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Tavis: Chris Brown is a rising star, fast-rising star, in the music world who, at just 17 years of age, has already earned not one but two Grammy nominations for his self-titled debut CD. This month you can hear him and see him in the new film 'Stomp the Yard.' The movie opens nationwide this weekend. Here now, a scene from 'Stomp the Yard.'

(Film clip - no dialogue)

Tavis: All right. For those who don't know our culture, you'd better explain what that was they just saw.

Brown: Well right there, that was a little bit of street dancing. That was moreso along the lines of what I used to do when I was, like, 13, 14, going into the house party.

Tavis: Years ago, yeah. (Laugh)

Brown: I couldn't say, like, it was a long time ago, it was, what.

Tavis: Yeah.

Brown: But yeah, like, it's like street dancing. A lot of rugged - but actually at the same time, like, when we shot that, it was really intense dancing, and it wasn't, like, it was so rehearsed to the point where they were, like, oh, in the script it says this, so you have to do it like this. We really were battling. We really went at it, like okay, neither team wants to lose, so we gonna go at it, we gonna freestyle, and at the same time do choreography, so.

Tavis: This movie, 'Stomp the Yard,' is about what, essentially?

Brown: Well, definitely it's not just a dance movie. I think a lot of people just think it's gonna be one of the other dance movies that you can fast-forward to all the dance parts. Definitely it's not that. It's a movie about loyalty, brotherhood, sisterhood. At the same time, romance, love, like a coming of age, becoming a man, different things like that.

And just learning from everyday experiences, and how you can make a change in your life. And definitely my goal in this movie is just to inspire the youth to do something as far as education. Then at the same time be interested in joining, like, a sorority or a fraternity that is positive, and they know at the same time that it's not a gang, and they know that it's something meaningful.

Tavis: Now, I pledged a fraternity when I was in college, and before I saw the movie, I said maybe I can teach Chris a couple things. (Laugh) Then I said, no, I think he's all right. I think the brother's all right, he don't need no lessons from Tavis. Tell me about how you became - I must tell you, this is me personally - before I got turned on by your music, I got turned on by your moves. I said, this kid can really, really dance.

Brown: Thank you, I appreciate that.

Tavis: Tell me where that comes from.

Brown: Just a lot of running from whuppings.

Tavis: Yeah. (Laugh)

Brown: You know what I'm saying? (Laugh)

Tavis: Well in that case, I ought to be able to dance, then, if that's all it takes.

Brown: Definitely. But at the same time just listening to Michael Jackson and stuff, watching James Brown, rest in peace. But just watching all those influential guys, and at the same time, going to parties all the time and not being the one that's, I took the initiative to be the individual, and just try to be myself, and not just be like the homies and pose it up at the party, be like. (Laugh) I'm just going, I'm gonna dance, so I just wanted to have fun.

Tavis: How do you go about - and I'm not even sure you thought about it when you were doing it. But since you mentioned James Brown, what made James Brown all that was that he was an original. And everybody, as you well know, being an artist, everybody has sampled and copied James Brown. You can't talk about American music and skip past James Brown in a significant way. So James is an original. How do you go about, in a dance setting, creating your own style?

Brown: In a dance setting, I think it's just being yourself. Like, of course you're gonna do a dance move that somebody else has done before. You're gonna always do something that people, to their eye, it looks, well, that look like such-and-such, that look like such-and-such. But at the same time, you just have to be yourself, and at the end of the day, go with the flow.

'Cause I don't dance because of what I see. Like, I might get choreographed by a choreographer with my dancers in unison, but most of the time when I dance, I just dance to the beat. Every time I hear the kick or the 808 on any track that I have, I can just flow with it. It's like the music moving through my body, so.

Tavis: So seeing you in concert and watching your moves, it's different every concert.

Brown: Every concert.

Tavis: So you're not doing a routine.

Brown: You might hear the same songs, but you...

Tavis: Right, won't see the same moves, yeah.

Brown: You're not gonna see the same stuff, no.

Tavis: I like that idea. That means that the sisters will come back to see you, like, four, five, six, seven...

Brown: That's what I'm hoping for, all right?

