Published on October 20th, 2015 | by Dr. Jerry Doby

Who Is: 3 time Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Kief Brown

Kief Brown is one of those industry cats who walks softly but carries a big stick…with 3 Grammy noms with Lupe Fiasco, the young lion is spreading his wings and creating new music. He hooked up with Empire star and music new comer Serayah McNeil, locking in two joints on the actress/singer’s debut album dropping in 2016, it looks like.

Kief also recently worked with Krazie Bone as a featured artist. They came up with a joint called “Ride for Me” that Kief feels has the legs to be a hit…stay tuned!

A recent highlight for the entertainer is his opportunity to create a song dedicated to the legacy of Shane Mosely entitled “Victory.” As an added bonus to having his song accepted as walk-in music for the champion boxer at his last pay per view fight, Kief Brown escorted the fighter from the dressing to the ring, performing the song live for thousands of attendees and millions of television viewers…what a career benchmark!

Kief Brown (fight night)
Kief Brown
Kief Brown
Kief Brown fight night pic

As Kief Brown, 3-time Grammy Nominated artist / song writer continues on his journey to greatness, he presents a new project to the world entitled “Welcome 2 ATLAX”. Before we go further into what that entails, let us ponder who is “Kief Brown” really? Where did he come from and more importantly, where is he going?

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana or “Nawlins” as he jokingly calls it. He relocated to the ATL at the age of 5 and carries both cultures not only on his back but laced within his music. Recently he became bi-coastal by moving to Los Angeles, CA. In his own words, “To become a factor, I had to be closer to the machine.” He describes his latest Ep Project “Welcome 2 ATLAX” as a frame of mind that he is in at the moment. To him, “ATLAX” embodies the passion for his craft which he learned from Atlanta, but also the “Sky is the Limit” attitude he embraced in LA.

Who is Kief Brown?

Kief Brown is a “born musician”, as he recalls from the very beginning performing as a child in the living room for his parents and their friends. From there he continued to perfect his songwriting and artistry throughout high school, which led him to a record deal at the age of 18 with Universal Motown. Kief also recalls “At that time I was signed to Mood swing Productions and I can just remember a bunch of dinner parties where me and my mom would always show up late.” He took what he learned from that situation and soon did an Artist Development deal with Grand Hustle Records, Rapper “T.I.” infamous record label founded in Atlanta. Grand Hustle is where he took major grooming lessons from his role model and soon to be friend. Kief openly shares “I got all my swag from bruh really, from the way I dressed to the way I thought.” He learned the grind and proceeded to go forward, and where he would end up next he could have never imagined.

In 2011 he hooked up with a talented young producer by the name of “Kane Beatz” and what they created was undeniable. Shortly after working together they, alongside with Atlantic Records released artist “Lupe Fiasco’s” biggest record to date entitled “Show Goes On.” With Kief Brown’s voice carrying the chorus and Kane Beatz’ track the record proceeded to top the charts reaching a peak position of #9 on the Hot 100 Billboard Charts. Lupe Fiasco’s Album “Lasers” also went #1 for its debut on the Hot 200 Billboard charts which focuses more on album sales. Later that year the single sold over 3 million downloads and shortly after in 2012 they were all nominated for three Grammys. “I cant lie, at first I didn’t really understand what it all meant, but when the checks came, I didn’t even care no more,” Kief states. As a young, now Grammy-nominated artist/writer Kief had to decide what would come next.

“Im gone keep it real, I tried a few ideas or projects but they could never match the Lupe record” Kief expressed. He also started to feel as if he may have been just another one-hit wonder. “It was a frustrating time for me, I mean I had a lil change but didn’t really know how to use it the right way for my career”, he continued to express. Misguided he blew through his earnings from the record and was back at ground-zero by the next year. Soon after the reality check that if he didn’t make a decision fast he might just actually go down in history as that “one-hit wonder” he feared, changes were implanted. Kief says he can remember like yesterday telling his friends and family about his upcoming move to the West Coast, “Well my family was cool with it, almost excited for me, but my homies couldn’t really see the benefit” Kief says. He didn’t think they didn’t believe in him, but they just couldn’t see themselves without their main piece so to speak. “I know why they were upset, but I still chose to lead by example and go get this money!” he exclaims.

Now what comes out of this major move to the west coast and his continuing ever-present grind, we shall see from what he gives us on his latest Welcome 2 ATLAX Ep. “WELCOME 2 ATLAX” represents Kief Brown’s mind state as of now. All that he has been through, up to where he is musically in his career at the moment. Kief quotes “I think people gonna feel it because I gave them the real me on this one!” The Ep is set to be released by the end of 2015. Eric “88 Fingaz” Parham executive produced the Ep for Kief, they have been working closely together for over two years now. Kief says “We work on everything together, he makes my sound big like I want it to be.” Kief expects this to be one of his biggest releases thus far. In Kief’s own words, “Its only the beginning for KIEFNATION,” “SQUADDD.”

Beyond his solo project?

“I have future plans to work with more artists, but what means the most to me is being allowed to do my own thing on this first project. I am very happy with what we came up with! Big props to my team, my management, and of course my big brother Eric “88 Fingaz” Parham.”

Looks like he’s hitting on all cylinders!!!

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Tags: Eric "88 Fingaz" Parham, Kief Brown, Los Angeles, Lupe Fiasco, Serayah McNeil

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.