Anthony Clemons Jr. (born September 26, 1991) is an American singer. He rose to prominence as a guest artist on

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 ...

's 2018 single " All Mine". Clemons has since worked with a multitude of artists, including West,

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...

, Beyoncé,

Camila Cabello Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is a Cuban-born American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. While in ...

, Justin Timberlake, the Sunday Service Choir and more. Clemons released his debut EP ''Happy 2 Be Here'' in March 2020, featuring Ty Dolla Sign,

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

, and Pharrell Williams. The project received a nomination at the

63rd Annual Grammy Awards The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 201 ...

for

Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...

Early life

Clemons was born and raised in

Willingboro, New Jersey Willingboro Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the state's South Jersey region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,889, an increase of ...

. His musical taste was shaped by his parents playing

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

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and Stevie Wonder. At age four, Clemons began performing at birthday parties as a Jackson impersonator. While studying at Burlington County Institute of Technology, Clemons was part of the youth choir at the Sharon Baptist Church and joined The Heritage Players and Showstoppers at

Willingboro High School Willingboro High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Willingboro Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of t ...

. At family events, Clemons would sing with his sisters Ashley and Amber as the "Clemons Trio". In 2009, during his parents' divorce, Clemons began his interest in songwriting. Clemons began recording himself and producing music with

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-produ ...

and

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...

. Clemons attended a semester at

Burlington County College Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) is a Public university, public community college in Burlington County, New Jersey. Main facilities are located in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, Mount Laurel with other campuses in Mount Holly, New Jersey, Mo ...

before dropping out.

Career

Clemons began his songwriting career in 2016. Clemons was working at

Red Lobster Red Lobster Hospitality LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States (including Puerto Rico, Guam) and Canada, as well as in China, Ecuador, Ho ...

in Cherry Hill and flying to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

every two weeks as an attempt to meet songwriters and producers. He would return to Philadelphia every time he ran out of money. He studied songwriting at White Hall Arts Academy with Tanisha Hall. Clemons' mother eventually supported him in permanently moving to Los Angeles, where Clemons slept on two friends' floor. Clemons wrote a song a day in exchange for rent. In Los Angeles, Clemons met

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who gave him the opportunity to work on Luke James' single "Drip". In January 2018, Clemons met American producer Bongo ByTheWay, where upon meeting each other for the first time, they recorded eleven tracks together in one day. After the two quickly became close to one another, Bongo ByTheWay introduced Clemons to American singer

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. Clemons recorded the hook for a Jeremih demo titled " All Mine". Jeremih was invited to

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

by American rapper

and played the demo. West then incorporated "All Mine" into his eighth studio album '' Ye'' (2018). West then invited Clemons to Wyoming to write for

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's second studio album ''

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''., providing additional vocals on the track "Hurry (feat. Kanye West). Clemons saw an increase in fame after working with West. In September 2018, Clemons was invited to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

by West and Chance the Rapper to work on West's ninth studio album. The album was initially titled ''Yandhi'' and Clemons was to feature on seven out of eight tracks. Several leaked songs from the album featured contributions from Clemons. ''Yandhi'' was reworked and released as ''

Jesus Is King ''Jesus Is King'' is the ninth studio album by American rapper Kanye West. It was released on October 25, 2019, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. The album follows a Christian theme, different from his usual work. Wes ...

'' in October 2019, where Clemons was credited on the tracks "

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", " Everything We Need", and "

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

Clemons and

The World Famous Tony Williams Antony Von Williams, known professionally as the World Famous Tony Williams, is an American singer and songwriter from Oklahoma City. Williams is perhaps best known for his vocals on his first cousin Kanye West's debut album, ''The College Drop ...

became the lead vocalists of West's Sunday Service Choir that formed in January 2019. That same year, Clemons worked with Beyoncé to write "Mood 4 Eva" for the soundtrack album '' The Lion King: The Gift''. Clemons was invited to the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...

for his work with Beyoncé, Cordae, Chance the Rapper,

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, and

. Clemons co-wrote

's 2020 single " My Oh My" featuring

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; the song peaked at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In March 2020, Clemons released his debut project ''Happy 2 Be Here'', featuring Ty Dolla Sign,

, and Pharrell Williams. In December 2020, the EP was listed as a nominee at the

for

. In December 2020, Clemons released his collaboration with Justin Timberlake, "Better Days". The duo debuted the song at a virtual concert fundraiser organized by Democratic politician

Stacey Abrams Stacey Yvonne Abrams (; born December 9, 1973) is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, serving as minority leader from 2011 to 2017. A member ...

, with proceeds going towards the Senate runoff election in Georgia. Clemons, along with Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen, Demi Lovato, and Bon Jovi, performed at the

inauguration of Joe Biden The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, marking the start of the four-year term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president. The 59th presidential ...

on January 20, 2021. On February 26, 2021, Clemons released a reissue of his debut project ''Happy 2 Be Here'' as ''HAPPY 2 BE HERE (Anniversary Edition)'' with an additional track named "June 1st", commemorating the release of his 2018 breakthrough hit "All Mine" with Kanye West.

Discography

Albums

* ''Happy 2 Be Here'' (2020)

EPs

* ''4Play'' (2022)

Collaborative albums

* '' Jesus Is Born'' (2019)

Singles

Promotional singles

Guest appearances

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clemons, Ant 1991 births Living people Burlington County Institute of Technology Westampton Campus alumni People from Willingboro Township, New Jersey Singer-songwriters from New Jersey