BJ The Chicago Kid

Although Grammy recognition for the 2014 single “Studio,” a Top 40 partnership with ScHoolboy Q, and for the 2016 Motown debut In My Mind might have cast BJ the Chicago Kid as an emerging talent, the vocalist and composer had already spent nearly ten years shaping an urban fusion of classic and current R&B. During that period he contributed background vocals, featured performances, and songwriting to projects by Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, and Lalah Hathaway. Once established as a headliner, he added credits to major albums by Solange, Rapsody, and Anderson .Paak, then delivered the equally collaborative follow-up 1123 in 2019. Additional singles and the 2021 EP 4 AM preceded his 2023 partnership with producer Yeti Beats on cuts such as “Forgot Your Name,” which also featured Corey Henry.

Raised on Chicago’s South Side by parents who directed church choirs, Bryan James Sledge moved to Los Angeles at nineteen and joined contemporary gospel duo Mary Mary as a backup singer. In the years that followed he sang on Stevie Wonder’s A Time to Love and Kanye West’s “Impossible,” while supplying material to Crystal Aikin, Shirley Caesar, Lalah Hathaway, Joe, and Kindred the Family Soul. Momentum built in February 2012 with the release of Pineapple Now-Laters, a substantial showcase that placed Kendrick Lamar on two selections, among them a reinterpretation of War’s “The World Is a Ghetto.” The set earned him a Motown contract, and “Good Luv’n” appeared as the label’s first single that October. Featured on ScHoolboy Q’s “Studio” in 2014, BJ secured his initial chart success; the track reached number ten on the R&B/hip-hop survey, entered the pop Top 40, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. November brought the commercial mixtape The M.A.F.E. Project, which included a second official Motown single, “It’s True,” again pairing him with ScHoolboy Q.

Further singles and guest spots on recordings by Joey Bada$$, Kehlani, and Dr. Dre paved the way for In My Mind, his first proper Motown album, issued in February 2016. The project debuted at number seven on Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart and number forty-three on the pop listing, later drawing Grammy nods for Best R&B Album, Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Woman’s World,” and Best R&B Performance for “Turnin’ Me Up.” Over the next several years he remained active primarily as a collaborator, contributing to Common’s Nobody’s Smiling, Solange’s A Seat at the Table, Rapsody’s Laila's Wisdom, and Anderson .Paak’s Oxnard and Ventura. Occasional lead singles and a three-track EP preceded the July 2019 arrival of 1123, which showcased guests including Paak, JID, Eric Bellinger, Rick Ross, and Offset and received another Best R&B Album nomination.

A steady stream of singles and supporting appearances continued, among them “Letter 2 U” for the Judas & the Black Messiah soundtrack. In 2021 he issued the EP 4 AM. Two 2023 releases, the buoyant “Forgot Your Name” featuring Corey Henry and the reflective “Liquor Store in the Sky” featuring Freddie Gibbs, signaled an upcoming full-length collaboration with Yeti Beats under the Reach the World Records and Sony RCA imprint.