It baffles me that people still listen to Chris Brown. Yes, I understand that his songs are catchy and fun at parties, but let’s not forget that he’s an awful human being.

He first established himself as a problematic person in 2009 with the horrifying domestic violence incident involving Rihanna, his then-girlfriend. Graphic pictures of her battered face were everywhere in the media, and if that wasn’t bad enough, “Team Breezy” fans were tweeting, “Chris Brown can beat me too.”

Domestic violence is not sexy. How have we let him remain a successful artist in the music industry, eight years later?

Two years after the assault, Brown began to embrace this “bad boy” image by releasing raunchier music in his 2011 album, “F.A.M.E.” One of the songs, “Deuces,” contained lyrics that seemed directed to the Rihanna situation, “all this bullsh*ts for the birds, you ain’t nothing but a vulture.” Then, he came out with pop hits like “Yeah 3x” and “Beautiful People,” which almost made the world forget this terrible incident altogether.

Fast forward to 2012, where he decides it would be a good idea for he and his crew to dress as “terrorists” at a Halloween party. And by terrorists, he means wearing traditional Islamic clothing with a fake beard and bullet casings. If this shocks you, just wait.

In the beginning of 2013, Chris Brown punched fellow musician Frank Ocean over a parking spot. I wish I was lying about this. To make matters worse, according to the incident report, TMZ reported, a member of Brown’s posse used homophobic slurs against the openly gay singer.

Now, the latest headlines about Brown involves comedian, Aziz Ansari. The comedian hosted last week’s episode of “Saturday Night Live” and compared Chris Brown to President Donald Trump in the opening monologue. Not happy with Ansari’s remarks, Brown posted a screenshot of a news headline in regards to the situation on Instagram with the caption, “F*CK NO!!!!!!! Someone tell ALADDIN TO HOP OFF MY D*CK!”

These racist remarks immediately caused uproar on social media. Clearly, Brown still has not learned how to be a decent person.

From 2009 to present day, Chris Brown has been in and out of prison, court and rehabilitation facilities. He has been involved in numerous fights, including one with rapper Drake and NBA player Tony Parker. He’s also been accused of threatening people — even some fans — with violence, as well as showing up to do his court mandated community service high on marijuana.

So how does he still sell all of these records and have thousands of fans?

Before members of “Team Breezy” begin to defend him, I am aware that his youth was not easy. He has publicly said his father used to physically abuse his mother.

I understand that Brown’s experiences have made him extremely hostile and troubled, but that doesn’t excuse anything. A person should not hurt another person verbally or physically because of a parking spot or a miniscule argument. A person should not mock another person because of their race or religion.

Brown has been to rehabilitation centers to help his substance abuse, anger management and mental health. Yet, he’s been kicked out of almost each one and shows almost no remorse for any of his actions.

Brown has not shown any desire to learn that his actions are hurtful and wrong. He gets away with everything he does because people are still listening and buying his records. He is an aggressive, racist misogynist whose net worth is about $30 million.

It is, and has been for a while, time to show Chris Brown his actions have consequences. There’s a huge variety of incredible artists — who are also good people — that you could listen to. You definitely don’t need Chris Brown.

When you listen or buy one of his songs, remember that you’re supporting a monster.

Christine Chung is a senior communication and rhetorical studies major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. She can be reached at chchun02@syr.edu.

Published on January 29, 2017 at 9:53 pm