It’s been a quick minute since I last done a Get To Know feature but today is the day that I get back on it and start writing again. Over the last week or so my posts have pretty much all been music related, something which has occurred unintentionally. As music has been the theme of my posts this week I thought I’d continue the trend with the Get To Know feature. Johnta Austin is the subject of today’s feature and for those of you who haven’t heard of him you will have definitely heard his contribution in the music world. More after the jump.
follow DJB on twitter, add him facebook
30 year old Johnta Austin is an American singer-songwriter currently signed to So So Def Recordings. He previously was signed to RCA Records back in the mid-late 90’s but was dropped by the label in favour of fellow R&B artist Tyrese Gibson.
Majority of his career has been spent behind the scenes which is probably the reason why some of you may have no clue to he is. As mention before he is a singer slash songwriter and has written or co-written some really big hits, including writing the track ‘Sweet Lady’ for Tyrese. RCA may have dropped him but they still recognised that he was and is a major talent which is why they employed him to work with the guy who pretty much took his place on the labels roaster.
Tyrese – Sweet Lady
Over the last couple of years he has been very busy working with some of the biggest names in the industry from Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige and Monica. He often collaborates with his label boss Jermaine Dupri and Brian-Michael Cox to produce songs for other artists. Mariah’s hit singles ‘It’s Like That’, ‘Shake It Off’ and number 1 singles ‘Don’t Forget About Us’ and ‘We Belong Together’ were all co-written by the man himself. He has received two Grammy awards or his contribution to ‘We Belong Together’ and Mary J Bliges’ ‘Be Without You’.
Though song writing has been his main source of income and his most successful outlet thus far that hasn’t stopped him giving up on his main goal to become an established singer. Back in 2006 he released the track ‘Turn it Up’ featuring Jermaine Durpi from his unreleased album Ocean Drive.
In my iTunes library I have a few songs that he has recorded and I play them all the time. For me it is a wonder why he has yet to hit the heights of success he so richly deserves. Yes he may be a very successful songwriter but he has a good voice too and with that combination I think it is a travesty that he isn’t out in the forefront competing with the lesser talent artists that he probably writes songs for because they can’t write a hit for themselves. Check out a few of his tracks below all of which would have been a feature in my Shoulda Woulda Coulda post had I not decided to write this.
Turn It Up featuring Jermaine Dupri
Dope Fiend
Joy
Ocean Drive was scheduled to be released in 2008 but 2008 came and past without the record being released. Although the album did not surface Austin was undeterred and continued his song writing and singing. He started to gain more and more notoriety as a singer and this was indicated with the inclusion of his name (featuring Johnta Austin) on the artwork for Bow Wow’s singles ‘Shortie Like Mine’ and ‘Outta My System’.
Though his name was on the artwork for both singles people still wouldn’t realise that he actually featured on these songs due to the fact that they both had other guest features which took the shine off Johnta. Chris Brown was on track ‘Shortie Like Mine’ and T-Pain can be heard on ‘Outta My system’. Both artists are clearly more recognisable that Austin and their popularity and presence overshadowed his contribution.
It wasn’t until 2009 when he collaborated once again with Bow Wow one the lead single ‘You Can Get It all’ taken from Bow’s sixth studio album New Jack City II that he was fully established as the featured artist. He appears alongside Bow Wow in the music video.
Currently it is thought that Johnta will release a new album before the years end titled Love, Sex & Religion with a track called ‘Close Your Eyes’ being selected as the lead single but up until I am yet to hear such a song or read any information regarding the album.
This could be another case of Johnta making music that doesn’t get released but I am hoping that this is not the case. People should get to hear more of his music and I think he has earned the right to release music under his name instead of letting others reap the glory.
I hope this has been an informative introduction to a very underrated and overlooked talent. If you already knew who he was then this is just a reminder of his musical background and genius.
About DJB
DJB is the name and Yin&Yang is the game. I've been playing this game from almost the birth of Y&Y and haven't got bored yet. Infact i'd say i'm just getting started. For more info regarding myself head over to the Meet The Family page, if not then just tweet me @imDJB.