Chris Brown Can Transform Ya, part I

I was reading about Chris Brown's album, and I decided I should probably hear some of his album before I talk about it, so I looked up the video for the first single. I was making fun of Brown before because his album had bad reviews and wasn't selling well, but after hearing that first song, I gotta say, I love...Swiss Beatz! He made a thrilling song here, and if you don't like the singer on the track, you can ignore him! It's awesome.
Kidding, really. But there's some stuff in this song that made me think of the slightly sexist and certainly cynical nature of relationships posed in many pop songs these days. Sure, it's not fair to judge entertainment based on how moral it is, but I'm going to do it anyway--err I mean, it's important to consider the direction popular music is taking because it is exposed to so many people.
"What you need, you can have that,
my black card they won’t decline that,
see potential in ya,
let me mould that..."
So, Chris Brown can "Transform Ya". It's a promise: he's telling a potential girlfriend what the benefits of having a Chris Brown boyfriend are. He can alter you with his money; he can make you better by bringing out something great in you that you couldn't change yourself.
I think you can transform most people with money, but it's irrelevant: if you believe that you can deeply change someone with money (or what it provides: power), you are cynical about that person; I, too, am cynical in that respect. In this song, Chris Brown is cynical about women.
I never had high hopes for him, though. Some of his songs engaged women with sensitivity, like "Yo" or "Forever", but there were others that spoke about women the same way, like "Kiss Kiss": "I got paper girl, the Lamborghini..."
I'm not saying this makes Brown a bad person; I've had a low opinion of the man since it was revealed that he was beating his girlfriend, but there's nothing to show that in the song. And the cynicism I highlighted above isn't even rare in modern R&B, to say nothing of rap or metal. But I'd been wondering how a person who had expressed so much love for women--in general--could be so violent to them in his own life. Who makes a living writing love songs towards or about women, when the women in your life can propel you into a violent rage? I'll never know: I've never met Chris Brown, I don't intend to, and even if I did I could hardly provide any kind of psychological analysis. But now I see that his songs featured women as objects of desire, who care a great deal about the material wealth of the man courting them--and I'm not so confused anymore.

(first half of the video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyI26E5agM4)
Maybe Lil' Wayne has the right idea. I'm sure all kinds of people have been shocked with his appearance on the first Chris Brown single since the incident. Chris Brown, the celebrity pariah! Who would dare associate with him? (I suppose it's worth noting that they've collaborated before, on Brown's "Gimme That".)
But I think I know how he feels about Brown. When asked if he's concerned about being a role model for other people, Lil' Wayne responded "I'm not an example for people on how to live their lives...if you need an example for how to live, then you just shouldn't have been born. Straight up." (the question's at about 3:10 in the video above.) I wouldn't say it so strongly, but perhaps I shouldn't be looking at Brown to be an example of a great person--entertainers aren't meant to be role models. For many people, they are, but entertainers are supposed to entertain first and foremost; trying to be a good example of how to live, in a person's music and deeds, would hurt the music and cast doubt on how good those deeds really are. (after all, if people will respect you more for doing a good deed, and respect of that kind gives you attention and better sales, then maybe you're not doing good just for the sake of it.)
I like Brown's new song, and I even agree with his cynical view. Maybe that's enough.