Brian Brown
Making it a decade as a musician is no easy feat.
Just ask Brian Brown, who will celebrate the 10th anniversary of his debut EP 7:22 at The Basement East on Tuesday. Since that 2014 release, the born-and-raised East Side rapper has become a beloved fixture of Nashville’s ever-blossoming hip-hop scene. He’s collaborated with a wealth of artists like Reaux Marquez, Yours Truly Jai, Chuck Indigo, $avvy and Namir Blade, while dropping stacks of solo tracks and EPs and two full-length records.
Brown released his first LP Journey in January 2020, so the pandemic came crashing down before the masterful entertainer could give it the live treatment it deserved. On the third anniversary of its release last year, he finally got to celebrate it, along with the then-new EP Two Minute Drill. Tuesday’s show is a chance to showcase a bit of BBGonProfit, his November collaborative album with producer Carmine Prophets, but it’s also a special opportunity for the MC to reflect on how far he’s come since 7:22. Catching up with the Scene ahead of the show, Brown shares that revisiting his old material was a surprising and inspiring experience.
“One thing that was so interesting was how passionate I was — maybe even angry, to an extent,” Brown says. “At that time, I was 20 years old, and I was a couple of years removed from dropping out of Western Kentucky [University]. And one of my friends had committed suicide that summer. And I just remember that moment kind of made me lock in and get as focused and as dedicated to the cause as I possibly could.”
You can plainly hear his drive on 7:22. Its opening line, after all, is Brown announcing, “I swear I’m gonna get it.” And he did.
“As crazy as it may have been to be so hostile, it’s just where I was at the time,” he explains. “I’m glad I was able to get that off. And people were able to relate, man. I still have people telling me all the time that ‘The Dollar Menu Ballad’ or songs like ‘Fukit.’ are still in the rotation for a lot of folks. So that says a lot about me and the stuff I was trying to do.”
Brown plans to play every song from 7:22 at the show, and he’s also hard at work on incorporating the intervening decade’s worth of music into his set in a way that flows musically and shows how he’s grown as an artist. He’ll be joined by a full band, with singer A.G. Sully and aforementioned rapper Chuck Indigo — who he calls “two of my favorite artists in the entire world” — playing opening sets.
Brian Brown
“I want to move forward through my career and highlight songs that were either inspired by or maybe even better versions of what’s on 7:22,” Brown says. “Taking those songs and being like, ‘This is how I was feeling. This is what it was.’ And it led to me making songs such as [2018 single] ‘The Dreamer’s Anthem,’ or ‘Runnin’’ from Journey.”
Brown credits his band as an integral part of bringing his songs to life.
“We’ve all got musical elements or skill sets that bring out the best in one another,” he says. “We’re gonna do our best to stay faithful to the originals. But also, I have an old soul, so I’m always throwing a cover or two into one of my songs. So you’ll definitely be hearing a lot of that — in terms of songs that influenced me and inspired me to a certain extent, that really went a long way in terms of helping to mold my career and my sound.”
The songs in the set from BBGonProfit show off one of Brown’s most vibrant projects yet, with features from A.G. Sully and 30 $ALE$. Carmine Prophets will be part of the live show too, DJing for Brown.
Brown’s focus is squarely on the show right now, though he does hope to release new music in the next few months; keep an ear out for new releases around his April 22 birthday. He’s also getting ready to drop visuals for BBGonProfit, saying he wants this next era to bring growth beyond his comfort zone. Until then, there’s plenty to celebrate.
“I’m very proud that I’ve done such — to be able to say that I’m 10 years in the game, to say I’ve had music out for that long. It’s really crazy because I’ve seen so many people come and go, or start and not finish. I just hope that, come the 27th — and really just from here on out — people understand that, you know, it’s never overnight. No matter what they tell you, it may look like it, but it’s never overnight. You gotta keep going. Gotta keep striving. And you know what? So far, so good.”
