Sep 30, 2009

Rihanna assault has alienated many, but radio stations are embracing new song.

Just a month after being sentenced for assaulting former girlfriend Rihanna earlier this year, Chris Brown is back on the radio with the track "I Can Transform Ya." The Swizz Beatz-produced lead single from the singer's yet-unscheduled new album, Graffiti, is the first official release from Brown since the February incident and premiered on Brown's Web site this week.

The pounding robotic jam, featuring Lil Wayne, doesn't make reference to the Rihanna assault but instead finds Weezy and Brown promising their ladies all the finest things they desire in an effort to transform them "into a starter." How have radio programmers and fans reacted to the tune so far?

Greenville, South Carolina's Hot 98.1 began playing the song as soon as it was available, and operations manager/ program director Steve Crumbley said the response so far has been overwhelmingly positive. "The audience loves it," he said. "The response has been phenomenal, plus you have Lil Wayne on it, so you can't miss."

According to Crumbley, the recent unsavory headlines surrounding Brown don't appear to have slowed his career. "You mean because of the Rihanna thing? I didn't think not playing a man's record had anything to do with what he did," Crumbley said when asked whether he'd hesitated to spin the tune. "I'm not making light of abuse. That is terribly wrong and he had to deal with that, but if the man's got a good song, he's got a good song." Crumbley said he's had not a single negative call about the song so far.

Though Brown lost some lucrative endorsements and suffered some backlash at urban and pop radio following the revelation of the assault, there doesn't appear to be a lingering effect on the radio so far. Cleveland's WENZ (107.9 FM) music director Robin Simone said she also started playing the track as soon as it was available on Tuesday, and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

"People are loving the single, and they're excited about the album," she said. "With all that was happening to halt his career, a lot of fans called in and said they knew Chris wasn't going anywhere."

Readers have left 4 comments.

No title
Guest User on October 01, 2009 - 07:50 am

1. 

No title
Guest User on October 09, 2009 - 12:49 pm

2. 

No title
Guest User on October 20, 2009 - 15:03 pm

3. 

Ya waito
Sufee on November 10, 2009 - 06:33 am

4. yeah i really love chris B. song and his style...lol hope he wil cont. on his career

Drop a comment below. Let your voice be heard!
Name:
Title:
E-mail:
	Text ColorAquaBlackBlueFuchsiaGrayGreenLimeMaroonNavyOlivePurpleRedSilverTealWhiteYellow
Comment:

J! Reactions 1.09.01 • General Site License
Copyright © 2006 S. A. DeCaro