Tavis: Yeah. (Laugh) Since every dance move is different, you don't know what he's gonna do, you gotta show up at the concert every night he's in town. So speaking of being in town, you grew up - matter of fact, they gave me this blue card so that I could pronounce this thing right. I'm not even gonna try. You grew up in a town that I can't even pronounce.

Brown: It's called Tappahannock.

Tavis: Tappa-who?

Brown: Hannock.

Tavis: Tappahannock, Virginia.

Brown: (unintelligible) city next to it is Rappahannock, so.

Tavis: You lying. (Laugh)

Brown: (unintelligible) My mom from Tappahannock, my daddy from Rappahannock.

Tavis: Are you serious?

Brown: Yeah.

Tavis: Tappahannock and Rappahannock.

Brown: Yup.

Tavis: Well, see, you had to do what you do.

Brown: See? (unintelligible)

Tavis: You from Rappahannock.

Brown: Too small, yeah.

Tavis: Rappahannock, you had to do this. Tell me about your town.

Brown: My town, the population altogether is called Essex County. But Tappahannock is the initial town that's inside it. But Essex County holds maybe, (unintelligible) shouts out to everybody out there. But Essex County, like, holds maybe 10,000 people. So, the town in itself holds two, 3,000 people.

Tavis: So you from a place that small, two or 3,000 people.

Brown: Half of them, my cousins.

Tavis: Yeah. (Laugh)

Brown: Everybody had the same school, there's only, like, 700 to 1,000 kids at one school. So, it's very, very small, so.

Tavis: So how does one with your gift and your skill and your talent get discovered, come out of that?

Brown: I think just my drive. Me being determined at a young age. I just wanted to do something.

Tavis: But hold on, hold on. I never heard of where you were from. So how'd I ever hear about you? That's what I'm getting at.

Brown: Well, me, basically, I just went everywhere I could. I went to Richmond, the capitol of Virginia. I went to New York. I stayed in New York for, like, three years when I was 13, all the way up to 16. So, stayed out there...

Tavis: For the purpose of getting your talent exposed?

Brown: Definitely. Just singing anywhere I could, singing in the subway, singing, like, definitely in the malls, where the girls were. So, that's what I just focused on all the time.

Tavis: So when you see a bunch of girls, you walk up and just start singing.

Brown: Yup. That was my...

Tavis: They didn't even ask you to sing; you just walk up and start singing?

Brown: It's funny, 'cause my homeboys used to go to the mall with me, and all my boys knew I could sing. So they'd be, like, yo, you see them girls right there? Hey, Chris, start singing. Just, just sing. Just sing. (Laugh) So I'd walk and started singing, and then the girls look like, they're like, we got them. Come on. (unintelligible) they'll start talking to them, so.

Tavis: So your boys should have been paying you back in the day.

Brown: Yeah, I was, like, the magnet. I just reeled them in, I was the beat, I guess. (Laugh)

Tavis: (Laugh) And what were you singing? Were you singing original songs, or stuff that?

Brown: I probably was singing what was out, what was hot at the moment that all the girls loved, like whether it was immature, whether it was genuine. Even Michael Jackson and Usher stuff, like, I just was singing stuff (unintelligible).

Tavis: Yeah. So tell me about your musical talent, then. Your dancing, we've talked about. Tell me about your musical talent, where that comes from.

Brown: My musical talent, I really wouldn't know. I just said, I just give all the glory to God, just giving me this gift. But at the same time, my family doesn't sing. Like, nobody in my family plays an instrument, nobody in my family...

Tavis: So you the first artist...

Brown: First artist.

Tavis: ...to come out of your family.

Brown: Definitely. Yup.

Tavis: With all them cousins in Tappahannock, you still the first one.

Brown: Everybody, yup, yup.

Tavis: Tappahannock and Rappahannock. And you the only one.

Brown: Uh huh.

Tavis: Wow. You lived in New York for a number of years to get yourself exposed, but you moved back to Virginia.

Brown: Yeah.

Tavis: See, that cracks me up, because nobody, like, at your age does that. Once you get to New York or L.A., you ain't supposed to go back at 17.

