Justin Bieber and Chris Brown stand astride a skateboard ramp half-pipe spray painted within an inch of its life against a floodlit night sky.
That’s not a scene from a new music video but a description of an Instagram the Canadian teen posted this morning.
Clearly impressed by Brown’s usual rendering of multi-colored “monster” faces, the 19-year-old’s photo is captioned with :
“Breezy spray painted my half pipe. He’s super dope.”
From some of the reports on Brown and Bieber’s more than apparent kinship — à la Tyler, The Creator — it seems some are unaware the pair have been good buddies for a while.
Justin grew up listening to Chris Brown famously posting a YouTube of himself singing his 2007 hit “With You,” before fame also came knocking for him in the shape of manager Scooter Braun and Usher.
Since then the two stars have forged a firm friendship, attending each other’s birthdays and other social events. In 2011, the duo collaborated on “Next 2 You,” an R&B tear-jerker that appeared on Brown’s fourth studio album F.A.M.E.
Back in May when the “Baby” star was booed at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards after winning the Chevrolet Milestone award, Brown tweeted :
“Congrats @justinbieber. Focus and f**k the bull***t! Love ya boy!”
More recently, Brown has spoken out about what he sees as unfair mainstream media criticism of himself and Bieber.
The following month while promoting his single “Fine China,” Brown told Power 105.1 FM’s The Breakfast Club,
“I feel like the mainstream media, and I don’t care I ain’t in it but this my own [what] I’m going say about it. I just feel like they’re gonna target the little black boys around him [Bieber] and say, ‘Hey, so this is why he’s doing it’.”
Judging by some of the reporting and opinions leveled at Bieber over the fact he has [white] and African-American pals, Sharon Osbourne’s recent snark just one of many examples — it would seem Brown has a point.
In the same interview, the Virginia native added : “I pray for him, I pray for myself. I think we both go through it because we’re great artists. He’s a big artist to his fans and everybody, you know? He’s like Baby Elvis out here.”
Earlier this year, the twosome may have also empathized over the unfavorable ratings they scored in a music-centric Public Policy Poll . Justin received a 54 percent negative rating, narrowly beaten by Chris’ 57 percent.
Mutual adversity it seems, is just a spray-painted half-pipe waiting to happen.
[ Images via Instagram and MTV ]