Chris Brown may be in the middle of his global “The 11:11 Tour,” but that doesn’t mean he can’t stop by the club. On Friday (July 5), a video of the singer jamming to Usher’s “Nice & Slow” surfaced online, which prompted many social media users to ask: “Why couldn’t he do the tribute?”
Since the 2024 BET Awards, several fans and fellow musicians criticized the ceremony for the lack of men paying homage to the Confessions artist in the tribute performance before his Lifetime Achievement Award acceptance speech. Notably, acts like Victoria Monét, Teyana Taylor, Summer Walker, Coco Jones, Marsha Ambrosius, Chlöe Bailey, and Tinashe, took the stage on Sunday (June 30).
“He and Ciara could’ve did it since they had the females,” someone said underneath The Shade Room’s repost. Another person referenced the “Under The Influence” singer’s reported scuffle with Ush in 2023. “Usher and Chris already said they wasn’t beefing, so [I don’t] understand why y’all [are] pressing it,” they wrote.
“This could have been the tribute right here, but no, we got Keke Palmer in some Plato’s closet clothes,” wrote a separate user. “I’m so aggravated that he wasn’t the ONE to do the tribute!! I wouldn’t have even wanted it if he couldn’t be [a part] of the legacy,” another fan replied.
On Wednesday (July 3), Mario reacted to the women-led homage in an interview with TMZ. “If it was dudes, then it would’ve been good, but the women, they killed it. All the ladies killed it,” he said. When asked if he should’ve been called up, the singer replied, “Absolutely, I would’ve killed that. It would’ve been fire, for sure. I saw people tagging me and stuff.”
Eric Bellinger voiced similar opinions: “I was like, ‘Where the kings at?’ Tank was in the building, Tyrese was in the building, Vedo was in the building, I was in the building.”