It is true. There is something that Pharrell, Drake, and Kendrick all have in common and it is directly connected to Philly… and it is not a cheesesteak. Her name is Bri Steves and she might be the musical revolution Hip-Hop and R&B have been missing.
Well, who is she and why are they checking so hard? It’s simple: She is a cross between Misdemeanor’s hehehehehehe-ooow and rhymosity mixed with a whole bunch of Sara Bellum’s Baduism. Bars and vibrato, what she does on a with a pen, pad, and mic is just special as sh*t.
Miss Bri is a new jack from North Philly (transplanted for a minute to Delaware) that burst on the scene just a few years ago.
Raised by her mother, she was exposed to music at an early age. Everything from Xscape to Tribe Called Quest to some oldies, her mom put her up on game. By the time she was able to explore on her own, she started checking indie music out online, namely MySpace. It was there that she put herself onto Frank Ocean and Tyler the Creator, stretching herself to bring into her spirit artists like Kanye, Pharrell, Kendrick, Drake… never knowing that one day she would be their muse.
“I started listening to Kanye West, a lot Pharrell, a lot of Kendrick, J. Cole… this is what I am doing in my teen” she reveals. “And its starting to affect me with music. So, it was in High School that I really started to play around with music.”
Interesting. Bri embodies Erykah Badu by inadvertently putting out in the universe the art that she wanted to manifest and the people she wanted to surround herself with… ok… We see what you did there.
A former Temple U college student, she self-taught herself how to sing, rap and produce, buying equipment with a little side money she had saved up for a car (about $3K). She took a little internship at a studio and learned how to record, sample and mix. Jumping in sessions, trying stuff out, she developed her style organically. She developed her voice intentionally.
“I started recording myself in my house. Singing in the subway… anything to get over my fear of singing in public. I did some shows and a couple months later I met up with my managers, Starr Island.”
The Starr Island Group, the mega-hit producing squad, has enjoyed success and if anyone is going to help push her to the tip-top it will be them. You know their work… their producer is Needlz who has worked on Cardi B, Bruno Mars, Drake, and Jeezy… another bullet in their round of ammo is Triangle Park who has worked with Kendrick, Ty Dolla Sign, Kehlani, Teyana Taylor and Kanye… they have a girl group called, Good Girl.
But Bri is the focal point and she is everything that Hip-Hop and R&B needs at the moment.
At least… that is what Kendrick Lamar and Pharell think.
Both of them are competing to get real estate on her new project. If you remember her hit joint, “Jealousy,” from a couple of months ago… you know that she is a rare talent blending genres without it seeming forced.
In fact… there is nothing forced about her star power. Her team has her out there on the road building a career brick by brick… even with all of the big name support.
And ain’t that how you keep longevity?
Brick… by… Brick… Song… by… Song… Water-Ice by Water-Ice.
#WeAreHereForIt