Chris Brown Slams Music Stores For Blacklisting His CDs

Chris Brown Claims Stores Are “Blackballing” New Disc “Graffiti”


Chris Brown’s Graffiti is projected to land at Number Three on the Billboard Top 200 this week with sales of 95,000-110,000 albums, per Billboard. But the 20-year-old R&B singer’s last album, Exclusive, moved 294,000 copies its debut week in 2007, and Brown thinks he can explain the difference: in a series of angry tweets over the weekend, Brown accused stores of “blackballing” him and failing to stock the album in the wake of his guilty plea for assaulting Rihanna earlier this year.

Brown’s Twitter rant ramped up after he stopped into a Walmart in Wallingford, Connecticut, where he couldn’t find a copy of his record. “didnt even have my album in the back… not on shelves, saw for myself,” he wrote on December 12th. MTV News reports that the Walmart in question had actually sold out of the album. One day earlier Brown posted, “im tired of this shit. major stores r blackballing my cd. not stockin the shelves and lying to costumers. what the fuck do i gotta do…”

In one Tweet, Brown claims that he spoke with the store’s 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.”

The album’s first two singles, “I Can Transform Ya” and “Crawl,” haven’t exactly been burning up Billboard’s charts, either. “Crawl” has yet to crack the Top 50 on the Hot 100, and “Transform Ya,” which features Lil Wayne, only made it to Number 20.

As Rolling Stone reported last week, in the new issue of Vibe, Brown laments that producers for the BET Awards wouldn’t let him perform during a Michael Jackson tribute last June, when he was still in the middle of court proceedings attached to his Rihanna altercation.





Chris Brown kills Twitter account after claim of album "Blackballing"


Days after Chris Brown took to his Twitter page accusing stores of "blackballing" his new album, "Graffiti," the singer's account was deleted after he left a final message to his fans.

"I WANNA THANK MY FANS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT," said Brown's final tweet, posted Monday afternoon. "I LOVE YALL. GOODBYE!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Over the weekend, Brown went on a tirade after he visited a Wal-Mart store in Connecticut and didn't see his album on shelves.

"The didnt even have my album in the back ... not on shelves, saw for myself," he tweeted.

Brown said he spoke to the manager, who had no answers.

"the manager told me that when there are new releases its mandatory to put em on the shelves. BUT NO SIGN OF #GRAFFITI. BS," he tweeted.

He continued to say that Alicia Keys' new album was stocked and ready for release, though it wasn't due out until Tuesday.

Fans began instantly replying with unverified stories about their attempts to buy Brown's CD. The singer began retweeting, or forwarding the tweets out, some of which claimed when fans asked when the shelves would be restocked they were told "never," and allegations that managers said they didn't support "woman-beaters."

News of his outrage spread quickly and many media outlets began reporting on his complaints.

Brown began using Twitter as a way to connect to his fans after he pleaded guilty and was sentenced for beating his then-girlfriend Rihanna.

Whether it was an attempt to garner favorable public relations in the wake of an image-shattering event or just a late adaptation to the microblogging craze, Brown had spent the months after the incident using his Twitter account to reach and connect with 172,366 followers.

He tweeted regularly thanking his fans for their continued support and sounding off after concerts.

It was unclear what specifically sparked Brown to delete his account, named "mechanicaldummy," He had started the day with a normal "good morning" message to his fans.



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Sources: Rolling Stone, Twitter, CNN, Youtube, Veveo, Google Maps