Not just a great dancer and a troublesome crack addict, Bobby Brown was a definitive new jack R&B singer of the late '80s and early '90s, second only to the god Teddy Riley. Brown made "Every Little Step," one of the earliest hit hip-hop/R&B hybrid records. Even more importantly, he made "On Our Own," the lead single from the Ghostbusters II soundtrack, with a music video starring '80s dweeb icon Rick Moranis and 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump!
Late-stage Millennials may chiefly associate Brown with the baggy male fashion and cracked-out choreography of "Thug Lovin'," his awful 2002 collaboration with Ja Rule, but behold "On Our Own" and this earlier, virginal year—1989—when Bobby Brown was rapping about proton packs and dancing in avocado jackets. Before Will Smith was the Fresh Prince, Bobby Brown was the proto-jiggy god of cheesy crossover raps!
Meanwhile, in the late '80s, Donald Trump was a real estate mogul with high-profile development interests in Manhattan and Las Vegas. At that point in his career, Trump's interest in Hollywood was recreational. He makes a brief, unspoken, but sufficiently hammy appearance in Brown's music video for "On Our Own," which otherwise features sea-sickening camera work, poor dancing, and interspersed footage from Ghostbusters II.
For more great Bobby Brown rapping, see "Every Little Step," where he's jacking LL Cool J's flow, and "Humpin' Around," where both he and possemate Stylz are biting Treach of Naughty By Nature. For more Yung Trump cameos, see Ghosts Can't Do It and Home Alone 2. The man's never been shy of a camera.
