New Artist Spotlight - Sean Garrett

This post is a little misleading in that there isn't much new about Sean Garrett, other than him finally deciding to crank out a few singles for himself. He's considered somewhat of a legend as far as writing and producing songs the past seven years. Folks break out the Adderall cause you're about to get learned with a history lesson on your boy Sean here.

Let's start with writing and production credits, I'm going to list a top 10 (this post would be waaay too long if I listed them all). I'll list them in bullet format for emphasis:

1. Usher feat Lil Jon-  Yeah!
2. Beyonce - Diva, Ring the Alarm, Get Me Bodied, Upgrade U, Check On It
3. Chris Brown - Run It, Gimme That, Wall to Wall
   
4. Ciara - Goodies
5. Nelly feat Paul Wall - Grillz
6. Jamie Foxx - DJ Play a Love Song
7. Fergie - London Bridge
8. Pussycat Dolls feat Snoop - Buttons
9. Enrique Iglesias - Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)
10. Ludacris feat Chris Brown - What Them Girls Like (notice the initial shout out by Luda for SG?) 

Do I have your attention now? Yea, needless to say when Jay-Z nicknames you "The Pen" for writing so many hits, you know you're doin' sumthin' right.

Sidebar: What has always and will continue to baffle my mind is how all these legendary writers, demo singers and producers never get the credit they deserve for being instrumental (literally) in most of these hits. It's like giving all the credit to the players and completely disregarding the Coach and General Manager's role in the success of a team. Maybe I value creativity and intellect over god given ability, which is why I'm forever in the corner of the unsung heroes (producers, writers) of the music industry, but in my opinion they deserve just as much if not more for the finishing product.

Back on subject, I bet you didn't know that Sean has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, most recently with his work on Beyonce's I Am Sasha Fierce album. He's also got a pretty recognizable tag line in many songs, most memorable in Chris Brown's - Wall to Wall...

"Smash on the radio, bet I penned it..."


Previously unheard of legendary Ghostwriters like Ne-Yo and Ryan Tedder have managed to step out of the shadows into the limelight to create a name for their own music lately and I'm hoping Sean Garrett is able to do the same for himself. He's got the right frame of mind going into the album, calling himself an "underdog" and noting that "Sean Garrett as an artist is what fans are missing". On the flip side, he's got the swagger and confidence of a seasoned industry vet, exclaiming in his own Terrell Owens sort of way that:

"I'm a f---ing superstar artist/writer/producer, and I will give my fans what they want and what they're asking me to give them: a phenomenal album. I'm the underdog, man, I can't go wrong. I got nothing to lose. Underdogs can't lose." - Sean Garrett

Definitely not short on confidence and after writing so many hits for other artists you can understand why he is so confident in his abilities.

Below you'll see three of my favorite new songs of his. The first being the lead single with Gucci Mane off the aforementioned upcoming solo album. Described by MTV as "a hypnotic chorus over a sneakily insidious snare beat and a hook that instantly grabs your ears", I can't disagree, I couldn't have put it better and definitely sold this one short on last month's Song List I released. I've never been a fan on Gucci Mane, but I am a HUGE fan of Shondrae Mr. Bangladesh Crawford, feel free to check out his growing list of production credits here. He's one of the few producers these days that is not afraid to let loose the gorillas in the trunk, but not at the expense of ruining the track with bass (see Lil Wayne - A Milli). I'll admit, I always thought that beat was overplayed a bit by everyone in Hip Hop...buuuut...after hearing A Milli live in concert I was taken aback (literally) by the elegance of the low bass exploding from the speakers. True beauty...but before I get off subject again, check out Sean Garrett's new upcoming single...

Sean Garrett feat Gucci Mane - Up In Your Heart (prod by Bangladesh)


Just in case you thought his tracks would be dominated by show stopping beats, here's great example of his vocal ability. His soft vocals go well over the rolling percussion of the beat. This is more of demo track since it's a lil' heavy on the instrumental and light on the vocals, but it's got serious potential. How about him gettin' after those vocals with a little intensity at the 3:05 mark of the song. Goodness...the man knows how to create catchy material, check it out...

Sean Garrett - Throw Me To The Wind


I'll leave you with a bubbly trunk rattler orchestrated by Bang-la-dash(board) with Yung Joc. Bubble gum lyrics aside, this one begs you to play it loud and enjoy the repro-con-cussions. Give it a listen and next time you hear Sean Garrett's name, sing his praises so he can become another household R&B name rather than a mythical behind the scenes writer...

Sean Garrett feat Yung Joc - Smooches (prod by Bangladesh)