Memphis artist Brandon Lewis releases new single ‘Black Man’
June’s Black Music Month comes amid what’s been a historic season of racial upheaval and awakening in America. For Memphis singer-songwriter Brandon Lewis, his efforts to understand and express his own identity play out in a new single, titled “Black Man.”
The track, co-written and produced by Grammy winner Blac Elvis, finds Lewis surveying the 25 years of his life and trying to understand what it means to be a black man in the America of 2020.
“Part of being an artist, my responsibility is to not just make the things that we dance and groove to, but also music that implements a sense of social awareness,” says Lewis, who’s also released a video for the track, shot outside the historic Clayborn Temple in downtown Memphis.
Lewis is a product of The Consortium MMT, the music Memphis music academy led by Stax Records Hall of Fame songwriter David Porter. Lewis is also one of the talents being groomed for stardom by MMT’S offshoot label, Made in Memphis Entertainment (MIME).
Most of Lewis’ music is a skillfully smooth pop/r&b blend, pitched somewhere between Bruno Mars and Charlie Puth. But the pulsing, soaring “Black Man” plays as a potent message song, albeit a deeply personal one. Given the tenor of the times, it seemed a fitting summer single and a statement for Black Music Month.
“The song speaks of a pride,” said Porter, MIME CEO. “A lot of the energy that’s inside of young people like Brandon comes from the life experience of those that came before them, and their own struggles and development as men. There’s a positive intent with this song, but it’s a wake-up call too.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, 2020 was supposed to have served as Lewis’ professional breakout. Along with MIME labelmates Porcelan and Jessica Ray, Porter’s company has been grooming Lewis for what it ultimately hopes will be national success.
Lewis was born and raised in Memphis, and attended Middle College High School, where he’d always evinced a talent for singing and playing. “I absolutely loved R&B and soul music,” he says, “but also growing up in Memphis the hiphop scene was prominent for me.”
It wasn’t until after school that he actually began looking to pursue a career in music, interning at local studios, learning about recording and engineering and trying to find a professional path. “I was like any youngster,” Lewis says. “I was trying to make sense of it all and figure out how to have a sustainable career.”
In 2015, Lewis came across Porter’s Consortium MMT and signed up for the program. After completing the curriculum, Lewis stayed on to work at MMT helping other students. He would ultimately rise to become MMT’S director of programming.
Porter was duly impressed, both by Lewis’ persistence and his musical promise, and gave him a shot as an artist for MIME. “He was able to see the potential to afford me the opportunity to do what I’m doing, which is focus on my music,” says Lewis.
Over the last year, Lewis has been busy building a catalog of material, recording more than three albums worth of songs, while collaborating with producers like Blac Elvis and Felly the Voice.
For Lewis, his music is an extension of a conversion he’s continually having with himself and his creative collaborators ...“Having those conversations is how the records come about,” says Lewis. “We have conversations in the studio, and the producer will pick up on a certain idea or message. He’ll say this is the energy of the idea and then we totally get into a musical pocket and develop it from there. That’s why I feel like we’ve been able to come up with so much good material – it’s because it’s a natural process.”
Lewis has already made some inroads with his music, garnering airplay on satellite networks like Sirius and Music Choice for a recent tribute to the late Bill Withers, a cover of “Lean on Me” done with fellow MIME artists Jessica Ray and Porcelan.
Although MIME’S plans have been somewhat complicated by the pandemic, Porter remains bullish on Lewis’ prospects, particularly as a live performer.