Chris Brown album Brown carries Jamaican songwriting and dancehall links

R&B star Chris Brown has long shown warmth toward the Caribbean and its people. On his twelfth studio set, Brown, a Vybz Kartel feature on F#ck N Party is among the headline Jamaican touches, yet track six, Hate Me, carries a quieter island thread.

Alan Sampson produced the song, with UK songwriter James Essien and Plested sharing writing credits on a cut built around classic R&B tones.

Essien forms half of Pick Pockets Music alongside industry executive Isaac Blak London Brown. Brown, who has Jamaican parentage, is a former A&R at Empire Distribution; he found Essien and later took on management duties.

Blak London said, "We wrote this song like four years ago and Chris (Brown) just picked it up six months ago, but we have the original version written and sang. Our production team and writers are next level, we are doing everything right now. Essien is one of the biggest songwriters right now, I manage him under the whole Blak Friday Management umbrella."

Blak London has helped steer Essien's rise as a UK hitmaker, including a publishing arrangement with Funfair/Kobalt.

Essien landed three placements on the new album from global K-pop act BTS, including the breakout SWIM. In March, SWIM shot to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, while the group's fifth studio album ARIRANG made BTS the first South Korean act to debut at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 in the same week.

His co-writing credits on that project cover the comeback single Swim plus Alien and Please.

Earlier work includes co-writing lead single Here from Tom Grennan's number-one album What Ifs & Maybes, along with cuts for Clean Bandit, Mahalia, and James Blunt.

During his A&R years at Empire Music, Blak London said he was always pushing for something Jamaican because his parents were from yard. He cited grandparents from Kingston, Savanna-la-Mar in Westmoreland, and St. Elizabeth.

He said, proudly, "My mom was born at Kingston Jubilee (hospital), so a lot of my people are between Maverley, Red Hills and Rema, so I am full blown Jamaican."

Blak London has leaned further into that bond by signing emerging social media figure and dancehall artiste Monifa Goss under Blak Friday Management. Essien is also on the BFM roster.

He said, "When I signed Monifa five years ago to Empire, Monifa was working with him back then, but nothing really came out because Monifa was on the come up and James hadn't blown up yet. But Essien's been killing it, so it's time to bring Monifa back to the Caribbean and flip the whole sound, and give them a worldwide sound."

Blak London described himself and Essien as among the UK's strongest songwriting exports on the international stage right now.

On Chris Brown's bond with Jamaica, he joked, "Chris Brown thinks he is a yard man, you hear how he talks the Jamaican patois like a yawdie. When you meet him, he is just so humble, he will just be there, chilling and vibing with everyone."

Brown's catalogue already carries repeated Jamaican collaborations. In 2009 he linked with Sean Paul on Brown Skin Girl from the Graffiti album.

His 2023 release 11:11 included Nightmares with Jamaican-born Byron Messia, an Afrobeats-dancehall blend that reached number 73 on the UK Singles Chart and number 22 on Billboard's R&B Songs chart.

He also worked with Konshens on a remix of Bruk Off Yuh Back and with Elephant Man on Feel the Steam for the 2008 Grammy-nominated album Let's Get Physical.