Brown: I figured like this, I'm traveling all the time. So I'm always gonna be back in L.A., I'm always gonna be back in New York. But when I really wanna relax, I love going back home. Anytime I get, even if I get a day break, I try to fly from wherever I'm at to go home. So, I love hanging out with my old friends from high school, I love just being in that whole atmosphere, that country atmosphere. But at the same time, being in the city when it's necessary.

Tavis: So how do you - this calls for a little bit of immodesty here - how are you handling all this?

Brown: I'm just taking it one day at a time. Like, it's not overwhelming, I think...

Tavis: No, it's overwhelming, player.

Brown: I was going - I had a two week break, though, so that's what brought me back down. You know what I'm saying? 'Cause at first, like, I was going for two years straight, and I was, like, all right, I'm tired. I gotta do this interview? Come on; just let me go to sleep. So then they was like, okay, we gonna give you a two week break for the Christmas and New Year.

So I went home - I just got my house - so I'm chilling in my house; I got my homeboys over there. I would sleep every day, like, till 3:00, 4:00. (Laugh) And then get up, and we just be night owls the whole time, just be chilling.

Tavis: Yeah. So in this chair not long ago, sat your friend, I presume, Ne-Yo. Now what's funny about this, both of you are in this movie, 'Stomp the Yard,' and you are nominated opposite each other in the same category for this Grammy. You're up for two Grammies, but you and Ne-Yo are in the same category. So how's that gonna work?

Brown: I think him being my friend, (laugh) definitely...

Tavis: This is on tape, be real careful.

Brown: Well, definitely, I wanna win.

Tavis: Yeah, okay. (Laugh)

Brown: Of course I wanna win a Grammy. But I think the person I'll be rooting for the most if I didn't win would be him. Because he's, like, I knew him before the deal. Like, I knew him before everything. 'Cause my manager signed him to Def Jam, Tina Davis, and she was about to sign me to Def Jam, but she took me to Jive. So, like, we had already met each other.

Or, like, hung out and stuff like that. So, we built that friendship, and I just pray for the best for him, you know what I'm saying? If he wins, I'm still gonna be, like, yo, that's my dude. And if I win, I'm sure he gonna do the same.

Tavis: So you got these two musical prodigies on the same set. So what's it like hanging out on the set when you and Ne-Yo are both on the same film set?

Brown: The set is the most exciting. That's the thing that I love the most. And everybody tells me this, though, but I don't try to be, like, better than anybody on the show, or try to surpass them in any way. I just try to just be there. Just whatever ya'll need me to do, I'm here.

So, like, we were there on, maybe on the set at nighttime from, like, 11:00 to 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, when the sun was coming up. We had a gang of, like, 300 extras. And that's what my focus was, 'cause I get sidetracked. Me being 17, I see a lot of younger girls that's in the...

Tavis: I understand, you get sidetracked.

Brown: ...that's in the extras box, and I'm, like. (Laugh) Can I go over here right quick? (Laugh) So I would get sidetracked a lot. Most, nine times out of 10, so.

Tavis: You know what? You gotta respect the boy's honesty.

Brown: Yeah, definitely.

Tavis: I was on the set, getting paid, but I got sidetracked by the 300 extras over here. His name is Chris Brown. His movie is 'Stomp the Yard.' If you do not know who he is, ask your daughter, ask your granddaughter. They all know who Chris Brown is. I ain't gotta put the CD up, they already got it, so.

Brown: Yeah, please get that, too, if you (unintelligible).

Tavis: Yeah, yeah, you got it already.

Brown: The new album coming out, too.

Tavis: When's the new one coming?

Brown: It's coming probably the fall. And I'll be 18 when it comes out, so it'll be called 'Exclusive.' So it's gonna be (unintelligible).

Tavis: (unintelligible) You ain't even legal yet.

Brown: I know, see? See? The older ladies, I will be, though. (Laugh) See, see?

Tavis: He got that James Brown in him.

Brown: All right?

Tavis: Speaking of JB. Chris, nice to meet you.

Brown: Thank you, man, pleasure to meet you.

Tavis: Glad to have you on. Pleasure's mine. That's our show for tonight. Catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Our radio podcast available at TavisTalks.com. See you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from L.A., thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith.