R&B continues to birth a set of emerging artists who pave unique paths in the genre. This list includes Brent Faiyaz, born Christopher Bent Wood, who rose to stardom as a Soundcloud rapper in 2014. At the time, though, his manager Ty said that the songs with Faiyaz’s singing had promise, which inspired him to switch over to the other side.
Faiyaz has noted that he doesn’t adhere to any particular genre, which adds to his wide range of sound and lyricism. He began making beats at the age of 12 and has written and produced his own tracks since. His sound caters to a very nostalgic and eclectic array of styles. From a soft ballad to a song you may hear in the early 2000s, you can tell that Brent gently rebels against R&B traditions in a way that completely transforms the listener’s experience.
Brent’s story begins in hometown Columbia, Maryland to Charlotte, North Carolina to Los Angeles, California, where he settled at the age of 18 in order to work on his music career. In 2015, Brent released his first debut single, “Allure,” followed by the release of “Invite Me” in June 2016. The track was featured in his debut EP that dropped that same year, A.M. Paradox, which received a lot of appraisal from music critics.
Faiyaz draws most of his inspiration from artists like Curren$y, Lil Wayne, Curtis Mayfield and Gil-Scott Heron. In October 2016, he formed a group with fellow record producers Dpat and Atu. He then founded his own record label, Lost Kid. He independently released his debut album, Sonder—which he has tattooed above his right eyebrow—in 2017. The word means realizing that each random passerby is living their own complex life. When Faiyaz found out about the expression, he was inspired to get the face tat. “I was like, ‘Damn, that ... hard,’ so I got it tatted,” he said in an interview.
On February 7, Faiyaz dropped his latest album, Fuck the World. The 10-track EP has that melodic playfulness that’s both loose and without remorse. It reinforces a Faiyaz that is ever-evolving and global. "Fuck the World to me is embracing the good shit," he said. "The overindulgence of sex, money, bullsh*t but also saying f*ck the world. Sh*t is fucked up. The good sh*t and the bad sh*t, the yin and the yang. That's why I like that specific expletive because it can mean both things."
Faiyaz is known for his heavenly, ruminating voice which also contains a lyricism that is, well, heartless. He starts off his debut single “Rehab (Winter in Paris)” with “I got too many hoes / But they ain’t you / You like to put that shit in your nose / But I still love you.” In “Fuck the World (Summer in London),” he sings about a recklessness that only he owns: “Wanna fuck the world I'm a walking erection / Spend without a thought, we do it reckless.” But this doesn’t really take away from the transcendent quality of his vibrato.
Of course, not all of his songs are like this. “Let Me Know” contains echoes of self-love and navigating Blackness as a whole: “Why don't we make it easier for the world to change someday? / Sometimes I contemplate, some things my heart can't take / Why do we hurt one another? Fight our brother, kill, and rape? / Love can trump it all / I know you seen it all / And know you a star, you just have to believe in who you are / Who can you love?”
He also leans on a retrospective side, one that is an honest approach to his musings. “Skyline” calls for unity in gang culture: “Fuck what set you bang / what hood you claim / we all come from the same.”
“I am at a point now with this music sh*t where I just don’t really give a f*ck about what anybody wants to hear,” Faiyaz told Rolling Stones. “If I feel like making something, if I feel like saying something on the track, that’s what I am going to do — regardless of reaction. It’s only by coincidence that people have been receiving it well. I really didn’t give a f*ck at all.”
In 2017, Brent received a Grammy nomination for his remix collaboration with Goldlink on the song “Crew.” He was also featured in the song “Demonz (Interlude),” which was featured in Juice Wlrd’s second studio album.
Brent will be venturing on a multi-city tour that supports his recent material, though he is also in the midst of recording his new project, Make It Out Alive. He’ll be hitting a number of U.S. cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orlando, Atlanta, Nashville, Boston and Philadelphia, among others.
If you want to experience his heavenly playfulness live, check out the ticket and location details here.
Brent Faiyaz 2020 Tour Dates
03/18 – Eugene, OR @ Wow Hall
03/19 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
03/21 – Vancouver, Canada @ Commodore Ballroom
03/24 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
03/25 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
03/27 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
03/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo by Microsoft
03/30 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
04/04 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
04/05 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Varsity Theatre
04/08 – Orlando, FL @ House of Blues Orlando
04/09 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor
04/12 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
04/14 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
04/15 – Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
04/16 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
04/18 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
