Daniel Gerard Breland (born July 18, 1995), known professionally as Breland, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer of a hybrid of
country rap
Country rap (or country hip hop and sometimes hick hop) is a fusion genre of popular music, blending country music with hip hop–style singing or rapping.
History Prototypes
Early influences on the emergence of country rap as a distinct genre ...
,
R&B,
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
, and
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
. His 2019 debut single, "
My Truck
"My Truck" is the debut single by American musician Breland from his self-titled debut EP ''Breland'' (2020). It was first released independently in September 2019, and released by Bad Realm and Atlantic Records in January 2020 serving as the ...
", rose to prominence the following year after gaining popular attention via social media, reaching No. 26 on ''Billboard''s
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
chart, and was remixed with
Sam Hunt
Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with MCA ...
before being certified
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
for sales of one million units as of January 2021.
Breland has released two
EPs on Bad Realm Records/
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
, and his music been streamed on Spotify over 150 million times. He released his debut full-length album ''
Cross Country'' in September 2022.
Early life and education
Daniel Breland grew up in
Burlington Township, New Jersey
Burlington Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and is part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 23,9 ...
,
[Derfner, James]
"Daniel Breland ’13 Visits Peddie"
''The Peddie News'', October 27, 2022. Accessed December 18, 2022. "In the midst of a whirlwind tour for his highly anticipated debut album, ''Cross Country,'' Daniel Breland ’13 returned to the Peddie campus in September to surprise current seniors with a meet and greet.... This marks the Burlington, New Jersey native’s second visit to campus after his now-platinum single, 'My Truck,' exploded on TikTok in 2019 and turned Breland into an overnight sensation." the son of two ordained ministers Tonya and Gerard Breland who filled their home with
gospel music
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
.
At age 14, he entered the
Peddie School
The Peddie School is a college preparatory school in Hightstown, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is a non-denominational, coeducational boarding school located on a campus, and serves students in the ninth through twelfth gr ...
, a New Jersey boarding school, and was exposed for the first time to secular music in the
hip-hop,
R&B,
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
and
pop genres.
[ His favorites were 70s soul artists such as ]Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
and Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
.
Breland started writing his own songs, a mix of styles he was listening to and liked. He turned down admission to New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
to study business at Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
in Washington, DC. While there, he sang and arranged a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
with a group called the Phantoms, and was a Residential Advisor.
Musical career
Breland began his career as a professional songwriter while at Georgetown, and in his second year, he met rapper Chinx
Lionel Du Fon Pickens (December 4, 1983 – May 17, 2015), better known by his stage name Chinx (formerly Chinx Drugz), was an American rapper. He was a member of The Rockaway Riot Squad alongside fellow slain rapper Stack Bundles. Chinx later joi ...
(Chinx Drugz), an associate of French Montana
Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...
. One night at Chinx's Far Rockaway, New York
Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the eastern part of the Rockaway peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood extends from Beach 32nd Street east to the Nassau County line ...
home, the rapper left Breland working on music to go perform at his show. He never came back, as Chinx was murdered.
After graduation, he moved to Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. While working a job selling language technology during the day, he wrote music usually until late into the morning hours. Breland taught himself how to produce music on Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
, Logic Pro
Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI music sequencer, sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which ...
, and FL Studio
FL Studio (previously known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line.
FL Studio features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. The program is avail ...
. With approximately 2,000 songs in around five years, he made placements with artists such as Trey Songz
Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, ''Trey Day'', ...
and wrote nearly half of the tracks on ''The Golden Child
''The Golden Child'' is a 1986 American dark fantasy martial arts action comedy film directed by Michael Ritchie. The film stars Eddie Murphy as Chandler Jarrell, a Los Angeles social worker who is informed that he is " The Chosen One", and is ...
'', the debut from Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The ...
