Breezy

Background and recording

Chris Brown started working on Breezy simultaneously with the release of his ninth studio album Indigo. The singer said in July 2021, while working on Breezy, that he wanted to make some "really endearing music" that "talk to women's soul". In February 2022, he stated on his Instagram account that the album would contain some pure R&B material. Brown later expressed his desire to portray "a different type of love mixed with heartbreak" in some of Breezy’s songs. The recording sessions for Breezy ended during the first days of June 2022. According to Brown, during the album's work he recorded almost 250 songs. The title of the album makes a reference to his stage nickname. During an interview with Big Boy, one week before Breezy's release, the singer said that the project is more targeted towards his female audience.

Composition

Breezy is an R&B record, containing a trap-driven first half, that includes most of the album's guest appearances, and a second half channelled into a soul soundscape, where Brown delivers the majority of the album's solo performances. The standard edition of Breezy, featuring 23 tracks, marks a departure from the singer's previous, more extensive double-disc projects Heartbreak on a Full Moon and Indigo.

Breezy opens with the hip hop track "Till the Wheels Fall Off", featuring Lil Durk and Capella Grey, that runs for 5 minutes and 14 seconds, having a chorus that Brown delivers with a lower vocal register and "intense" harmonies. Lyrically, on the song the artists give a hopeful introspection over their emotional struggles caused by their personal life's harshest challenges. The second track "Catch a Body", featuring Fivio Foreign, mixes R&B and drill music, containing swaggering lyrics. The following track, "Pitch Black", is an R&B mid-tempo with sexual content, with an uncredited intro performed by Anderson .Paak. On "Possessive" Yung Bleu, Lil Wayne and Brown explore themes of jealousy, breakup and lovesickness, through a tone that was described by Miracle Oyedeji of The Inquirer as a "mixture of loving and nagging". "Need You Right Here", "Hmhmm", and "Addicted" are trap-influenced R&B tracks with hedonistic themes. "Survive the Night" is an alternative R&B track that explores the theme of drug addiction. In the song, Brown personifies drugs as a toxic lover—one who continually inflicts pain yet remains an inseparable part of his emotional landscape.

The thirteenth track, the slow-jam "Sleep at Night", introduces a tonal shift in the album, transitioning into a more "soulful" soundscape. The track was noted for showcasing the singer's falsetto. "Passing Time" is an "80's inspired" mid-tempo where the singer is conversing with his lover asking for reassurance. "WE (Warm Embrace)" is an R&B slow-jam, that contains an interpolation of Guy's 1991 single "Let's Chill". Keithan Samuels of Rated R&B commented its lyrical content saying that it "shows the tender side of Brown as he aims to sexually please his stressed-out partner the best way he can". "Forbidden" is an up-tempo pop-funk song, drawing musical inspiration from the works of Michael Jackson. "Bad Then A Beach" is an hip hop and trap influenced R&B song that features Tory Lanez. On the R&B and soul tracks "Dream", "Slide" and "Harder" the lyrics explore romance and sexual intimacy. The album's standard edition ends with "Luckiest Man", a song where Brown croons his confidence of wanting to spend the rest of his life with his loved one.

Artwork

Breezy's artwork was revealed on May 18, 2022. The cover art consists of a black and white image of the back of Brown's head, with the album's title shaved into his hair. The haircut was done by American artist and barber Rob the Original. According to the barber, the haircut of the album's cover was designed by Brown and himself, and was inspired by works of Italian artist and barber Nto Hair Mugen. Shawn Grant of The Source found the artwork to be "minimal" compared to those of Brown's latest projects.

Release and promotion

On November 4, 2019, Brown posted on his Instagram account three videos featuring snippets from songs that he had recently written and recorded, supposedly called "Get Naked", "Hit My Line" and "Stressed". On December 22, 2019, Brown announced that he was working on new material for his next album, posting an Instagram story where he wrote "2020, what do you think my 10th album is going to be called?". A couple months following the release of his collaborative mixtape with Young Thug, Slime & B, on July 9, 2020, he announced that the name of his tenth album would be Breezy, making a reference to his stage nickname. On October 22, 2020 he shared through his social media a snippet of a song supposedly called "On Some New Shit", in a video that showed him working and recording the song in a hotel room in London, also suggesting the possibility of releasing the album in 2021 in the video's caption. In November, Brown created an OnlyFans account, where he posted snippets from the songs "Sleep at Night" and "Warm Embarce", during his travel in Tulum, Mexico. Two days before Christmas 2020, Brown posted on his Instagram account a picture that showed a pen and a piece of paper, captioning it with "My heart on this pen and pad. A SIDE B SIDE. Hope y'all f**k with my frequency. No time soon", hinting the possibility of Breezy being his third consecutive double-album, following Heartbreak on a Full Moon and Indigo. On January 8, 2021 Forbes published an article that listed Breezy among the most anticipated R&B albums of 2021. In June 2021 he said that he was not in a rush to release his new album, by posting an Instagram story where he wrote "I ain't dropping my album until I'm ready. I need to give y'all a chance to miss me". On August 2, 2021, Brown announced on his Instagram that his Breezy album would be accompanied by a short film of the same name, however the short film ended up never being released.

