Brown opens up on RiRi assault

Chris Brown says his arrest for his violent assault of Rihanna was a "wake-up call".

The 24-year-old rapper was sentenced to community service, anger management classes and five years’ probation after he assaulted his then-girlfriend before the 2009 Grammy Awards, and he told The Guardian that the "incident" meant that he had to grow up.

He told The Guardian: "[The Rihanna incident was] probably the biggest wake-up call for me. I had to stop acting like a little teenager, a crazy, wild young guy."

He added: "That was probably, like, one of the most troubling times in my life, because I was 18 or 19, so being able to feel the hatred from more adult people, you don’t understand it at the time, because you made a mistake."

He revealed that he was determined to "come back", and found himself writing several songs a night "just out of pure… I wouldn’t say heartbreak, but just pure ambition. To prove people wrong. So from there it wasn’t really a problem. I just focused on what was necessary, abiding by all the stuff I had to do legally and professionally."

Brown also admitted that he learned from the assault and its fallout, saying: "I wouldn’t say it happened for a reason, but it was something to trigger my mind to be more of a mature adult.
"To handle myself in situations, don’t throw tantrums, don’t be a baby about it."

Read the full interview in The Guardian here.