User:Maryfbe/sandbox/Breland

Breland (born Daniel Breland) is an American singer-songwriter, and producer of a hybrid of country-trap, R&B, and soul music. His song, “My Truck,” gained popular attention via social media, reached No. 26 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and was remixed with Sam Hunt. “My Truck” was certified gold for sales of 500,000, in August 2020.

Breland has released two EPs on Atlantic Records, and his music has been streamed on Spotify over 28 million times.

History
Breland grew up in Burlington, New Jersey, the son of two ordained ministers who filled their home with gospel music. At 14, he entered the Peddie School, a New Jersey boarding school, and was exposed for the first time to secular music in the hip-hop, R&B, country and pop genres. His favorites were '70s soul artists such as Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder.

Breland started writing his own songs, a mix of styles he was listening to and liked. He turned down admission to New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music to study business at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. While there, he sang and arranged a cappella with a group called the Phantoms.

Musical career
Breland began his career as a professional songwriter while at Georgetown, and in his sophomore year, he met rapper Chinx (Chinx Drugz), an associate of French Montana. One night at Chinx’s Far Rockaway, New York home, the rapper left Breland working on music to go perform at his show. He never came back, as Chinx was murdered.

“That let me know that hip-hop probably wasn’t going to be for me,” Breland told the New York Times. “I don’t think that I’m really cut out to be in the trenches like that.”

After graduation, he moved to Atlanta. While working a job selling language technology during the day, he wrote music usually until late into the morning hours. Breland taught himself how to engineer on Pro Tools, Logic Pro, and FL Studio. With approximately 2,000 songs in three years, he made placements with Chris Brown, Trey Songz and wrote nearly half of the tracks on The Golden Child, the debut from Def Jam Recordings R&B artist YK Osiris.

Breland often posted his original material on Instagram. He started the #BrelandVerseChallenge on the app to engage his fans during Covid-19 quarantine. He ended up giving two of his Instagram followers their first major-label writing credit on the song, "In The Woulds," an R&B and pop song featuring Chase Rice and Lauren Alaina, two country music artists.

In September 2019, he wrote the song, “My Truck,” about the truck culture found in rural America. The music was a blend of hip hop and country music and when he posted the song on Instagram, he received a great response and realized he had found his niche with the country-trap genre.

“I just felt like it was time for people to change their perspective on what country music is and what country music can be, because there is an audience of country music listeners under 30 who believe Black Lives Matter,” he told the Associated Press. “My Truck” reached No. 26 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Signed to Atlantic Records, Breland released a remix of “My Truck” that features country music’s Sam Hunt. “My Truck” has over 2.6 million U.S. streams, 2,000 downloads sold and 2.8 million radio audience impressions, according to Nielsen Audio, and hit No. 1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 Chart in February.

In May 2020, Breland’s self-titled EP was released by Bad Realm/Atlantic Records. The music crossed genres of country, hip hop, R&B and pop with songs like the single, “My Truck,” and “Horseride,” as well as “In the Woulds.” Producers included Sam Sumser (Lizzo, Jason Derulo), Sean Small (Lizzo, Usher), Charlie Handsome (Post Malone, Kanye West, Khalid) as well as country singers Mitchell Tenpenny, and Walker Hayes.

The EP, Rage and Sorrow followed with a June 2020 release. Breland’s theme came from the racial unrest prompted by the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. “Intro” features a line from the 1960’s blues song, “Tobacco Road,” and has a rock guitar. Other songs include “Real Men Don’t Cry,” and “A Message”.

In September 2020, Breland joined Apple Music Country as an on-air host for his own radio show. Other shows are hosted by Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Carrie Underwood, and more.

Discography

 * Breland EP
 * Rage and Sorrow EP