Months later, on December 18, he announced the release of the lead single of Breezy for January 2022. On the first day of 2022 he announced the title of the single, "Iffy", through a teaser of its music video, announcing its release for January 14, while also revealing that Breezy would have the same amount of songs of his debut album, because he wanted to "keep it classic". In March he announced that the already previewed song "Warm Embrace" would be the second single, announcing its release date for April 1, and teasing a joint tour for Summer 2022 with a mystery co-headliner. Two days before the release of the single, he revealed that Breezy would be released during summer 2022. In late April he announced his "One of Them Ones Tour" with rapper Lil Baby as a co-headlining act. On May 9 he announced that the album would be released in June. Nine days later he revealed Breezy's release date, June 24, along with its cover art, and a list of features including Lil Wayne, Blxst, H.E.R., Ella Mai, Jack Harlow, Tory Lanez, Fivio Foreign, Yung Bleu, EST Gee and Wizkid, hinting that more features could be on the album.

Critical reception

Miracle Oyedeji of The Inquirer stated that the album consists of "24 solid songs" with Brown doing "amazingly well vocally and lyrically". AllMusic editor Andy Kellman praised Breezy's "soulful" side, stating that it "contains some of the smoothest R&B he has made", but was dissatisfied with its "boastful" hip hop-infused side. Lauren Floyd of HipHopDX expressed a mixed response, stating that on the album "certain songs sway from trend to trend or the preferences of its features mask more than advertising Brown's individuality".

Commercial performance

In the United States, Breezy debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 with 72,000 album-equivalent units, which included 5,000 pure album sales in its first week. This marks his 11th top-ten album in the country. The album also accumulated 87.36 million on-demand audio streams in the United States for its track list of 24 songs. Five songs from Breezy charted on the Billboard Hot 100 during its debut week, making Chris Brown surpass Elvis Presley as the eighth artist with the most entries on the Hot 100, for a total of 112 entries on the chart. In its second week, the album remained in the top ten and fell to number eight, earning 35,000 album-equivalent units. The album spent three consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Billboard 200. In 2024, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Track listing

Credits are adapted from Tidal.

Notes

^[p] indicates a primary and vocal producer.

^[a] indicates an additional producer.

^[v] indicates a vocal producer.

Sample credits

"Psychic" contains a sample from "Me & U", written by Ryan Leslie, as performed by Cassie.

"WE (Warm Embrace)" contains a portion of the composition "Let's Chill", written by Bernard Belle, Teddy Riley, Keith Sweat, as performed by Guy.

"Dream" contains a sample from "What They Want", written by Joe Moses, Kaniel Castaneda, as performed by Joe Moses.

"Harder" contains a portion of the composition "Untitled (How Does It Feel)", written by D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, as performed by D'Angelo

"Iffy" contains a sample from "Drag Rap" by The Showboys and contains interpolations of "In da Club", written by Curtis Jackson, Andre Young, and Mike Elizondo, as performed by 50 Cent & "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)", written by Lumidee Cedeño, Teddy Mendez, Edwin Perez, Steven Marsden, as performed by Lumidee.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from Tidal.

Musicians

Chris Brown – vocals

Anderson .Paak – vocals (track 3)

Tyler James Hotston – bass, drums, keyboards, strings (14)

Brandon Brown – bass (15)

Adam Tahere – vocal effects (15)

Wilbert Richardson – background vocals (20)

Blaq Tuxedo – programming (24)

OG Parker – programming (24)

Smash David – programming (24)

Ant Clemons – vocals (26)

William Wesson – violin (27)

Aldae – background vocals (29)

Lostboy – background vocals (29)