Vanessa Brown (born October 24, 1983), also known
as VV Brown, is an English singer, songwriter, model, and producer
signed to Universal Records in the United Kingdom and to EMI's Capitol
Records in the United States. The Los Angeles Times and UK newspaper
The Independent both named Brown an artist to watch in 2009/2010.
Vanessa Brown was born in Northampton, England. She is the eldest
of six siblings; Her mother is Jamaican and her father is Puerto
Rican. She attended Overstone Park School near Northampton, which
her parents own and work at. Brown learned to play the piano, developed
her vocals and took classical and jazz piano lessons at a musical
arts school. Brown was given her name "V V" from her peers
as an MC nickname when she attended her middle school. Her love for
hip hop and artists such as J Dilla and Q-Tip still exists. Brown
studied violin at the age of 9 but gave it up because she found she
was better at the piano and trumpet. She completed her grade 8 jazz
trumpet at the age of 16 and went on to play in jazz bands up to
the age of 21. Growing up, V V listened to jazz artists like Ella
Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. Brown earned four "A" grade
A-Levels, studying at Kingsthorpe Upper School (now Kingsthorpe Community
College) a year early; she was offered places at five top UK universities
to study law including Oxford, King's College London, LSE and York.
She declined the offers to follow a career in music. V V Brown was
first offered a deal by Gut records when she was 14 but due to educational
commitments she decided to finish her studies. She was then offered
a deal by Danny Simms, the manager and mogul associated with Bob
Marley. Brown declined to finish her studies. She joined a punk band
at 15 and had the opportunity to tour Japan. Subsequently, P. Diddy
attempted to sign her to his record label Bad Boy Records.
[edit] 2002-2006: Back to The Music
At 18, Brown was invited to an open audition for VH1 divas by friends
and was stopped outside the venue by an executive from London Records.
Brown was offered a development deal by London records. The development
soon came to an end and, at 19, Brown was offered a deal by Polydor
records in the UK and A&M records in the US. She left her deal
with Polydor and A&M in 2006 with no single or album release.
[edit] 2007-2009: Travelling like the Light
Brown moved back to London and began performing in bars and clubs
around London. She was rediscovered by executive Darcus Beese and
signed to Island Records. Traveling Like the Light was then recorded
in 2007-2008. Brown said that most of the lyrics on the album (such
as those from the singles: "Crying Blood," "Leave!" and "Shark
In the Water") are about a failed affair Brown endured.[2] The
album seen the release of four singles Crying Blood, Leave!, Shark
in the Water and Game Over. Shark in the Water charted in both UK,
French and USA charts. It received gold status in America and France
in 2009.
[edit] 2011-present: The Playground Mixtape
Prior to the mastering of Browns sophmore album, "Lollipops
and Politics", a free mix tape was released through soundcloud
to show some of the ideas and the raw process whilst making the new
album.
[edit] 2011-present: Lollipops & Politics
On her Twitter account, Brown said that she has already finished
her second album, but it won't come out until early 2012.
On September 14, 2011, Brown announced that the first single off
her yet untitled sophomore album would be called 'Children' featuring
Chiddy of Chiddy Bang. The song hit US iTunes on September 20, 2011.[3]
On 4 October 2011, Brown confirmed the title of her second album
as Lollipops & Politics as well as releasing the full tracklist.[4]
[edit] Touring
Brown played many festivals and gigs in 2008.[5] Brown was invited
by Damon Albarn to play African Express tour. She sang with Fela
Kuti's son Femi.[5] Brown toured with Ladyhawke and The Ting Tings.[5]
She has been confirmed for Camden Crawl, The Great Escape, Evolution
Music, Camp Bestival, Supersonic, and Turning Point[6] festivals
while awaiting confirmation on several others.[5]
In March 2009 Brown played for the Teenage Cancer Trust event at
the Royal Albert Hall.[7] In June she played the Glastonbury Festival.[8]
Throughout the summer she played every major festival including Glastonbury,
at which she was the only new artist to perform on the main stage.
She states " it was a massive achievement in my life to do such
a big stage at such a early point in my career." V V Brown has
also toured with The Script, Ida Maria and collaborated with artists
such as Babyshambles, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Chipmunk, N-Dubz,
Reverand And The Makers, Q-Tip and many more. V V Brown did a sold
out tour throughout the UK in 2008
In 2009 Brown performed with Grace Jones and Sly and Robbie for
the Island 50th event at Shepherds Bush Empire. This was a showcase
of new and old talent on the label. Brown supported Swedish electronic
band Little Dragon on the US leg of their tour in 2010.[9] and was
an opening act for P!nk in her upcoming UK leg of her summer Carnival
Tour in 2010 .[10] V V Brown's 2009 tour was an electric mix of music,
fashion and entertainment with covers like 'Use Somebody' by Kings
of Leon and one of her opening acts is actually her sister Jay Brown
and up and coming band The Stow.[11] V V Brown toured as an opening
act for Maroon 5 in 2010; this was her most extensive North American
tour yet.[12] She also did a small sold out club headline tour in
the states to capacities of 500 and towards the end of the year was
invited to perform for the National Grammy Committee in Los Angeles,
California. In 2010, Brown also performed at the America festival
SXSW at the British Embassy as well as a secondary gig with AOL.
The AOL performance was a great success and led to huge support from
the AOL team throughout Browns career. Brown was requested by Q tip
to perform with him at the Jack Daniel event in Los Angeles June
2010 which led to a further writing collaboration and friendship.
Due to the success Brown had in France and the association with the
French/Morocon market Brown went on to perform a sold out show in
Morocco for 20,000 people. V V Brown has also been a part of many
high-end corporate gigs such as Cartier, Private Jet companies, Phone
Brands and Fashion houses.
Brown performed her first show at the South Bank with Annie Lennox,
Paloma Faith and Kate Nash. Her 30 minute consisted of a quartet.
[edit] Musical style
Brown describes her sound as "Alternative Pop Music or Odd
Pop"
[edit] Fashion
The most distinctive aspect of Brown's style is her trademark retro
fringe, nearly always rolled into a flattop with the rest of her
hair left long but lately she has experimented with other styles
moving away from her trademark look " I'm excited about the
second album because fashion wise its a chance to grow" .[13]
In November 2008 V V Brown took part in the Naomi Campbell charity
fashion show at which she catwalked with the likes of models such
as Tyson Beckford and Daisy Lowe with many others.
On 20 February 2009 Brown also modeled and performed at the Ashish
fashion for London Fashion Week.[14]
V V Brown has been confirmed as one of the new faces of Marks & Spencer,
starring in adverts alongside Twiggy, Lisa Snowdon, Ana Beatriz Barros
and Dannii Minogue[15] Her contract has been renewed and has been
confirmed as the face of Marks and spencers alongside Danni,Twiggy,Ana
and Lisa in 2011. "As a black woman I hope I can do whatever
I can to contribute to Blackness being more commercialised. We have
so many parts of the media that focus on one type of beauty and I
hope my little contribution adds to this.
Brown, who stands at 5 ft 11 in,[16] was signed to Next Model Management
after a chance meeting with one of their agents on a transatlantic
flight.[17]
On 27 January 2009 Brown did her first shoot for Vogue magazine
[5] which is in the April/May issue. On 30 June 2009 Brown's online
vintage clothing store, called www.vvvintage.com, went live.[5][8]
Brown has been in several international magazines with numerous
spreads such as ID, Paper, LOVE, Elle, Cosmopoliton, American Vogue,
Teen Vogue, British Vogue and more. She has worked with top photographers
like Rankin and continues to experiment with her love of photography
and fashion.
“
Fashion is a sense of expression and a sense of who you are and what
you want to be.[18] ”
[edit] Charity
Brown has been involved in various charities such as The Teenage
Cancer Trust, Oxfam, NSPCC, Animal Rights, Recycling Foundation and
the Bottle Top campaign and has done various works contributing to
poverty in Africa and Fair trade. She also made a video for Global
Cool.[19]
Brown has also been involved in the Rockcorps shows which allows
teenagers to work for there community in aid for a ticket to see
a concert. Brown took part in both the London Rockcorps shows and
did work in Paris with French young teenagers with a following concert.
