Chance the Rapper's verse on "Ultralight Beam" was the most ballyhooed guest appearance on Kanye West's The Life of Pablo. But it was Chris Brown's shimmering chorus on "Waves" that marked the album's emotional climax.
Brown's legal and drug issues tend to overshadow his music these days, but his ability to steal the spotlight as a featured artist remains unsurpassed. Two years ago, we revisited the biggest singles of Brown's career. Today, we explore 10 of his best features from 2006 to 2013. Given Brown's place as mouthpiece for the pop zeitgeist, this article serves as a useful overview of the evolution of radio trends during that stretch. Click through the gallery to read on.
Cover image by Jason Merritt
Bow Wow - "Shortie Like Mine" feat. Chris Brown (2006)
"Shortie Like Mine" was Bow Wow's last single to crack the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, even though he was still teenager when it was released. The track leverages Brown's saccharine vocals over a curtain of velvet piano and a booming undercurrent of 808s.
David Banner - "Get Like Me" feat. Chris Brown & Yung Joc (2008)
Usually rappers are keen to hand over hook duties to Chris Brown. Not so in the case of "Get Like Me," in which David Banner tells Brown to "hold my beer" and delivers one of the most unforgettable hooks of the '00s. Added bonus: Barry Bonds cameo, Banner's Gucci tank top, and prime Yung Joc.
Jordin Sparks - "No Air" with Chris Brown (2008)
"No Air" is co-owned by Sparks and Brown, kind of like Thugger and La Flame's joint custody of "Pick up the Phone." The 2008 single soared to the top 10 of charts in dozens of countries around the globe and elevated Sparks from American Idol winner (at the age of 17) into a bona fide pop star.
Ludacris - "What Them Girls Like" feat. Chris Brown & Sean Garrett (2008)
Humid club smash "What Them Girls Like" arrived several years into Ludacris post-Red Light District creative downslope. (The precise low point would come a year and a half later, when he uttered the fateful words "I fill 'er up, BALLOONS!") The track is a testament to star power; between Luda and Brown (and pop savant Sean Garrett), it cruised to a #33 peak on the Hot 100.
Ester Dean - "Drop It Low" feat. Chris Brown (2009)
Ester Dean has co-written with Beyonce, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Usher, R. Kelly, and just about every other major pop/R&B artist of the last 15 years. She wrote (Polow da Don-produced) "Drop it Low" and ultimately decided to keep it for herself when no artists came to claim it.
“'Drop It Low,’ honestly, was for Ciara, but she didn’t come get the song. And then Britney [Spears] wanted it,” she told the LA Times. “During the demo [Polow] kept telling me, ‘You’ve gotta believe it’ as I was singing it. A week later he asked if I wanted to hear my new single.”
Juelz Santana - "Back to the Crib" feat. Chris Brown (2009)
"Back to the Crib" failed to bottle the magic of "Run It," the 2005 Juelz-Breezy collab that topped the charts for five consecutive weeks. It still goes though.
T-Pain - "Best Love Song" feat. Chris Brown (2011)
The alliance of Chris Brown and Teddy Pinderassdown always yields success. ("Kiss Kiss," "Freeze") "Best Love Song," the lead single from rEVOLVEr, had all the elements of a chart-topping smash. Its only fault was arriving in 2011, two years after the industry rebelled against auto-tune and tried to end T-Pain's career.
Big Sean - "My Last" feat. Chris Brown (2011)
Big Sean on "My Last," as told by Complex:
“At first, I was singing all those parts. But it was a little more monotoned. I can sing a little, not as good as Chris Brown. Chris Brown reached out to me, really. He came to one of my shows out of nowhere and I was like, ‘Man, yo what's up?’ He was like, 'What’s up, man?' He told me he really fucked with my music and I'm like, ‘Damn.’ He gave me his number and was like, 'Man, let's work.' At first I thought like, Yeah, whatever. This is Chris Brown, he's on a whole other level."
DJ Khaled - "Take It To The Head" feat. Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, & Rick Ross (2012)
Despite appearing alongside Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and the braggadocious Khaled, Brown completely dominates "Take It To The Head." Without him, this song dies.
Show Me
Kid Ink - "Show Me" feat. Chris Brown (2013)
DJ Mustard might be viewed as the production analog of Brown's charismatic, glossy vocal style, and their collaboration on "Show Me" resulted in the highest-charting single of Kid Ink's career. The hook was written and originally performed by TeeFlii. In an interview with The Boombox, Ink revealed that him and Brown knocked the song out during a 8PM-9AM marathon studio session.
“I know before he had the record that it had a lot of single potential, but it just wasn’t where it needed to be," he said. “When we linked up with Chris Brown, we played him the record and he kind of understood that. He put that extra… what the record needed to come to life. We knew that was the one even though we recorded three or four other songs that night.”