Artist:J. Brown
Song:My Whole Heart
Album:The Art of Making Love
J. Brown topped the R&B charts with the 2023 single My Whole Heart. He should be of interest to R&B fans but I don't see him crossing over to pop. I will explain. His full name is John Brown and he grew up in Detroit the youngest of five children. He's a Preacher's Kid so he grew up singing in the church choir. He joined the Mosaic Youth Theatre, sang the National Anthem before Detroit Pistons and Lions games and sang for President Clinton. Brown and his high school buddy Robert Curry heard that Wyclef Jean was looking to sign a group to his record label. They formed E2G, signed with Jean, but then the group split up. Curry went on to be a member of Day26 who were on the TV show Making the Band 4. When a 2010 single got local airplay, Brown signed with Universal Republic. He released a couple of singles. There was supposed to be an album but it never happened. Meanwhile he attended Grambling State University on a full academic scholarship. For the next few years Brown was a backup singer. Then he resurfaced in 2020 as J. Brown on SoNo Recording Group and the album Chapter & Verse. When his singles charted on the R&B charts, he released the 2022 album The Art of Making Love. The single My Whole Heart topped the R&B chart. On both albums, he worked a lot with producer Carvin Haggins. He wrote and produced eight of the twelve tracks on The Art of Making Love including My Whole Heart. Haggins was once half of the production duo Carvin & Ivan with Ivan Barias and they produced Musiq Soulchild among others. The album is available as a digital download. R&B fans should check it out. I expect Brown will continue to do OK in R&B. But I don't see him crossing over to pop. For one thing, the J. Brown name is too generic. But the biggest problem is his record label is too small. Plus they usually sign washed up guys like Brian McKnight. I know Brown had a bad experience at Universal Republic. But he needs to be on a large label that wants to spend money to promote him. Otherwise he's spinning his wheels. Here's the video for My Whole Heart by J. Brown.
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