[edit] Television
November 2010, V V Brown was featured on the MTV series World of
Jenks. The documentary series followed her as she tried to break
into the U.S. music scene. [20]
Her music has also been synched in several American TV shows and
movies across America such as CSI, Sex In The City, Ugly Betty, The
Back Up Plan, Lesbian Vampire Killers and several more.
V V Brown had her TV debut in the UK on Jools Holland in 2008 and
also appeared on other T.V shows such as The Alan Carr Show, The
album Chart Show, T4, GMTV.
She made her French TV debut on Taratata in 2009 of which the following
day the album debut at number 1 on the digital chart. It led to other
TV shows such as Le Grand Journal and other huge French TV shows
which solidified a strong success for Brown in this territory.
V V Brown is currently in talks for doing a voice over for a huge
French animation movie. " I am absolutley excited about this.
This is something that has been on my tick list for quite sometime."
Brown landed 2 huge advertisement deal with the French bank "BNP" and
a very reputable French furniture company, off which her song LEAVE
was used for 2 years contributing to her general awareness and success
in France.
Brown's American TV Debut happened on the Rachael Ray show leading
to several other TV shows such as David Letterman, Carson Daily and
The Ellen Degeneres Show. She also performed on the BET show Black
Girls Rock in 2010 performing alongside artists like Keisha Cole,
Jill Scott, Keri Hilson and Mary J Blige. " Brown states " I
found this a great opportunity as a black women to be positive about
other black women in music and the general black community."
In February 2011 Brown's song, "Travelling Like the Light",
was synched in the new BT advert in the UK as well as landing a huge
2 year synch deal on Canadian television for a car advertisement.
Despite a lack of enormous awareness internationally Brown remains
to have a consistent career in synch ability and has been used in
many advertisements, films, fashion shows and art exhibitions.
The song, "L.O.V.E." is currently being used in commercials
for Unilever's Best Foods/Hellmann's Mayonnaise in the United States.
Brown is also one of the women to represent Marks & Spencer
clothing alongside Dannii Minogue and other various women. She has
appeared in their latest TV advertisements.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
Year Album Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
[21] FR
[21] US
[22]
2009 Travelling Like the Light
First studio album
Released: 13 July 2009
Label: Island, Capitol
30 16 179 France: Gold[23]
2012 Lollipops & Politics
Second studio album
Released: Early 2012
Label: Island, Capitol
[edit] Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions Album
UK[24] FR[24] US[25] US Dance[26] EU
[27]
2009 "Crying Blood" - - - - - Travelling Like the Light
"
Leave!" - - - - -
"
Shark in the Water" 34 13 67 11 43[28]
"
Game Over" - - - - -
2011 "Children"
(featuring Chiddy)[3] TBR TBR TBR TBR TBR Lollipops & Politics
[edit] As featured artist
Year Single Peak position Album
UK[29] FR[30]
2009 "I Got Soul"
(as part of Young Soul Rebels) 10 - War Child UK
2011 "J'ai fait tout ça pour vous"
(with Melissa Nkonda) - 69 Nouveaux Horizons
[edit] Songwriting Credits
Brown has also been involved in writing songs for and with other
artists such as UK band "The Sugababes". She wrote the
song "Denial" and "No Can Do". She is also a
writer on the Pussy Cat Dolls record, writing the song "I Don't
Need A Man" and was a main backing vocalist on the whole PCD
record in 2007. She has many other writing projects that she has
been involved in and Brown continues to write songs for other artists
whilst being published by EMI publishing through president Guy Moot
and Fran Malyan.
EMI publishing has been a huge support to Brown's career. She was
signed to EMI publishing at the age of 18 and has a 10 year career
with them to date.
Brown's dream is to eventually move from Pop music and go into Film
scoring.
[edit] Future Projects
V V Brown is currently working on a 150 page graphic novel called
The City of Abacus with David Allain. "The comic has taken a
while and we originally wanted to release it as a collection of series
but we felt by concentrating on the whole book we would have more
time to make it amazing. Now that its nearly finished we can market
the whole book as a body of work."
Brown has contributed vocals and possible songwriting credits for
The Bottletop Band's Charity Album on a track titled "Voices".
In 2011 it was said in an interview by soul culture from Grammy
nominee Jazmine Sulivan that " Someone that I do love is V V
Brown.