Bryan Michael Cox
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Bryan Michael Cox is a staff songwriter and producer at Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings. He has co-written and co-produced singles like Mariah Carey's "Shake It Off", Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You" and Usher's "Confessions, Pt. 2", along with having worked with Olivia, Frankie J, Faith Evans and Eric West. He's also began working on forthcoming projects by Brandy, Kelly Rowland, Trey Songz, Joe and Whitney Houston. Cox has been professionally producing as of 1998, receiving his first formal credit on 1999's"Get Gone" by the R&B Houston-based group Ideal.
Cox was born in Miami (on December 18, 1977?) and grew up in Houston, Texas, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in the eleventh grade he met and was mentored by Greg Curtis (who produced and wrote Keyshia Cole’s 2006 hit, "Love"). From Curtis, who had a studio in Houston, Cox learned the basic foundation of creating songs, including production, using equipment, recording, as well as structuring and writing songs.
During his senior year in school, he was joined at the school with freshmen Beyoncé Knowles and her former Destiny's Child group member LeToya Luckett. His friendship with Beyonce and her belief in his talent resulted in his first “real” recording session, which consisted of doing three demo songs for the group then known only as “Destiny.” Although the songs were never officially released, Cox expressed that the session led him to truly know he wanted to be a professional music producer. Billboard 118 no 10 46 March 11 2006
In 1997 he moved to Atlanta to attend Clark Atlanta University (CAU), where he majored in music. However, his ultimate reason for the move was to break into the music industry. He proactively pursued opportunities within the music industry to refine and shape his talent. Based on info from a campus flyer, he sought out and obtained an unpaid internship with the Noontime production company. As an intern, he did whatever needed to be done in order to obtain experience and opportunities. Auc Alumni.com (October 13, 2004): ["Confessions of CAU Grad"], by T. Murray His hard work paid off as his affiliation with Noontime led to him working with Jagged Edge, which resulted in him meeting Jermaine Dupri. Cox’s relationship with Dupri soon had him producing and writing for Nivea, Monica, Da Brat and Lil' Bow Wow. Although Cox has since co-written and co-produced an extensive body of work (including Hot 100 #1 hits such as Carey’s “Don’t Forget About Us” in addition to Usher’s “Burn,” “Confessions, Pt. 2” and “U Got It Bad”) and won two Grammy awards (for work on albums by Carey and Usher), Mary J. Blige’s “Be Without You” marked his first Hot 100 Top 5 hit without Dupri.
Cox has teamed with Christopher Hicks of Noontime to establish the imprint Beatfactory, LLC. In addition to LeToya Luckett, its list of artists includes male singer Q.Amey, Bella (a trio of females), and Dirty Rose (a male quartet). Cox also produces for his own [Black Baby, Inc.] Stating that he's a "vocalist by nature", he is considering recording his own solo project. Billboard, Ibid. In the meanwhile, he’s worked on or is working on projects for artists such as Omarion, Whitney Houston, Avant, Joe, Amerie, Trey Songz, Musiq, Claudette Ortiz (formerly of City High), Johnta Austin, Kelly Rowland, Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas, Jessica Simpson, Marques Houston, Toni Braxton, Nicole Scherzinger (of the Pussycat Dolls) and Atlantic's Erica Rivera. BRE Magazine.com: ["SESAC Ambassador of Song"], by Aurelio Mitjans
Recent solo recordings
- Avant - "Director"
- Brandy - "Not Gonna Make Me Cry Pts.1 & 2"
- Cheri Dennis - "Back Up"
- Christina Milian - "Oh Daddy"
- Chris Brown - "Say Goodbye"
- Chris Brown - "Winner"
- Claudette Ortiz - "Can't Get Enough"
- Destiny's Child / Kelly Rowland - "Bad Habit"
- Faith Evans - "Catching Feelings"
- Faith Evans - "Tru Love"
- Ginuwine - "Stingy"
- Jagged Edge - "Tryna Be Your Man"
- Joe - "Go Hard"
- Lil' Mo - "4ever"
- Lil' Mo - "Superwoman"
- Mary J. Blige - "Be Without You"
- Mary J. Blige - "Ain't Really Love"
- Monica - "I'm Back"
- Monica - "Searchin'"
- Nicole Scherzinger (of Pussycat Dolls) - "Steam"
- Nivea - "Don't Mess With My Man"
- Sammie - "Another Last Chance"
- Sammie - "Come With Me"
- Teairra Mari - "Act Right"
- Teairra Mari - "Phonebooth"
- Toni Braxton - "Trippin' (That's The Way Love Works)"
- Toni Braxton - "What's Good?"
Awards & nominations
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album -- The Emancipation of Mimi (producer award) |
| 2004 | Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album -- Confessions (producer award) |
Footnotes
References
• Billboard Magazine• [Auc Alumni.com]
• [BRE Magazine.com]
• AllHipHop.com (June 2006): ["Bryan Michael Cox: Best Kept Secret"], by Julie Ané
External links
[BlackBabyOnline.com]
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