On the 25 July, Australian magazine X-press published Chloe Papas' scathing review of Chris Brown's latest album Fortune.
A little over a week later, the 20-year-old student and freelance journalist's review, which labels the album 'repugnant', 'skitzy' and 'a catastrophic clusterf^#*' has gone viral — influential media outlets such as Gawker.com, BuzzFeed, Reddit, The Huffington Post and The UK Guardian have all reposted Chloe's sassy dig at Brown and his supporters, with Gawker dubbing it 'The best album review you will ever read'.
But it's not so much Chloe's take on Brown's music that has thousands of people around the world sharing, retweeting and pinning the review, it's her moral stand against a man who has been welcomed back into the music industry fold despite violently beating his then-girlfriend Rihanna three years ago.
The final paragraph of the album review reads:
"Regardless of whether Chris Brown has any musical talent (he doesn't) or whether this album is any good (it isn't), the man recently brutally assaulted a woman, and is still regularly invited back to award shows and worshipped by 'Breezy' fans worldwide.
Which is, frankly, disgusting. And for those of you out there saying you need to separate the music and the man: screw you, don't encourage his actions. Final words: don't buy this album." The review ends with a rating of "NO STARS EVER"
Chloe took time out from replying to thousands of tweets to talk us through her now internationally acclaimed album review.
What compelled you to write such a scathing review of Chris Brown's album?
"Firstly, I've never really liked his music. I guess a great album could have changed my mind about that but it was a pretty bad album, so I was never going to give it a great review.
In terms of the political stance I took on it, it was a bit of a weird decision to make as to whether I should go down that path or just keep it about the music but I think it's important that we talk about that kind of [violence] and it is kept in the media. I don't think Chris Brown was ever really held accountable for what he did in 2009."
You're a self-proclaimed feminist; does this have something to do with the tone of your review?
"Feminism does come into it a little, in that I define feminism as believing in equal rights for men and women, but I think it's just general human rights; it's not really about taking a feminist stance on the issue. The biggest response I've got from the article is from men supporting it wholeheartedly, so I don't think this is a feminist issue."
How are you feeling about your review going viral?
"Good! I'm a little overwhelmed to say the least — I could never have prepared for something like this — but I'm mostly feeling really good about it. I've had tweets from people all over the world and emails as well thanking me for writing it but also people saying they hate me for writing it.
The reaction from Chris Brown fans hasn't been pretty. At first I thought it was funny, just people trolling on Twitter, but there are a lot of young girls supporting him which I think is sad considering what happened. And a few hate blogs have popped up today which is not fun, but it's just something that comes with it."
How have you been dealing with the hate coming your way?
"I've been ignoring most of the haters. At first I was replying a little bit and trying to defend myself, but then I realised there's not much point doing that — they're past the point of caring about a response."
You've tripled your Twitter followers in the last 24 hours, who have you been most excited about tweeting you?
"Some of my biggest journalism role models like Marieke Hardy, Clementine Ford, Benjamin Law, and a couple of musicians like Washington and Bob Evans — there has been heaps of support; it's really cool! And obviously it's been huge exposure for my writing. It's ridiculous really!"
We give Chloe Papas FIVE STARS ALWAYS!
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