Kevin McCall & Chris Brown’s Most Memorable Collaborations

As Kevin McCall sat on a podcast sofa, visibly upset, he reached in his pocket and pulled out his EBT card earlier than lamenting about Chris Brown making thousands and thousands of {dollars} and owing him cash. McCall’s plight did not shock viewers, as his unraveling has been documented for years. Greater than a decade in the past, McCall was one of many architects of Breezy’s comeback. He wrote, produced, and carried out on songs that helped reshape Brown’s public picture after a extremely publicized home violence assault towards his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna.

The music was usually undeniably prepared for repeat spins on the membership. It is business enchantment was set from the beginning, and McCall was there for all of it. He took over hooks and dropped verses, and sometimes, if he wasn’t within the sales space recording, he was within the studio helping in penning tracks which have climbed the charts or turn into fan favorites. Now, he is all however been erased from the lore.

In the meantime, Brown, regardless of years of public scandal, has managed to carry onto his fame. He’s confronted costs of assault, a number of allegations of violence, and well-documented run-ins with the regulation. Nonetheless, he stays praised by followers whereas persevering with to rake in revenue from his efforts. Followers are loyal. His excursions nonetheless promote out. The business, for all its ethical posturing, by no means actually turned away.

McCall was on that very same highway. He helped pave it, however someplace alongside the way in which, his momentum stalled. What adopted was a sluggish and public fallout of authorized disputes, unstable social media posts, accusations of abuse by his ex-girlfriend, Eva Marcille, and a gentle slide into monetary {and professional} freefall. Nonetheless, earlier than that collapse, there was music, and we’re looking at seven of the a number of of collaborations that Brown and McCall have below their belts. We acknowledge that followers may have their favorites, and there are definitely sufficient songs to select from, however these hitters stay staples.

The success of “Deuces” helped reposition Brown in R&B areas. There was no avoiding “Deuces” as soon as it arrived on the scene. It wasn’t alleged to be a success, because it debuted on Chris Brown and Tyga‘s collaborative 2010 mixtape, Fan of a Fan. It will later discover a new residence on Brown’s 2011 F.A.M.E. launch, however by that point, it was already making waves. McCall produced the observe, co-wrote the lyrics, and opened the music with a verse that framed its complete tone.

Regardless of its mixtape origin, “Deuces” took on a lifetime of its personal. It steadily climbed the charts, ultimately hitting No. 1 on Billboard’s Sizzling R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the place it held the highest spot for 10 consecutive weeks. It additionally rose to No. 14 on the Billboard Sizzling 100, a uncommon feat for a observe with that sort of nontraditional rollout.

It was stripped-down and unapologetically blunt. “No Bullsh*t” was launched as a part of Fan of a Fan and later folded into Brown’s In My Zone 2. It stood out in a crowded second of auto-tuned radio bangers as a result of it didn’t chase a development however leaned into temper.

Once more, McCall co-wrote and co-produced the report, giving it its pressure and management. The observe reached at No. 3 on Billboard’s Sizzling R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and have become one among Brown’s signature bed room information. It labored as a result of McCall helped construct it that means. His background in Gospel, Jazz, and classical piano reveals up within the association. Furthermore, “No Bullsh*t” by no means wanted a crossover viewers. It turned a quiet traditional within the style, and proof that McCall was driving a wave and directing the present.

It was playful, nevertheless it wasn’t light-weight. “Strip” marked a tonal shift in Brown’s catalog as a return to levity with out shedding the sting he’d developed post-scandal. It arrived in late 2011 as a buzz single forward of Fortune and got here with a easy components together with a teasing hook and simply sufficient bounce to catch on in golf equipment and on radio.

On this one, McCall co-wrote the observe and in addition seems as a featured artist. The observe broke at No. 85 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 and ultimately climbed to No. 37, whereas additionally peaking throughout the High 10 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts. The music didn’t dominate like “Deuces,” nevertheless it did precisely what it was designed to do as a reintroduction to Brown’s playful aspect.

