Fat Joe says the only thing that keeps Chris Brown and the late Michael Jackson is the Virginia native's past with Rihanna.
On Sunday, June 16, Joey Crack offered his hot take about the 11:11 singer's legacy during an Instagram Live session. Joe, who's worked with CB in the past, had nothing but good things to say about Brown's career and rightfully placed in the same talent bracket as the King of Pop. However, Fat Joe also pointed out that the general public won't consider him this generation's MJ due to the violent incident involving his then-girlfriend Rihanna.
"If Chris Brown never got into the controversy with Rihanna, we would be calling him Michael Jackson right now," Joe explained. "Not like Michael Jackson—Michael Jackson. He is the most talented singer, artist, performer, hitmaker of our time. There’s nobody even close to Chris Brown, and it’s time we move past it. It’s been 20-something years that I know of — there’s been no more incidents. We gon’ let this lifetime go by without saying the truth?"
Chris Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting Rihanna back in 2009. In the past 15 years since the incident, critics have yet to let Brown forget about what happened. In 2012, Rihanna told Oprah she forgave Brown for his actions, but Brown recently said he still gets plenty of hate for what he did. The dramatic end of their relationship hasn't stopped Brown from selling out tours and receiving comparisons to Jackson. However, Joe thinks if the streets can still bump R. Kelly after he was convicted of sex crimes then Chris Brown can easily be known as the "King of R&B."
"What happens is, when the truth is an unpopular decision, everybody gets scared to say it," Joe continued. "They get canceled — especially famous people. But you know, the streets — they know what it is. Streets always know, they tell you the truth."
"So what I’m tryna say is that it’s a shame that we lyin' and we not giving it up to the king of R&B," Joe added. "We be thinking he could battle Michael Jackson, that’s all I’m tryna say. I’m not lying. If you really look at his body of work and you look at all his hits, you see what he does."
During the peak of the Brown vs. Jackson debate, the "Under The Influence" crooner told Big Boy that he wouldn't dare to compete with the "Thriller" singer. Revisit the interview below.