V V Brown | |
|---|---|
 Brown performing in 2008 at the Bristol O2 Academy | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Vanessa Brown |
| Born | (1983-10-24)24 October 1983 (age 41) Northampton,Northamptonshire, England |
| Genres | Indie pop,dance-punk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, model, producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano, guitar, percussion |
| Years active | 1998-present |
| Labels | Island Records Universal Republic Records Universal Music Group Capitol Records EMI |
| Website | vvbrown |
Vanessa Brown (born 24 October 1983), known professionally asVV Brown, is a Britishindie pop singer-songwriter, model and record producer.
Vanessa Brown was born inNorthampton, England. She is the eldest of six siblings; her mother is Jamaican and her father is Puerto Rican.[1]
She attendedOverstone Park School near Northampton, which her parents own and work in. She then went to Kingsthorpe Upper School, now Kingsthorpe Community College, and sat her A-levels a year early.
Brown studied violin until the age of nine but gave up to focus on piano, vocals and trumpet, which she found easier. She completed her grade 8 trumpet examination aged 16 and played in jazz bands until the age of 21. Her childhood musical idols were jazz artists likeElla Fitzgerald andDizzy Gillespie. She is also a lifelong hip-hop fan and was nicknamed "VV" by her peers as an MC at her middle school.
Aged 18, Brown attended an open audition for theVH1 Divas concert and was stopped outside the venue by an executive from London Records, who offered her a development deal. This ended a year later, at which point she was offered deals byPolydor in the UK and A&M Records in the US. She left both in 2006 after releasing one single and a promotional EP calledBack to the Music.
Brown moved back to London and began performing in bars and clubs around the city. She was rediscovered by executive Darcus Beese and signed to Island Records. She recorded her debut albumTravelling Like the Light between 2007 and 2008.
Brown said that most of the album's lyrics on the album, including those from its four singlesCrying Blood,Leave!,Game Over andShark in the Water, were about a failed affair she endured.[2] "Shark in the Water" charted in the British, French and US charts, receiving gold status in the US and France in 2009, and sold over 1.5 million records to date.
In 2011, prior to the mastering of Brown's second albumLollipops & Politics, a free preview mixtape calledThe Playground was released throughSoundCloud.
Brown announced that the first single fromLollipops & Politics would be called "Children", featuring Chiddy ofChiddy Bang. This was released on iTunes in America on 20 September that year.[3] On 4 October, Brown confirmed the title of the album and released the full track list, saying it would be released early in 2012.[4] However, the release was postponed until 2013, and then called off completely; Brown posted on her Facebook account that she "didn't feel it was right as an artist". A new album calledSamson & Delilah, recorded in London with Dave Okumu fromThe Invisible and former M83 member Pierre-Marie Maulini, was released in its place in September 2013. A track called10 Ft. Tall, which was to be included onLollipops & Politics, was released as a non-album single. The video of the first single, "Samson", premiered on 20 May.[5]
In July 2015, Brown confirmed the release of her third studio albumGlitch. The lead single "Shift" premiered on her SoundCloud account on 3 August.[6] After funding the album's release via Pledge Music,Glitch was released on 25 September 2015 as a digital download, as well as on vinyl and CD.
On 2020, Brown wrote and published her first children's book,Lily and the Magic Comb. It was released through her own publishing house, Woke Kids Publishing. The book received positive reviews and was hailed as one of the top twelve children's books with empowering black characters byThe Independent.[7]
In 2023 V V Brown came back to music after a six-year break.[citation needed]
Brown toured extensively in 2008.[8] Brown was invited byDamon Albarn to play on theAfrica Express tour, and she sang withFela Kuti's son Femi.[8] Brown also toured withLadyhawke andThe Ting Tings[8] and appeared at theCamden Crawl,The Great Escape,Evolution Music,Camp Bestival,Supersonic, andTurning Point[9] festivals.[8]
In March 2009, Brown played for theTeenage Cancer Trust event at theRoyal Albert Hall.[10] In June she played theGlastonbury Festival[11] and was the only new artist to perform on the main stage. That year she also performed withGrace Jones andSly and Robbie for Island Records' 50th anniversary concert atShepherd's Bush Empire.
In 2010, Brown supported Swedish electronic bandLittle Dragon on the US leg of their tour[12] and was an opening act forPink in the UK leg of her summer Carnival Tour.[13] She was also an opening act forMaroon 5, which was her most extensive North American tour to date.[14] She also performed a sold-out tour of small clubs in the US and at the SXSW festival's British Music Embassy in Austin, Texas. She performed with rapperQ-Tip and later appeared for a crowd of 20,000 in Morocco.
V V Brown has also toured withThe Script,Ida Maria and collaborated or performed alongsideBabyshambles,Annie Lennox,Paloma Faith,Kate Nash,Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly,Chipmunk,N-Dubz,Reverend and The Makers, and many more.
In 2008, Brown took part in a charity fashion show hosted byNaomi Campbell at which she walked with models such asTyson Beckford andDaisy Lowe. The following year, she modelled and performed at the Ashish fashion forLondon Fashion Week.[15]
Brown has appeared in advertisement campaigns forMarks & Spencer alongsideTwiggy,Lisa Snowdon,Ana Beatriz Barros andDannii Minogue.[16] Brown has also been photographed for several international magazines includingi-D,Vogue,Paper,LOVE,Elle andCosmopolitan.
In 2012, Brown launched an online clothing shop called VVVintage, which is now defunct.
Brown has supported various charities such as theTeenage Cancer Trust,Oxfam,NSPCC, Recycling Foundation and the Bottle Top campaign and causes such as poverty alleviation in Africa and fair trade. She also made a video forGlobal Cool.[17] Brown has also been involved in the Rockcorps shows which allows teenagers to work for their community in aid for a ticket to see a concert. Brown took part in both the London Rockcorps shows and did work in Paris with French young teenagers with a following concert.
In November 2010, V V Brown was featured on the MTV seriesWorld of Jenks. The documentary series followed her as she tried to break into the U.S. music scene.[18] Her music has also been synched in several American TV shows and movies, includingCSI,Sex and The City,Ugly Betty,The Back Up Plan andLesbian Vampire Killers.
V V Brown had her TV debut in the UK onLater...with Jools Holland in 2008 and also appeared on other TV shows such as theAlan Carr Show,The Album Chart Show, T4, GMTV. She made her French TV debut on Taratata in 2009 and the following day saw the album debut at number 1 on the digital chart. It led to other TV shows such asLe Grand Journal and other French TV shows.[citation needed]
Brown's American TV debut was onThe Rachael Ray Show, leading to several other TV shows includingThe Late Show with David Letterman,Last Call with Carson Daly andThe Ellen DeGeneres Show.Brown also performed on the BET showBlack Girls Rock! in 2010, alongside artists such asKeyshia Cole,Jill Scott,Keri Hilson andMary J. Blige. Brown said: "I found this a great opportunity as a black woman to be positive about other black women in music and the general black community."[citation needed]
In February 2011, Brown's song "Travelling Like the Light" was synched in the newBT advert in the UK, as well as landing a two-year synch deal on Canadian television for a car advertisement. The song "L.O.V.E." was used in commercials forUnilever's Best Foods/Hellmann's Mayonnaise in the United States.
Brown, for the second time in her career, appeared on the showLater... with Jools Holland in October 2013. She performed "Faith" and "The Apple" from Samson & Delilah. She also performed a live duet withJools Holland, singing a version of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by theEurythmics.[19]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
