Brian James Reith, better known as B. Reith, is a

Christian hip hop Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United S ...

/ pop singer and rapper. He began his musical career with the release of his first album, "Urgent Message", in 2003. In 2008, Reith signed to

Gotee Records Gotee Records is a record label founded by Christian hip hop performer Toby McKeehan (known professionally as ''TobyMac''), Todd Collins, and Joey Elwood. The label began as a production company. At the time of the label's founding, McKeehan wa ...

and released his EP ''The Forecast''. Later that year, he toured with

TobyMac Toby McKeehan (born Kevin Michael McKeehan; October 22, 1964), better known by his stage name TobyMac (styled tobyMac or TOBYMAC), is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He was first known f ...

on the Winter Wonder Slam tour. In September 2009, Reith released his second album, '' Now Is Not Forever'', which charted at No. 2 on the

R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Jan ...

chart and No. 32 on the

Heatseekers Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is rad ...

chart. The album spawned the singles "Antidote", which peaked at No. 50 on the

Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs ...

chart, and "The Comeback Kid". In early 2011, Reith released a buzz single "Knockin On My Door". On November 11, 2011, Reith released his third album, ''How the Story Ends''. On September 2, 2016, Reith released a crowdfunded EP called ''Heart on My Sleeve'', through Pledge Music.

Early life

Brian James Reith grew up in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, where his father, Jim, owned and operated a recording studio. At a young age, he was exposed to music and soon took an interest in it; Reith sang on his first commercial at the age of five.

Musical career

Reith's musical career began when he released an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

album, ''Urgent Message'', in 2003. Christian singer and

manager

discovered his music in 2006. TobyMac reportedly pulled his car off to the side of the road when he first heard Reith's music, later stating: "Brian is just naturally gifted from God vocally and his lyrics ..sort of just ease into your heart." In 2008, Reith signed to

and released his EP ''The Forecast'' in May 2008. At the end of the year, he guested on

's annual 2008 Winter Wonder Slam tour, which ran through November and December 2008. On March 10, 2009, an expanded edition of his EP was digitally-released, featuring two more songs and two music videos. Reith's first full-length album, '' Now Is Not Forever'', was released on September 22, 2009. In late 2009, Reith toured again with

on the Winter Wonder Slam tour. In early 2011, Reith released a buzz single "Knockin On My Door". His third studio album, ''How the Story Ends'', was released on November 1, 2011. On September 2, 2016, Reith released his crowdfunded EP ''Heart on My Sleeve'', through Pledge Music. The EP was released on regular digital markets on October 14, 2016. On October 21, 2017, Reith released the EP ''Heart on My Sleeve (Acoustic)''.

Style

Reith's style is based on a combination of hip hop and pop music. His lyrical style has been compared to Christian rapper

KJ-52 Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino (born June 26, 1975), better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac,"

, specifically in Reith's song "Go On".

Discography

Albums

EPs

* 2004: ''One Down'' * 2006: ''The Introproduction'' EP * 2008: ''The Forecast'' EP * 2009: ''The B. Reith'' EP * 2016: ''Heart on My Sleeve'' EP * 2017: ''Heart on My Sleeve (Acoustic)'' EP

Mixtapes

* 2012: ''How the Story Continues''

Singles

Tours

* 2008: Winter Wonder Slam Tour (with

) * 2009: Creation Festival: The Tour * 2009: Winter Wonder Slam Tour (with

) * 2009: The Comeback Kid Tour * 2012: Synergy (with Mali Music) * 2015: Northern Lights Tour (with

Christon Gray Christon Michael Gray (born July 18, 1986), is an American R&B singer and rapper born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He calls his music "about being human". It is this approach that has allowed him a successful transition from Christian music to ...

Swoope Lawrence Allen Swoope II, mononymously-known as Swoope, (born April 2, 1986) is an American hip hop Christian singer-songwriter and producer born and raised in Akron, Ohio. He was a member of the rap collective W.L.A.K. and High Society wit ...

)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
B. Reith
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reith, B. American performers of Christian music Performers of Christian hip hop music Gotee Records artists American hip hop musicians Musicians from Milwaukee Living people 1982 births