Brent Faiyaz

Christopher Brent Wood (born September 19, 1995), known professionally as Brent Faiyaz, is an American R&B singer from Columbia, Maryland. He originally started out as a SoundCloud rapper in the early 2010s with his debut EP, Black Child in 2013, the EP had a blend of his signature singing style and also shows off his rapping skills, which he would came back to in his sophomore album, but he ultimately went with being a singer. He rose to prominence following his guest performance alongside Shy Glizzy on GoldLink's 2016 single "Crew." The song peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received sextuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as well as a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The following year, he released his debut studio album, Sonder Son (2017).

His 2021 singles, "Wasting Time" (featuring Drake and the Neptunes), "Gravity" (with DJ Dahi featuring Tyler, the Creator), and "Mercedes" each entered the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded the release of his second album, Wasteland (2022), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and saw favorable critical reception. His third album, Larger than Life (2023) reached number 11 on the chart.

Early life
Christopher Brent Wood was born on September 19, 1995 in Columbia, Maryland. His father is of Dominican ancestry, while his mother's ethnicity is African-American. Faiyaz started making music at the age of 12. Faiyaz attended Long Reach High School, where he graduated at 17. His parents were not always understanding of his dreams as a musician; which Faiyaz said was warranted because his love for music "always distracted" him. Faiyaz moved to Charlotte, North Carolina shortly after graduating. Faiyaz was skeptical about the move initially but soon realized it would only be beneficial and increase his work ethic.

2013–2016: Early career and A.M. Paradox
Prior to the start of Faiyaz's official career, he would record music in his home as he would have no money to go outside and enjoy himself. Faiyaz released his first EP Sunset Ave. in March 2013. Faiyaz released his second EP, Black Child in December of the same year.

Faiyaz began uploading his experimental music onto SoundCloud in 2014. During that time he moved from his hometown Columbia, Maryland, to Charlotte, North Carolina, before settling in Los Angeles, California, to further his music career. On January 19, 2015, he released his debut single "Allure". On June 1, 2016, Faiyaz released "Invite Me", the lead single from his debut EP. On September 19, 2016, his 21st birthday, the EP entitled A.M. Paradox was released and received positive reviews from music critics.

In October 2016, Brent Faiyaz formed a group named Sonder with record producers Dpat and Atu. The group released their debut single, "Too Fast," on October 25. On December 16, 2016, Faiyaz was featured alongside rapper Shy Glizzy on the single "Crew" by rapper GoldLink.

2017–2022: Into, Sonder Son, Fuck the World, and Wasteland
On January 26, 2017, Sonder released their debut EP Into, for which Duplion named them their "Artist of the Month" for January 2017. The EP was also ranked 23rd by Complex on its list of "The Best Albums of 2017 (So Far)" on June 6, 2017. On June 21, 2017, Faiyaz was featured in the remix for GoldLink's "Crew," which also featured Shy Glizzy and included rapper Gucci Mane. On March 8, 2019, Faiyaz featured on the song "Demonz (Interlude)" from Juice Wrld's second studio album Death Race for Love.

Faiyaz released his fourth EP, Fuck the World, on February 7, 2020. It peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard 200. On September 18, 2020, a day before his birthday, he released the single "Dead Man Walking". He returned with a new single, "Gravity", on January 29, 2021. Produced by DJ Dahi, the song features Tyler, the Creator, who provides a "spacey" verse, while Faiyaz sings of "uncertain love and raps in a distilled voice praising loyalty from his female companion". On February 8, he released a new song titled "Circles", alongside a video. He is currently working on a new album, titled Make It Out Alive, which is in the early recording process. On July 1, 2021, Faiyaz released a new single, "Wasting Time" featuring Drake. Following this, he appeared on tracks from Baby Keem's The Melodic Blue ("Lost Souls") and Tems's If Orange Was a Place ("Found"). On December 3, Faiyaz released the single "Mercedes", after having teased a project titled Wasteland on Instagram. On July 8, 2022, Wasteland was released and subsequently debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart in its first week of release. The album features past projects such as "Deadman Walking", "Gravity" featuring Tyler the Creator, and "Wasting Time" featuring Drake & the Neptunes. Faiyaz described the album to be a "post-pandemic culmination of thoughts and ideas" and labeled the pandemic a "Wasteland". Tracks on the album include "Loose Change", "All Mine", and "Jackie Brown".

