Something kinda weird happened yesterday: A remix of Beyoncé's "Jealous" featuring none other than known garbage man Chris Brown randomly popped up on the internet. It's odd, because Beyoncé would presumably and rightfully never work with C-Breezy. His bland verse offers nothing to the song, and there's really no good reason for it to exist. He shows up uninvited to benefit from Bey's shine, and he needs to go the fuck home.
Let's break this down: Beyoncé is hugely popular and almost universally loved. Chris Brown is somehow still on the radio in spite of being universally hated. While the "Jealous" remix first appeared on Chris Brown's Twitter account—in a tweet that's since been deleted—it does not seem to be an official remix. Or, at least, it's not Beyoncé-sanctioned. (Brown's original tweet read: "I did the jealous remix some months ago for the Beyoncé collaboration album but it was never used. Glad you guys get to hear it.")
"Jealous" first came out on her self-titled surprise album in December 2013, before resurfacing a year later on the album's big re-issue. The song has been done. It's been put out not once, but twice. So why is this seemingly random remix popping up now? Because Chris Brown clearly benefits from being on a Beyoncé track and doing his own verse. He ends up on the blogs, ostensibly associated with Queen Bey, and possibly even promoted by the BeyHive, all without her explicit cosign. The drop of this track made everyone say, "What the fuck?!" for a moment, before realizing that Beyoncé obviously did not agree to this party. You have to wonder what Bey is thinking right now. Probably that Chris Brown is a thirsty little shit.
This isn't the only recent example where Chris Brown has tried to tag in on something that wasn't really his. (Chris, we see you trying to be down. You are not down. You will never be down.) He made another attempt this fall with his own version of Makonnen and Drake's "Tuesday" on Trigga/Breezy, his mixtape with Trey Songz. Obviously, Drake, who also used to date Rihanna, would never allow this, in any official sense. Needless to say, Drake hates Chris Brown. This is a good and justified opinion. They both had feelings for Rihanna. Chris Brown beat her up. Even if Drake was probably friend-zoned, he'd obviously dislike Chris Brown for personal reasons. They got into a bar fight once. Presumably, the OVO army is the reason Chris Brown was recently denied entry to Canada. Aubrey is doing his part to protect his countrymen and women from a very bad man.
Now, it's not at all odd that a rapper or a singer would do their own riff off another artist's track. It happens all the time. Geez, how many rappers did their own verse on Dej Loaf's "Try Me?" Too many to count. She's a boss-ass bitch who is on the up and up, and it doesn't hurt to sidle up to her. This is a common practice. The difference when Chris Brown is involved is the reasoning is a lot more transparent. He's trying to make himself look better. But it's never going to work. His transgressions are too many. He has never been repentant. He did a collaborative album with Tyga. History will not remember this well.
The pictures of Brown and Bey below, both via Getty, are from 2006 and 2007. After that, it's difficult, if not impossible, to even find a recent picture of Chris Brown with Beyoncé. It's just as difficult to find a photo where you can't see the pain behind her eyes to have been caught standing next to him. His arm is around her, a little too enthusiastically. Bear in mind, both these photos were taken years before the whole Rihanna fiasco. Maybe Beyoncé knew.
The positive takeaway is that we can rest easy knowing Bey is not actively working with Chris Brown—and she will very likely never even acknowledge Brown's remix—but unfortunately, he does not seem to be one to learn his lesson. He's going to keep trying to be down and feed off the scraps of people better than him. Just know that's what he's doing.
All images via Getty