R&B artist YK Osiris
Osiris Jahkail Williams (born September 7, 1998), known professionally as YK Osiris, is an American rapper and singer from Jacksonville, Florida. He initially gained popularity with the release of his songs "I'm Next (Freestyle)" and "Valentine" ...
.
Breland often posted his original material on Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
. He started the #BrelandVerseChallenge on the app to engage his fans during COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
quarantine. He ended up giving two of his Instagram followers their first major-label writing credit on the song "In the Woulds", an R&B and pop song featuring Chase Rice
Chase Rice (born September 19, 1985) is an American country music singer, songwriter and reality television personality. He first came to prominence in 2010 while he was a contestant on '' Survivor: Nicaragua'', where he was the runner-up to Ju ...
and Lauren Alaina
Lauren Alaina Kristine Suddeth (born November 8, 1994) is an American singer and songwriter from Rossville, Georgia. She was the runner-up on the tenth season of ''American Idol.'' Her debut studio album, ''Wildflower,'' was released on Octobe ...
, two country music artists. However, newcomer country rap artist Rvshvd was originally intended to be featured on "In the Woulds" before Chase Rice was added to the final version, despite this, he still received songwriting credits for it.
In September 2019, he wrote the song "My Truck
"My Truck" is the debut single by American musician Breland from his self-titled debut EP ''Breland'' (2020). It was first released independently in September 2019, and released by Bad Realm and Atlantic Records in January 2020 serving as the ...
", about the truck culture found in rural America. The music was a blend of hip hop and country music and when he posted the song on Instagram, he received a great response, and realized he had found his niche with the country-trap sub-genre.
"I just felt like it was time for people to change their perspective on what country music is and what country music can be, because there is an audience of country music listeners under 30 who believe Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
," he told the ''Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
''. "My Truck" reached No. 26 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart.
In an interview on the television program ''Extra
Extra or Xtra may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film
* ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film
Literature
* ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper
* ''Extra!'', an American me ...
'' at the time, Breland termed his musical hybrid sound as cross country, while most media categorizes him as country-trap.
Signing with Bad Realm/Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
, Breland signed with SALXCO Management, and released a remix of "My Truck" that features country music's Sam Hunt
Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with MCA ...
. "My Truck" has over 2.6 million U.S. streams, 2,000 downloads sold and 2.8 million radio audience impressions, according to Nielsen Audio
Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...
, and hit No. 1 on Spotify's Viral 50 Chart in February.
In May 2020, Breland's self-titled EP was released by Bad Realm/Atlantic Records. The music crossed genres of country, hip hop, R&B, and pop with songs like the singles "My Truck" and "Horseride", as well as fan favorites "Hot Sauce" and "In the Woulds." Producers included Sam Sumser (Lizzo
Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After col ...
, Jason Derulo
Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter. ), Sean Small (Lizzo, Usher
Usher may refer to:
Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place:
* Usher (occupation)
** Church usher
** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony
** Fiel ...
), Charlie Handsome (Post Malone
Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hip ...
, Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, Khalid
Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal", and it also appears as a surname. ), as well as country singers Mitchell Tenpenny
Mitchell Tenpenny (born August 17, 1989) is an American country pop singer and songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released three studio albums and five extended plays through Riser House Records, with the first being '' Telling All My S ...
and Walker Hayes
Charles Edgar Walker Hayes (born December 27, 1979) is an American country-pop singer and songwriter. He has released three studio albums: ''Reason to Rhyme'' in 2011 on Capitol Records Nashville, and ''Boom (Walker Hayes album), Boom'' and ''Co ...
. The EP charted at No. 48 on ''Billboards Top Country Albums
Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...
chart.
The EP '' Rage & Sorrow'' followed with a June 2020 release. Breland's theme on the EP was derived from the racial unrest prompted by the murders of George Floyd
George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...
and Ahmaud Arbery
On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime while jogging in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia. , and the killing of Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...
