Biography
Christopher "Brody" Brown, a multi-instrumentalist from Compton, California, concentrates chiefly on crafting and producing a modernized take on vintage R&B and pop. His productions have powered chart-topping releases for Bruno Mars, Adele, and CeeLo Green. Born in 1989, Brown first encountered music through his mother’s habit of filling the home with jazz and gospel recordings. He began studying drums at age four and, two years afterward, became the regular drummer at West Compton’s City of Refuge church. By his teenage years he had mastered music notation on his own and added piano, bass, and guitar to his instrumental command, which opened doors to school ensembles spanning jazz, rock, and salsa. Beyond school he performed with Larrance Dopson’s 1500 or Nothin’ and later linked up with former Mista member Bobby Valentino. Although his deepening immersion in music prompted him to leave school, the same pursuit offered refuge from neighborhood gang pressures that sometimes endangered him.
At seventeen, Brown secured a publishing contract from local impresario Steve Lindsey. Lindsey’s roster already included an unknown Bruno Mars, and the two musicians formed a close writing partnership beginning in 2008. Together with CeeLo Green, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine, Brown co-wrote and performed on Green’s August 2010 single “Fuck You,” which earned a Song of the Year Grammy nomination, reached the Top Ten across fourteen territories, and attained number one in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. That October, Mars released his debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans; Brown’s co-writing credits appear on “Grenade,” “Runaway Baby,” and “The Other Side.” The project ultimately sold several million copies and collected five Grammy nominations in 2012, though Adele’s 21 prevailed in each category. Brown later contributed to Adele’s follow-up, 2015’s 25, supplying the ballad “All I Ask” alongside the Smeezingtons (Mars, Lawrence, and Levine); his prominent piano work on the track marked his first appearance on a Grammy-winning album.
Throughout 2016 Brown attempted to launch his own ’80s-styled group, Groovy Maniacs, yet those plans were soon eclipsed by renewed work with Mars. After the Smeezingtons disbanded, the remaining members reconstituted as Shampoo Press & Curl, with Brown stepping in for Levine. In this configuration he co-wrote and produced every track on Mars’ third album, November 2016’s 24K Magic. The project, its title song, and “That’s What I Like” together captured seven Grammy Awards in 2018, while the title track reached the Top Ten in twenty-six countries and topped the charts in five. Subsequent high-profile sessions included contributions to Kesha’s Rainbow, which topped the U.S. chart in 2017 and featured Brown’s co-production on “Woman”; to Ed Sheeran’s 2019 release No. 6 Collaborations Project, which hit number one in fifteen countries and contained Brown’s co-write “Blow”; and to Silk Sonic’s 2021 single “Leave the Door Open,” recorded by Mars and Anderson .Paak. The track won Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best R&B Performance, and Best R&B Song at the 2022 Grammy ceremony. In January 2023 Brown delivered his first solo album, The Kickback, a compact set that merges the laid-back atmosphere of ’90s R&B with that decade’s polished production aesthetic.
At seventeen, Brown secured a publishing contract from local impresario Steve Lindsey. Lindsey’s roster already included an unknown Bruno Mars, and the two musicians formed a close writing partnership beginning in 2008. Together with CeeLo Green, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine, Brown co-wrote and performed on Green’s August 2010 single “Fuck You,” which earned a Song of the Year Grammy nomination, reached the Top Ten across fourteen territories, and attained number one in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. That October, Mars released his debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans; Brown’s co-writing credits appear on “Grenade,” “Runaway Baby,” and “The Other Side.” The project ultimately sold several million copies and collected five Grammy nominations in 2012, though Adele’s 21 prevailed in each category. Brown later contributed to Adele’s follow-up, 2015’s 25, supplying the ballad “All I Ask” alongside the Smeezingtons (Mars, Lawrence, and Levine); his prominent piano work on the track marked his first appearance on a Grammy-winning album.
Throughout 2016 Brown attempted to launch his own ’80s-styled group, Groovy Maniacs, yet those plans were soon eclipsed by renewed work with Mars. After the Smeezingtons disbanded, the remaining members reconstituted as Shampoo Press & Curl, with Brown stepping in for Levine. In this configuration he co-wrote and produced every track on Mars’ third album, November 2016’s 24K Magic. The project, its title song, and “That’s What I Like” together captured seven Grammy Awards in 2018, while the title track reached the Top Ten in twenty-six countries and topped the charts in five. Subsequent high-profile sessions included contributions to Kesha’s Rainbow, which topped the U.S. chart in 2017 and featured Brown’s co-production on “Woman”; to Ed Sheeran’s 2019 release No. 6 Collaborations Project, which hit number one in fifteen countries and contained Brown’s co-write “Blow”; and to Silk Sonic’s 2021 single “Leave the Door Open,” recorded by Mars and Anderson .Paak. The track won Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best R&B Performance, and Best R&B Song at the 2022 Grammy ceremony. In January 2023 Brown delivered his first solo album, The Kickback, a compact set that merges the laid-back atmosphere of ’90s R&B with that decade’s polished production aesthetic.
Albums
Singles