One of the greatest artists out of the small city of Hopkinsville,KY Now Hip Hop had the chance to touch base and catch up with “A.B.” – His music is versatile and special thus leading us to choose him as our latest artist. His music has the ability to transcend different genres with melody and lyrics that are unique and catchy. Check out the BIO and exclusive one on one interview bellow!
Anthony “A.B.” Brody was born on August 18, 1983 in Madisonville, KY. He was raised just 36 miles South in the small city of Hopkinsville, KY. Though he started writing rap songs at the early age of 10, it was at the age of 15 that he moved to Columbus, GA and found his true passion for rap and R&B music. There he was able to record for the first time and place himself in a couple of school talent shows. During his early recording days, he started to sing the hooks for his tracks instead of rapping. Amazed at how well it sounded, he then decided he would give RnB a shot. All of his music is written from past experiences which gives him the ability to bring a soulful sound to seduce the body and mind. Though there are some party tracks to vibe to from this artist his intention is to soothe the mind while setting the mood for the lovers out there. His music is also made to lift up others that may be going through what he has been through. With inspirations such as Al Green, R. Kelly, Boys to Men and many other great singers, he brings you a seductive style of his own. His mission is to bring back to the table what he feels most RnB today has shifted away from and that is passion.
A.B.’s first single, “Let It Leave”, was released June 15, 2015 followed by “Couple of Ways” on August 1, 2015. Both tracks are available via ITunes, Amazon, Xbox music and many other digital music stores. Through the support of various DJ’s and fans he landed an opening for RnB sensation Bando Jones on March 13, 2016 in Bowling Green, KY. Discovered by his talent of also making EDM music the legendary Lane McCray, singer of late 90’s multiplatinum selling group “La Bouche”, guided Anthony “A.B.” Brody to get a distribution deal with overseas record label, DMN Records for his dance music he creates. His first single, “Move with Me”, for DMN records landed the charts at number 53 for the top 100 songs on the Swiss dance charts and several other various charts. He now has 5 singles released and some of them have also landed on the charts with some of the biggest stars in the industry. In the states he is known as A.B. but overseas he is known as Anthony Brody.
This artist has developed the skill to be very diverse with his music and is sharing his talent with the world. This Indie artist is one you will want to keep up with from here on out. Focused and on the rise he’s determined to make it to the top.
What is your background? tell us where you grew up and some information about your upbringing/experiences as a youth:
I was born in Madisonville, KY but I was raised in Hopkinsville, KY as well as Columbus, GA through my teenage years. My childhood life was great starting out. It was my mother, little sister, older brother, and I. My biological father was never around so my sister’s dad was my male figure. My brother and I shared the same father. My step dad was able to show us new things and take us to new places seeing as how he was military at the time. In school I was the “Do what’s needed to qualify as passing” kind of guy. Hahaha. My step dad stayed on me about that all the time. He said he seen more in me than what I was doing. He was always a motivational type of guy. As time passed everything was going well for my family. My little brother was born in 1993, so he really never got to experience everything we did. Both parents worked all the time, all we had was house rules and chores and we could get whatever we wanted. I will never forget the moment I came home and my mom asked me what relative I wanted to live with. I didn’t understand at the time what was going on, but as I got older everything revealed itself to me. They both had drug abuse problems. They were so behind on bills that we had to split up as a family until they got everything figured out. I remember carrying buckets of water from our neighbors houses to ours just to bathe and running extension cords from the neighbor’s house to ours so we could watch tv. I even remember on the last night of being in that house cooking lil smokies over a candle for dinner. Even through those times, my mother made us feel as if everything was just fine. It’s crazy how you can go from having it all right there to having nothing at all. It was then that I moved to live with my aunt in GA. That experience alone taught me to be thankful for the things I do have.
At what moment did you know that music was part of your life and what feelings did you have towards making an active impact with your music?