. "Intro" features a line from the 1960s blues song "Tobacco Road
Tobacco Road may refer to:
Prose
* ''Tobacco Road'' (novel) (1932), by Erskine Caldwell
** ''Tobacco Road'' (play) (1933), by Jack Kirkland
** ''Tobacco Road'' (film) (1941), directed by John Ford
Music
* "Tobacco Road" (song) (1960s), by John D. ...
", and has a rock guitar. Other songs include "Real Men Don't Cry", and "A Message". Producers include Carson Thatcher (Parson James
Parson James (born June 7, 1994) is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for his single " Stole the Show", a collaboration with Norwegian producer Kygo. The song became a hit in a number of countries as well as receiving certificat ...
, Andy Grammer
Andrew Charles Grammer (born December 3, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is signed to S-Curve Records.
His debut album, ''Andy Grammer'', was released in 2011 and spawned the singles " Keep Your Head Up" and " Fi ...
), Brian Kennedy, and Rob Persaud
Rob Persaud is a British music producer and songwriter who currently works and resides between Los Angeles, California and Nashville, Tennessee. He is published by Dr. Luke's Prescription Songs. He has produced, engineered, mixed or written tr ...
.
Breland and Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...
co-wrote two songs for Urban's September 2020 album ''The Speed of Now Part 1
''The Speed of Now Part 1'' is the eleventh studio album by New Zealand-born Australian country music singer Keith Urban. The album was released on 18 September 2020 via Hit Red and Capitol Records Nashville.
The album won the Highest Selling Al ...
'', including the song "Out the Cage" that has Breland adding vocals, and Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...
's on rhythm guitar, and the track "Soul Food".
In September 2020, Breland joined Apple Music Country as an on-air host for his own radio show called ''Land of the Bre''.
Breland released a brand new collaboration with Thomas Rhett
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
" Praise the Lord" in March 2022. His debut album '' Cross Country'' was released on September 9, 2022.
Discography
Albums
Extended plays
Singles
Featured singles
Notes
Awards and nominations
CMT Music Awards
!
, -
, rowspan="3" , 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
, "Cross Country"
, Breakthrough Video of the Year
,
, rowspan="3" ,
, -
, "Friendship Train
The 1947 U.S. Friendship Train collected foodstuffs from American donors for transport to the people of French Fourth Republic, France and Italy. Contemporaneous with the Marshall Plan, it provided desperately needed assistance in the aftermat ...
" (with Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Kn ...
and Mickey Guyton
Mickey Guyton (; born Candace Mycale Guyton; June 17, 1983) is an American country music artist. Raised in Texas, Guyton was exposed to various types of music at a young age, and her material subsequently incorporates elements of contemporary cou ...
)
, rowspan="2" , CMT Performance of the Year
,
, -
, "Ride wit Me
"Ride wit Me" is a song by American rapper Nelly featuring City Spud. It was released on February 13, 2001, as the third single from Nelly's debut studio album, ''Country Grammar'' (2000). "Ride wit Me" peaked at number three on the ''Billboar ...
" (with Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...
, Kane Brown
Kane Allen Brown (born October 21, 1993) is an American singer. Brown first came to the attention of the public through social media. He released his first EP, titled '' Closer'', in June 2015, and followed it with a new single, " Used to Love ...
and Blanco Brown
Bennie Amey III (born March 24, 1985), known professionally as Blanco Brown, is an American country music artist, singer, songwriter, record producer, and rapper who has produced for Chris Brown and Pitbull. Brown's debut single "The Git Up" was ...
)
,
GMA Dove Awards
!
, -
, 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
, "Sunday"
, Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year
,
,
, -
Guest appearances
Notes
References
External links
* {{official website, www.brelandmusic.com/
Living people
1995 births
African-American male singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Country rap musicians
African-American country musicians
Singer-songwriters from New Jersey
Country musicians from New Jersey
Peddie School alumni
People from Burlington Township, New Jersey
McDonough School of Business alumni
21st-century African-American male singers
African-American Christians