Chris Brown says his arrest for beating up Rihanna was a ''wake-up call''.

The 24-year-old rapper was placed on probation after assaulting his then-girlfriend in 2009, and he insisted the incident meant he quickly had to move away from his ''wild'' image.

He told The Guardian newspaper: ''[The Rihanna incident was] probably the biggest wake-up call for me. I had to stop acting like a little teenager, a crazy, wild young guy.''

And although the 'Don't Wake Me Up' hitmaker doesn't see himself in that way, he admitted he ''learned from'' the fallout of the assault and had to become ''more of a mature adult'' because of the situations he had to cope with in the following years.

Asked if he saw himself as a ''little teenager'', he replied: ''No, not at all ... Cos you can talk with all my girls that I did mess with before, and it's never been a violent history.

''But at the same time, I learned from it, and it was almost like ... I wouldn't say it happened for a reason, but it was something to trigger my mind to be more of a mature adult.

''To handle myself in situations, don't throw tantrums, don't be a baby about it.''