"With the song 'This Christmas' I wanted to do something that was kind of different. I mean, Donny Hathaway is an amazing artist. So I wanted to bring my flavor to the song so when people over the age of 45 or 50 hear it they'll be like 'OK, he did his thing with that record.' It's like I can appeal to everybody and not just a younger demographic"
About this Quote
Chris Brown isn’t talking about holiday cheer here; he’s talking about legitimacy. Covering Donny Hathaway is a high-wire act because Hathaway isn’t just “an amazing artist” in the polite, awards-show sense. He’s a measuring stick for taste, soul credibility, and a certain grown folks authority in Black pop. Brown frames “This Christmas” as a calculated crossover: not into whiteness, but into age, into the gatekept world of listeners who decide whether you’re an artist or merely a product.
The line “I wanted to bring my flavor” is doing a lot of work. It’s not reverence; it’s branding. Brown isn’t trying to disappear into the classic; he wants the classic to validate him. That’s why he imagines the reaction of people “over the age of 45 or 50” as a kind of verdict: “OK, he did his thing.” Not “he honored it,” not “he nailed it,” but he successfully stamped himself onto it. The subtext is insecurity sharpened into strategy: I can touch the sacred record and come away unburned.
This is also a snapshot of late-2000s pop economics. Youth drives charts, but longevity comes from catalog and tradition. A Christmas standard is the ultimate recurring revenue stream and cultural rerun. Brown’s pitch - “appeal to everybody and not just a younger demographic” - is an artist thinking like a franchise: expand the customer base, secure the holiday slot, inherit the mantle without being trapped by it.
The line “I wanted to bring my flavor” is doing a lot of work. It’s not reverence; it’s branding. Brown isn’t trying to disappear into the classic; he wants the classic to validate him. That’s why he imagines the reaction of people “over the age of 45 or 50” as a kind of verdict: “OK, he did his thing.” Not “he honored it,” not “he nailed it,” but he successfully stamped himself onto it. The subtext is insecurity sharpened into strategy: I can touch the sacred record and come away unburned.
This is also a snapshot of late-2000s pop economics. Youth drives charts, but longevity comes from catalog and tradition. A Christmas standard is the ultimate recurring revenue stream and cultural rerun. Brown’s pitch - “appeal to everybody and not just a younger demographic” - is an artist thinking like a franchise: expand the customer base, secure the holiday slot, inherit the mantle without being trapped by it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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