If there’s anyone who knows just how hot the firestorm trailing Ray Rice can eventually get, it’s Chris Brown. Having been involved in his own domestic violence scandal five years ago, Brown can count himself an expert on the price Rice is currently paying. 

From a legal standpoint, the 25-year-old R&B star is still tethered to the 2009 Rihanna beating that changed the course of both of their lives. The last several years for Brown have been dominated by arrests, lawsuits, and probation violations. Since getting out jail earlier in the summer, he's become a new man. “It’s all about the choices you make,” Brown told MTV News. “With me, I deal with a lot of anger issues from my past — not knowing how to express myself verbally and at the same time not knowing how to cope with my emotions and deal with them and understand what they are.”

After he spent three months behind bars, and a stint in rehab where he received inpatient treatment for bipolar disorder, Brown counts himself a different person. That doesn’t mean he’s completely free from therapy though. “Help is great,” he said. “I still talk to my therapist twice a week. For me, it helps me to actually be able to — if I’m frustrated or I’m dealing with something — to vent and say what i’m going through."

Brown advised exhibiting self-control rather than going off the rails. “For anybody whose going through that situation ... every situation is different but you know it’s all about the choices you make and how you control your anger.”

To Rice he added, “Ray, or anybody else — I’m not better than the next man — I can just say I’ve been down that road. I deal with situations and I’ve made my mistakes too, but it’s all about how you push forward and how you control yourself.” 

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(Photos from Left: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images, Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)