This one moved sooner than something McCall had labored on with Brown as much as that time. It was extra digital than R&B, extra dance flooring than bed room hits. “Yeah 3x” got here within the Fall of 2010 because the lead single from Brown’s F.A.M.E. album, aimed squarely at High 40 radio. It labored. The music turned a world hit, charting in over a dozen international locations and reaching No. 15 on the Billboard Sizzling 100.

McCall as soon as once more put his pen to work and co-wrote the observe, offering the stability of holding Brown’s phrasing rooted in Soul even because the manufacturing reached for the rave. It wasn’t the sort of observe that showcased McCall’s voice, nevertheless it confirmed his adaptability. He understood the project, and extra importantly, the second.

It began with a pattern and a danger. “She Ain’t You” lifts from two sacred sources. It faucets SWV’s “Proper Right here (Human Nature Remix)” and Michael Jackson’s authentic “Human Nature.” That sort of interpolation solely works if the writing round it holds up. On this case, it did.

Dropped because the fourth single from F.A.M.E., the observe slowed every thing down. Gone had been the membership tempos and radio hooks. This was delicate. Emotional with out being overwrought. Brown’s vocals hovered above the beat, however the bones of the music owed simply as a lot to the pen behind it.

McCall was within the studio co-writing the observe, subtlety making it one among Brown’s extra human information. It was a uncommon second of softness that landed with out apology.

There’s a specific vitality in early-career mixtape tracks. “Ballin’” carried that cost. One other one pulled from Fan of a Fan, the observe introduced Chris Brown, Tyga, and Kevin McCall into the identical house without having for pretense. Furthermore, McCall didn’t fade into the background right here. He jumped in as a full participant and delivered a verse that matched Brown’s charisma and Tyga’s movement with out sounding imitative. His voice had texture and he carried himself like somebody who knew the mic won’t at all times come again round.

There’s no chart placement for “Ballin’.” No award nominations. In hindsight, “Ballin’” arguably marked the tail finish of an period when McCall nonetheless had entry and momentum. The business wouldn’t comply with by, however the tape tells the reality.

This was the pivot level. “Life Itself” was introspective, stripped of swagger, and aimed inward. Launched in 2012 as a part of Kevin McCall’s solo mixtape Uninvited Visitor, the observe nonetheless featured Chris Brown, however the roles had shifted. This was McCall’s report. Brown was the visitor.

The music unfolds slowly as McCall sings concerning the quiet exhaustion that creeps in when the highlight begins to dim. There aren’t any punchlines or stunting. Nonetheless, there’s reflection and the load of an artist who noticed the machine from the within and began asking questions. Additional, “Life Itself” by no means charted. It didn’t go viral. Nonetheless, it’s arguably one of the sincere items of music in McCall’s catalog.

There was no press launch of an official cut up. We did not obtain a ultimate observe to mark the top. Kevin McCall’s title simply stopped exhibiting up. The collaborations with Chris Brown slowed, then stopped fully. The rooms McCall was in now not opened for him. Quickly, he and Brown had been beefing on-line. The pressure remains to be haunting, as Brown determined to troll McCall after the latter’s EBT admission.

Throughout the final decade or so, McCall turned identified much less for the music and extra for the chaos surrounding him. He was arrested a number of occasions, together with for a courthouse altercation in 2019 throughout a custody listening to along with his ex Eva Marcille, with whom he shares a daughter. He’s posted erratically on social media, spiraling uncontrolled, veering between calls for for recognition and assaults on these he as soon as labored with. In interviews, his ache has usually spilled over into paranoia. At occasions, he’s made credible claims about being musically erased. In different cases, he’s unraveled in ways in which some counsel level to a deeper instability.

The allegations and crimson flags aren’t minor. There have been accusations of home violence and psychological well being crises made public by court docket paperwork and livestreams. Every new headline chipped away at what little business goodwill remained. No matter momentum he as soon as had, particularly along with his long term alongside Breezy, has lengthy been changed by a repute for volatility.

But, the frustration he voices about being written out of income and legacy, isn’t fully imagined. The music business has an extended historical past of ghosting the laborers behind the sound. Writers, producers, and hook singers get buried below advertising and marketing plans and label politics. When McCall says he was lower out, it echoes what many unprotected creatives have whispered for many years. Nonetheless, the reality is layered and the erasure is actual. So is the self-sabotage.