Chris Brown
photo: pelpa time production · cc by 3.0 ↗Christopher Maurice Brown taught himself to sing and dance growing up in small-town Virginia, mimicking Michael Jackson's routines and an Usher performance closely enough that a local production team discovered him at a gas station at 13. His 2005 debut single "Run It!" made him a teenage Billboard No. 1, launching a two-decade run as one of R&B's most dominant, dance-forward hitmakers.
Brown has said outright that "Michael Jackson is the reason why I do music and why I am an entertainer," and it's the most literal influence on this list — down to lifting specific choreography.
listen forWatch Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal' and then Brown's 'Fine China' side by side: the warehouse dance-battle staging, the leg-snap moves, and the gangster-confrontation plot are direct visual callbacks, with critics at the time noting Brown was channeling Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal' and 'Beat It' outright.
It was Brown's mother catching him mimic an Usher performance of 'My Way' that first revealed his vocal talent, and Brown has said point-blank, "If it wasn't for Usher, then Chris Brown couldn't exist."
listen forHear Usher's 'My Way' for the template — smooth, dance-competition-ready R&B vocals over mid-tempo groove — then play Brown's 'Yo (Excuse Me Miss)' for the same youthful, dance-floor-courtship energy filtered through Brown's own style.
Brown has cited Stevie Wonder among his foundational inspirations and has said he wanted to go back to the essence of where his influences came from, pointing to Wonder's classic soul songcraft as a touchstone for his more organic, live-instrumentation material.
listen forPlay Wonder's funk-soul landmark 'Superstition' and then Brown's psychedelic-soul-leaning 'Liquor' — listen for the same warm, groove-first soul foundation underneath Brown's more modern R&B production.