia at all, just givin an example to whos album is loaded and ready to go next week".

Packaging and cover art The album was released internationally on December 7, 2009, and in the US on December 8, 2009. It was released on all major formats and, in addition to the standard edition, an extended deluxe edition was also released, containing an additional six songs. The international edition differs slightly from the US edition, with one extra song ("Girlfriend") appearing on the standard edition and another ("Chase Our Love") appearing on the deluxe extended edition with the inclusion of track ("Movie") omitted. The European deluxe edition was issued as a single-CD, while US and Japanese deluxe editions are two-disc sets. The album cover displays Brown with robotic hands, wearing black clothing and sunglasses, holding a guitar over his shoulder, and spray-painting the album title, which is written in a font similar to that of Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution. To promote the album, Brown embarked on the "Fan Appreciation Tour" on October 27, 2009, in New Jersey. The tour took place in the US. The tour ended on December 15, 2009, in New York and a portion of the proceeds from the tour went to charity to help the victims of domestic violence as well as people with developmental disabilities.

Singles "I Can Transform Ya" was released as the album's lead single on September 29, 2009. The song received mostly positive reviews, noting the song's club feel and catchiness. "I Can Transform Ya"'s reached the top ten of New Zealand, whilst achieving chart success in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The song's dance-heavy accompanying music video features choreography with hooded ninjas, and makes puns on the Transformers series. "Crawl" and "Sing Like Me" were released on iTunes on November 24, 2009, the first as the album's second single, and the latter as a promotional single. The previous received positive to mixed reviews, reaching the top twenty in Japan and New Zealand. Its accompanying music video features Brown and American R&B singer Cassie as his love interest, as he yearns for their relationship on a winter night in a city and in a desert scene. The song "Pass Out" was planned to be the third single for the album, but was not released. Brown also declined to specify whether the single, "Famous Girl", was in relation to Rihanna.

Critical reception

Graffiti received negative reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 39, based on 12 reviews, which indicates "generally unfavorable reviews".Graffiti (2009): Reviews . Metacritic. Retrieved on 2010-04-16. It is the lowest-rated album of 2009 on Metacritic.