supersonic
Artist Information
Biography
BAD NEWS BROWN
Born 2 Sin
Spread the word! Bad News Brown is coming, and that’s actually heart-attack serious good news. This multi-talented cool cat from Montreal is about to release a keenly-anticipated debut solo album, and Born 2 Sin will set the hiphop world on its ear.
Hiphop is a genre that prides itself on innovation and reinvention, but the form has never heard anything quite like this. Bad News Brown (aka Paul Frappier) is a true sonic pioneer, blazing new trails by pairing the compelling sound of his chief instrument, the harmonica, with hiphop beats and rhymes. This may initially seem an unusual marriage, but Bad News Brown has already been winning converts to his cause via his high-energy gigs throughout North America.
The skills he has been sharpening over the past decade are now vividly displayed on Born 2 Sin, his highly anticipated LP. His eclectic musical approach makes it very difficult to categorize Bad News Brown’s unique style, but BNB terms it “harmonic hiphop” or “electronic triptronic melodic harmonics. It has a drum n bassy sound, an electronic sound, a hiphop sound, and on top of that a big mass of harmonic melodies.”
His fluent and melodic harmonica sounds weave in and out of the mix intoxicatingly, giving Born 2 Sin a genuinely fresh sound. “Intelligence” is a classic hiphop track featuring beats, scratching, and a cinematic production sound, while “Back On It” possesses an irresistibly sexy and laidback vibe. The title track, a fusion of hiphop and soul, is catchier than swine flu, while the triphoppy “Too Deep” is a tune Massive Attack would proudly call their own. The fittingly entitled opening cut, “Melody,” is reprised as a house remix to, illustrating the adaptability of Bad News Brown’s tunes.
Bad News Brown crafted the tracks on Born 2 Sin in his own studio in Lachine, with production assistance from the likes of Haig V and Primal. “Haig is one of the main producers on the album, with six tracks,” says BNB. “He’s a long-time friend who has worked with the likes of Bran Van 3000 and Muzion. I used to listen to and watch him in his studio back in the day, and I used a lot of his instrumental tracks on this album. I went through his archives, picked out stuff I liked, went home, worked on them, brought them back, and we worked it from there.” This collaborative approach certainly paid off here. The diverse and always interesting beats complement Bad News Brown’s own mix of razor-sharp rapping, soulful vocals, and fluent harmonica playing.
This may be Bad News Brown’s album debut, but he’s certainly no novice. Born in Haiti, he moved to Montreal at a very young age with his adopted family. He left home in his teenage years, and quickly discovered he could make a good living by busking on the street and in Metro stations. Recognizing that there’s no shortage of blues and jazz-oriented harmonica players around, BNB came up with his creative vision of merging his skill on the instrument with his love of hiphop.
“The harmonica always been used for blues, jazz and funk, but I made sure I stepped away from that,” he explains. “I’m a hiphop head and an ex-rapper. I started up making my own rap songs but instead of a hook, I’d put the harmonica in. I was always in the rap zone.”
Bad News Brown first made his name on the Montreal scene as a freestyling young rapper with sick skills. “I was called Chameleon back in the day cause I was so versatile,” he recalls. “I could do gangsta rap, conscious rap, anything. After a while though I stopped blending in like a chameleon, cause everyone recognized me. I’d be the guy jumping up onstage grabbing the mic.”
One night, legendary Montreal rapper Misery suggested a new stage name, Bad News Brown. Coincidentally, that was the name Paul used when wrestling with his older brother as a youngster. The original Bad News Brown was a famed and undefeated WWF wrestler, and this new moniker stuck. The ex-Chameleon re-emerged as BNB in dramatic fashion, onstage at a Misery show. “I did an aggressive freestyle and had a harmonica in my hand. I played a few licks at the end and the crowd went nuts. That was one of my first shows ever with a harmonica. The Montreal Mirror wrote about it, and I realized I’d better quickly learn how to play it for real.”