2023–present: Larger than Life
In May 2023, Faiyaz founded his own label and creative agency, ISO Supremacy in a joint venture deal with United Masters, rumored to be worth over $50 million. The creative company would sign a joint venture deal with PULSE Records, a subsidiary of Concord Music Group. In an interview with Billboard, Faiyaz spoke on his new record deal: "'My partnership with PULSE Music Group since Day 1 has been transformative. In launching my new label ISO Supremacy and partnering with PULSE Records, we've created this platform to give artists like Tommy Richman a creative home with the ability to scale global impact and a team that is accessible who keeps creativity at the forefront. We're going to continue to make history.'"

Following Faiyaz's new record deal, he released two singles, the Coco Jones-assisted "Moment of Your Life" on August 23, 2023, and "WY@" on September 19, 2023. The singles appeared on Faiyaz's album, Larger than Life which was released on October 27, 2023, through ISO Supremacy and distributed by UnitedMasters.

The album provides a peek into Faiyaz's life, delving into the challenges he faces navigating fame and the expectations of consistently producing music while upholding the intense industry pressure to become "Larger than Life." In response to these pressures, Faiyaz capitalizes on sharing the stories of his romantic and sexual relationships, giving listeners an intimate and personal insight into his experiences. 

Influences
Faiyaz has referred to Lauryn Hill as his biggest influence. When speaking to Fact, Faiyaz stated "It was Lauryn Hill who inspired me to start singing from early on". He's also cited Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Aaliyah, and Tupac Shakur as some of his inspirations. He has also cited artists such as Currensy, Lil Wayne, Curtis Mayfield, and Gil Scott-Heron among his inspirations.

Musical style
Faiyaz's musical creativity comes from experiences when living in the world. When interviewed by The Angie Martinez Show, Faiyaz would say, "I'm inspired by real life".

In an interview with Complex, Faiyaz stated that he listens "to a lot of different types of genres," however, he noted that he's an R&B artist because he's "Black, I sing, and I have a soulful voice." Describing his versatility, Faiyaz stated, "I might fuck around and make a reggae album tomorrow."

His earlier songs from his Black Child EP consisted of predominantly Rap music, in particular, Faiyaz specialized in trap soul music, however, as he grew as an artist, he began to ease into his R&B side, allowing elements of hip-hop into his music. Faiyaz stated that music is a form of therapy for him, noting that it's the main reason his music is as deep and as personal as it comes off as. He noted that he "write[s] a lot" and that his writing consists of poetry, day to day notes, and music, however, sometimes, he "can go into the studio and not write at all."

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Faiyaz stated that he's comfortable recording music wherever he is, stating that he "catch[es] a vibe just naturally". He stated that he gets "stuck on records for a long period of time", leaving him to "sit on it for a little bit". He described his recording process as "very long and drawn-out", noting that that's the primary reason why he takes as long as he does to release his music.

Faiyaz has stated that his writing is the most important part of his recording process to him, stating that, "for me, it’s something different when it comes to lyrics. I think that it touches on when a song moves past just music, in terms of the literature".I just put together what I felt was a good body of work and what I wanted to create and the story I wanted to tell When asked how he'd describe himself as an artist, Faiyaz stated that he "just put[s] together what [he feels is] a good body of work and what [he] wanted to create and the story [he] wanted to tell".

Discography

 * Sonder Son (2017)
 * Fuck The World (2020)
 * Wasteland (2022)
 * Larger Than Life (2023)