I knew music was a part of my life when I found myself writing everywhere I went. Just getting random ideas and jotting them down wherever. Whether it was on a Big Mac wrapper or a skating rink receipt. I constantly had tunes and small pieces of lyrics in my head. Especially if I started a song and never finished writing. I’ve been on a temporary job as a contract worker and wrote a whole song in my head. I just repeated everything in my head all day and just added more to it as I went. It was a rap song that I was doing at that time. Of course after being in Georgia and seeing all this raw talent and energy, syfers at school and at parking lots on weekends, I was ready to switch things up. While in GA I started writing songs with me singing hooks on them. Everybody was feeling it like, “Yo thats hot!!!”. My rap name was Rhiddla. I chose that name because I used to rap like Twista and some people couldn’t figure out what I was saying at times. Hahaha. After hearing so many people tell me how good it sounded, I figured I’d give it a shot at writing my first R&B track called “Let It Leave”. I wrote it back in late 2003 but released it in June of 2015. It’s on my soundcloud but I was in such a hurry to get feedback I didn’t take much time to edit it properly. It has since been revised. It was an instant shocker because everyone in Hopkinsville, my home town, remembered me for being a rapper. I started getting messages on my facebook from random people telling me how that song fit their current situation and just thanking me for sharing the song. I was like, woah!!! I remind you, I wrote this years ago!! It was celebrated as if I wrote it yesterday. Just by its reaction, was when I knew R&B was my thing. I have so many love stories I can tell but also so many stories of deception. I have had it all then hit the bottom, being treated like nothing and coming back up. Watching my family go through the struggle gives me a story to tell in itself. I write a lot about intimate moments, but I also have songs about my life that will be released in due time. Along the way it may inspire some to become greater people. Whether it’s achieving a dream, learning to love others, learning to love themselves or just being a better person as a whole. My music will touch somebody out there.
What artists inspired/influences you and if you could collaborate with any artist (alive or passed) who would it be and why?
I was really inspired by a lot of the old school artists such as R.Kelly, Al Green, Boys to Men, Brian Mcknight and Marvin Gaye just to name a few. The list goes on. So many of the artists from the 90’s era and before contributed soo much to R&B it’s hard not to have been influenced by more than a select few. I even remember dancing in the living room with a white sock on my hand being recorded by my mom singing “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson at age 12, hahaha. I gotta find that tape so I can upload it for y’all. I give props to the artists before me though. Without them, a lot of us wouldn’t even be here today!! Think about that. If I could work with any artist today it would have to be R.Kelly. Reason being he’s a well rounded artist. Ain’t nothing that he can’t work with. He’s done party tracks, love making tracks, “I miss you” tracks, and even songs for movies. I got mad love for the man. He is a heavy inspiration to me. He puts soul and passion into any project he throws out there.
What do you think about the current state of hip hop/mainstream music?
Wheeew…..uhhh……It’s really not Hip Hop anymore if you ask me. Mainstream is exactly what it is. It’s a few artist out there still trying to keep Hip Hop alive, but today’s music consists of repetitive play to brainwash your mind into liking it and mumbled words. Everybody is turning to this whole autotune rapper style also. Me personally, I don’t like it. I know this is 2016 and things change overtime but where’s the creativity. TPain was the first to pull it off, but now it’s just ridiculous. You go to see people in concert and it’s nothing like the CD you bought. It should’ve stopped at Future really. Not hating on anybody but a lot of Hip Hop artists sounds the same now days. I just seen a girl on Facebook yesterday saying she thought Future sung “Panda”. You see parodies on the internet everyday about it just to be funny but it’s really how some of these artists are today. You got some that make you wonder how the hell they even got signed when you actually listen to their lyrics. Today, the way music is though you can either have the drive and determination to do it and no talent or the talent with a group of hardworking people ready to back you. Not everybody can do both but there are some people out there.
Currently, what projects do you have in the works that you are most excited about?