With harp in hand, the new Bad News Brown was quickly winning talent shows and open-mic battles, and then took his act to the streets. “Busking was the smartest thing I ever did in my life,” he says. “It paid my bills, bought me my studio, and within two years I estimate 50 per cent of the city knew I existed. I was getting paid to market and promote myself!”
The well-dressed, ever-smiling and highly entertaining Bad News Brown quickly made his mark. The Montreal Mirror named him one of the city’s best buskers, and he was soon getting hired to play restaurants and clubs as well. His reputation as a street musician par excellence led to Bad News Brown being chosen as the witty impromptu host of the acclaimed 2004 National film Board documentary, Music For a Blue Train, a bluesy portrait of the musicians who busk in Montreal’s metro.
A fortuitous meeting with hiphop superstar Nas then kicked BNB’s career into orbit. Prior to a Montreal Nas show, the pair were introduced, and Bad News Brown was invited onstage to play harmonica on the Nas hit “Bridging The Gap.”
He killed with it, and was soon invited onstage with the likes of Ice-T, Cypress Hill and De la Soul, as well as scoring opening gigs for the likes of Snoop, Kanye, NERD, Gym Class Heros, Miri Ben Ari, Common, Lloyd Banks, Jadakiss. Through the Nas connection, he landed a gig at one of the most lavish bat mitzvahs ever in the U.S., where he shared the stage with the likes of Aerosmith, The Eagles, and 50 Cent. From that show, Bad News Brown was soon booked for appearances all over the States, and he now performs there regularly. That’s quite an achievement for an independent artist who had yet to put out an album.
In 2005, the business-savvy BNB formed his own production house, Trilateral Entertainment. That same year, a Band News Brown single, “Feeling Me On,” was licensed to a Universal Music compilation, Hip Hop Rai 2, one that sold over 50,000 units in Europe.
With the release of Born 2 Sin, the career of Bad News Brown is taking another quantum leap. “I’m known as the hiphop guy who’ll take the harmonica and rip that show to shreds. Now I’m the first hiphop artist to release a predominantly harmonica-driven album,” BNB rightfully declares.
This is one sinfully good debut from an artist about to make major news..
For more information log onto: www.badnewsbrown.com as well as www.mypace.com/brizbrown
Canadian Publicist:
Paula Danylevish
Hype Music
(416) 369-3775
gr8pr@aol.com
Management
E-Stunt Entertainment Group
Henry-Francois Gelot
(514) 945-7619
henry@e-stunt.com
www.e-stunt.com
US Booking Agent:
A-List Talent Agency
Jeremiah Younossi
ice@a-listagency.com
Instrumentation
Bad News Brown - Harmonica player
Crook - DJ & Hype man
DJ Skratch Bastid
2 Marvelous (dance crew / 2 people)
Discography
Round Da Clock vol. 1 - Street DVD (RDC / 2004)
Soul Seek - Single (Independent release / RDC / 2004)
Feelin Me On - Single (Universal Music ULM / France 2004)
Soul Clap - Single (Round Da Clock Entertainment)
Born 2 Sin LP (Trilateral Ent / Fontana North / Universal)
Official Website
Links
Press
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CREAM MAG / Can't be Classified
[+ Show ]
BAD NEWS BROWN CAN'T BE CLASSIFIED... He has travelled around the world, recorded music for a ma...
Setlist
Repertoire of covers + original tracks (50/50)
3 x 10 min sets
2 x 15 min sets
1 x 45 min set
For Nightclubs BNB performs a medley of the following covers:
Stronger - Kanye West
The Boss - Rick Ross & T-Pain
You are what you say you are - Lupe Fiasco
Beautiful Girl - Sean Kingston
Make it Rain - Little Wayne
California - 2Pac
Overnight Celebrity - Twista
Soul Survivor - Akon
Crazy - Gnarlz Barklay
Say it Right - Nelly Furtado"
Justin Timberlake "My Love"
Spotti otti dopalicious - Outkast
He also performs a few original tracks mixed in with the covers.
For Corporate Events, BNB perfroms a medley of the following covers:
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
Tears of a clown - Four Tops
Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye
Papa's got a brand new bag - James Brown
What I'd Say - Ray Charles