JETChris Brown's public image has never been the same after he admitted to assaulting Rihanna in February 2009. Though he's complied with the terms of his sentencing and pledged to promote positivity, the 24-year-old singer tells the Oct. 14 issue of Jet magazine he can't seem to shake his past.
To illustrate his point, Brown cites well-respected rapper Jay Z as an example. The hip-hop heavyweight did, after all, plead guilty to stabbing record executive Lance "Un" Rivera outside of a New York City nightclub in December 1999. "No disrespect, because I'm a fan, but nobody brings up the fact that he stabbed somebody and sold drugs," Brown says. "He gets a pass."
Brown also tells the mag that he sympathizes with Trayvon Martin, an African-American teen who was fatally shot by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman.
"I identify with Trayvon 100 percent as far as living in 2013 and still dealing with blatant racism," the musician explains. "This generation is so used to racism that it's normal; we don't care. We aren't on drugs or catching AIDS, but they still look at us as n---as."
As far as his well-documented anger issues go, Brown says, "You have to go through the struggle before you can get to the good part. I don't try to lash out at people, or be as mad or impulsive as I used to be."
He continues, "I got to the point where it's only so much you can take from the master, you feel me? I've taken my fair share of lashings."