Chloe Bailey Receives Backlash For Chris Brown Collaboration

Chloe Bailey‘s debut solo album, In Pieces, is set to come out next month.

To tease the project, the 24-year-old singer, one-half of the R&B sister duo Chloe x Halle, revealed her new song on Thursday, February 16.

Bailey announced the record’s upcoming second single, “How Does It Feel,” which features Chris Brown, on her Instagram and Twitter. The cover art shows her and Brown holding each other, possibly suggesting a sexually charged song and associated music video.

Some fans were angry about the R&B singer’s decision to feature Brown, who has a known history of abuse, including a high-profile incident involving Rihanna in 2009.

A user on Instagram commented, “Is it really that difficult to not work with known abusers or do ppl in the industry just not care at all.”

Online backlash against artists who have defended or collaborated with Brown has occurred before.

Last year, fans condemned Kelly Rowland for supporting Brown at the American Music Awards when she tried to quiet the audience after they began booing him.

Normani was also criticized on social media for appearing in Brown’s music video for the song “WE (Warm Embrace).”

However, there were also people that defended Bailey’s decision. Another Instagram user wrote, “They’re singing a song not dating. Y’all need to get over what Chris Brown did when he was 18/20s. The man is in his 30s now. Are y’all the same person you were at 18?”

In an interview with Essence, Bailey said that the album is “everything that I’ve been going through, all the tearing down, people underestimating, telling me I can’t do it — all of those things have gone into the music.” She later added, “It’s me breaking free.”