Music – San Diego
Flashback to Bryant Lamar at 10 years old.
“At the time, I couldn’t tell you I wanted to be a Grammy Award-winning artist; I just knew I wanted to be something big,” he says. “I’ve always said, ‘Clear a space for me in the sky and keep watch because my star goes right there.’”
Now 30, Lamar has seen plenty of ups and downs. Currently based in San Diego, where he was born before relocating as a child to Tulsa, Oklahoma, the producer, musician and vocalist has produced music for a number of other artists in addition to his own solo releases, including his standout singles “Billions,” “Details,” and “Pull Up,” a recent collaboration with singer Alexandra DeMattia.
Also the lead singer of the alt-rock band A Day of Stars, Lamar and the group are planning to release new music in 2020. This is in addition to his work with the Houston independent label Brotherhood Music, with whom he is also executive producing multiple projects for others as well as a remix of his song “Billions.”
His love for music goes back to his high school days when he started playing the cello. But his love for performing for others has been with him since childhood.
“I remember my grandma wanting me to play the sax or a jazz instrument,” he recalls. “Not a lot of African-American people played classical music; it wasn’t considered our culture … Later I picked up the piano, but it wasn’t until I learned the art of music production that I started to understand how to paint a picture with music and melodies.”
The road hasn’t always been easy for Lamar, who grew up surrounded by more violence than the average young child. He remembers a time when he saw “the crack pipe fall from my mom's pocket, literally.” But despite those darker memories and in spite of his reality at the time, he says he could still be found “in my room or the bathroom performing in front of thousands of people.”
By the time he finally made the leap to go back to California in 2017, Lamar was married with two kids, and the decision to move across the country to the West Coast in pursuit of a dream was perhaps more complicated than that of a young teenager with just a small suitcase and no strings attached.
“Most women would say ‘hell no’ out of fear, but my wife is not most women,” says Lamar, affectionately referring to the move as a highlight of his life so far. “That’s us as a team saying, ‘We have to keep pushing, we can’t stop here.’”
Lamar says the hardest part of being a musician now is actually learning to be a businessman as well, balancing the emotional and creative side of his brain with setting a schedule and being an entrepreneur, handling the logistics beyond the passion.
When he’s not working, he’s usually just hanging out with the family. And even that has led to a different set of creative ventures. “We’re currently working on a YouTube series for mixed race kids called ‘Adventures of Lucas and Zeke,’ and it’s literally footage of the adventures we go on as a family,” he says. “We’re even thinking about making it into a book series.”
Perhaps his most dynamic upcoming endeavor is Diaspora, a culturally conscious project alongside fellow hip-hop artists Amari Davu and Lyric Reddick, with the intention of highlighting the cultural connection to Africa while simultaneously raising awareness of the divide felt by those who are part of the Diaspora. With a 5-song debut EP, the project will address light-hearted subjects of skin tone and hair texture, while tackling important issues of police brutality, systematic racism and mass incarceration.
As he continues his own creative journey, Lamar draws inspiration from a number of other artists and moguls, such as Jon Bellion, whose production, artistry and showmanship Lamar points to as an influence on his own brand. He calls Bellion someone he’d love to collaborate with if given the opportunity.
He also nods to the likes of JAY-Z and J. Cole, black conscious men and iconic public figures who are very intentional about the impact they have—in and outside of the music industry.
“You can see that they care about the culture and use their influence to help the culture,” says Lamar, acknowledging his admiration of them. “When it’s all said and done, that’s who I want to be. A man who's respected for his talent and passion, but also for how I conduct business.”