Right now I am putting the final touches on my E.P, “Their Thoughts My Words” that I just completed. Alongside of that I have just been writing more songs preparing for an album drop somewhere down the line. I’m really excited to see how the E.P does. It will be my first release with more than a couple of songs to listen to. I also have a website that I am working to get started that will feature unreleased tracks, A.B. merchandise, and behind the scenes videos of my day to day travels and recording sessions for my fans. You will also be able to purchase music. It’ll be an exclusive invite. Only those that share their email contacts as a fan will be able to join up.
What are your short term career goals within the next 610 months?
Within the next 610 months, I plan to have my website up and running, and do a lot of campaigning on the internet stations as well as F.M. My single “Couple Of Ways” is already available via iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Spotify and many other digital stores. Also plays on Hot 94Miami, Power
106.3Atlanta, Hits 103.7Seattle, Wild 103.6 Atlanta, Kiss 105 Orlando, Hot 94.7 Houston, and
107.1 Philly. I’m more focused right now on expanding my range of listeners and fans.
What are your long term career goals within the next 25 years?
Within the next 25 years, I’d like to be on the road touring or at least doing shows and events. I’ve got two shows under my belt and I’d like to get more experience with performing and perfecting it. I’d love to also be able to quit my factory job. Hahaha. I love the people I work with but hey, it’s time for a change.
If you had one song out of the catalogue you have created to show a person what song would it be and why?
I would have to share “Let It Leave”. I choose that song because when I wrote it I was really going through a hard time in my life. I was with this lady trying to make everything work out for us, but soo much stood in the way of us being together. Her family, my family, and many other issues. Arguments all the time, constant lies and everything. Momma knows best and she warned me, but I tend to be hard headed at times, hahaha. I knew I had to just let her go but I didn’t want to. I feel it’s a lot of people out there that probably go through the same thing till this day. Sometimes you gotta let go just to better yourself though.
To the person who had never heard of you what is it about your music and story that you would tell them to entice them to be a supporter?
My music comes from everyday experiences. Whether it’s being in love with the wrong person, family issues, wanting to be intimate, building confidence to deal with a situation, feeling like you want to give up, or basically not knowing what to say to the one you care so much about. I touch all of those areas because they are all situations I have been in. I’m not saying I can change your life but I will say that you can listen to how my situations were and maybe pull something from what you heard that may help you out.
If your music could be described in five words what would those five words be?
Seductive, soulful, meaningful, powerful, and truthful.
What do you bring to the game that is unique and different?
What I bring to the game is real life situations. My own stories. I’m not living through anyone else’s eyes or trying to be someone I’m not. What you see and hear is what you get. That’s not common now days if I do say so myself. A lot of artists are making songs based off of what everybody else is doing, it’s becoming a trend. If that works for them, cool. I’m gonna be the one that gives you what I feel I need to share with you from my life. Not what the person behind the wall says I should write about. Or not what the next artist is doing because it sells. Im wanting to get R&B back to its root meaning. To do that it has to come from the heart.
To the aspiring artist who is considering a career as a musician what lessons or advice would you give them to inspire them or to uplift them in the journey?
There will be times you can’t always make the move you want and there will be times when you can but you will have to sacrifice in order to do so. I say to you follow your dream. I’ve been chasing mine since I was 10 years old and I’ve come a long way. Failing is never an option and there is no age limit on success.
What are your social media profiles and where can people purchase/download your music?
My music can be downloaded on iTunes, Amazon Mp3, 247 Entertainment, Aspiro, Deezer, eMusic, Google play, iHeart, Gracenote, Hoopla, Spotify, XBox Music…just about anywhere. You can follow me on Twitter:@brody81883, Instagram:@abrody81883, Facebook: Facebook.com/abvibe. Follow me, like my facebook page and be sure to share it with friends. My soundcloud is under A.B., and also I have music at reverbnation.com/a_ab32.
What are your final words you would like to say to people that you have left out?
To anybody I may have left out I got love for all of you. Thanks for the tremendous amount of support you all have shown, and thanks for pushing me to be great and not settle. It’s time now for even greater things to come. Believe in you and anything is possible. You’ve all played a part in making this dream a reality. Thank you all!!