Music Video Review: Chris Brown's "Crawl"

By our guest blogger, Gabrielle Corrado

Oh, Chris Brown--how we’ve missed you. After vanishing from the spotlight after the now-infamous Rihanna incident that occurred last February, Brown is back. His recently released video for his single "Crawl," directed by Joseph Kahn, stands in stark contrast to the high-energy video also recently released for his catchy single “Transform Ya,” featuring Swizz Beats and Lil Wayne.

It’s next to impossible to refrain from applying the "Crawl" video to the drama of Chris’ personal life in the past year. The video features a new version of Chris Brown--gone is the megawatt grin, gone is the cocky swagger. Instead, we see a downtrodden, isolated Brown moping around the streets of Los Angeles. As he sits alone on a huge hotel bed, coldness literally envelops him, and his breath comes out in icy gusts.

R&B singer Cassie plays Brown’s ex-girlfriend in the video--cue Rihanna comparisons. In the video, Brown is tormented by the memories of his former flame; he is a prisoner to them and carries them with him both in public and in the privacy of his room. As Chris croons, “Lend me one more chance/ We can still have it all,” he runs into Cassie in an alley. Just as the pair is about to embrace and reconciliation seems plausible, Cassie turns away from her ex-love and continues walking, sans Brown. Sound familiar?

I actually enjoyed the "Crawl" video. In the midst of countless accusations of Brown trying to brush the "incident" under the rug, the video struck me as a refreshingly open and honest depiction of the isolation that Brown undoubtedly felt after the Rihanna drama. While I love watching him dance through his videos as much as the next fan, I applaud the subdued direction he took with "Crawl" and look forward to see what else he has up his sleeve.

View the music video for "Crawl" below.  Thoughts?