After almost a year of facing his haters, it’s unfortunate that Chris Brown is now giving them more material to work with. Brown’s third studio album, Graffiti, is an ill-inspired attempt to redeem himself. With the exception of a few bright spots, Brown’s chart-topping abilities don’t show through on Graffiti.

Brown does put forth a commendable effort on his first two singles, however. He scores right away with the futuristic “I Can Transform Ya,” featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz, who provide the most original beats on the album. Everything Lil Wayne touches turns to gold, though, so it’s difficult to credit Brown with the success of this track. Besides, who wouldn’t love a hip-hop song that mentions Optimus Prime? The album’s second single, “Crawl,” is a powerful, catchy ballad.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that Chris Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault of Rihanna earlier this year. Unsurprisingly, Brown’s opinions about the experience infiltrate almost every song on Graffiti. He grovels a bit on “So Cold,” but his feelings of remorse end there.

When he’s not talking about Rihanna, he’s filling listeners in on his womanizing and wasteful spending habits. On “Sing Like Me,” Brown talks about women as if he’s collecting them, and on “What I Do,” he’s “Throwing up cash/ Like money ain’t a thing.”

Lyrically, Graffiti is about as distasteful as an album can get. With “Famous Girl,” Brown attempts to defend himself by addressing rumors, but he just comes across as obsessive and childish. It’s difficult to listen to this album without thinking about the Rihanna incident, and Brown doesn’t help his case by referring to it on almost every track.

It would be easier to overlook these lyrics if the music was interesting, but it’s not. Brown’s vocals lack soul, and several tracks have an overworked, ’90s-boy-band feel. For every danceable track on Graffiti, Brown gives us another song that’s completely forgettable.

Brown does work it out on a few dance tracks, however. He samples Eric Prydz’s monster club hit “Call On Me” on “Pass Out,” and the result is sure to get listeners out of their seats.

Despite his lyrical foibles on Graffiti, Brown finishes the album strong. The last few tracks don’t feel tacked on. Brown gets personal and addresses what he calls his “demons” on the offbeat “Fallin Down,” which shows off his smooth voice. Electric guitar accents set the track apart from the rest. Brown delivers an emotional love song with “I’ll Go,” an R&B ballad with a rock ‘n’ roll breakdown.

Although Brown experiments a bit on Graffiti, none of the songs on the album have the instant hit quality of his previous singles. Brown is only 20 years old, so he has time to learn from his mistakes — musically and otherwise. Unfortunately, Graffiti isn’t enough to successfully energize Brown’s career or brighten his tarnished reputation. For the most part, Graffiti is a stereotypical and unoriginal album about women, cars and cash. Perhaps Chris Brown should have taken some time to reflect and grow before releasing this lackluster collection.

2 stars out of 5.