Hybrid country artist Breland is featured on songs with Hardy and Dierks Bentley, Blanco Brown and Nelly and on “Throw it Back” with Keith Urban.
Breland grew up in New Jersey, and his parents are ministers who met in a church choir. While he’s only been a country artist in Nashville for a couple of years, Breland said it’s the years he spent building a music career in Washington D.C. and Atlanta along with his experience working in gospel, hip hop and R&B that attracts people to work with him.
“I want to be a cultural and musical bridge between genres,” Breland explained. “It’s why I’ve positioned myself the way that I have. The different collaborations give me an opportunity to express myself in different ways and also bring new people into the format. I don’t think anything happens by accident. I think the reason I’m here is to bring light to the world. I don’t have that light on my own. That light comes from God.”
Breland is overflowing with advice with inspirational advice, too.
“Whether you’re in the music industry or not, the best thing you can do is believe in yourself,” he said. “It’s something we throw around a lot, but what I mean is regardless of who tells you that you don’t have it or that you can’t do it or it isn’t for you, that you still have that belief because people are always going to say those things to you.”
Until two years ago, Breland was listening to the negative voices in his head that made him doubt his ability to be an artist. When he broke into country music with his genre-challenging “My Truck,” he said his diverse influences are what attracted people to him.
“My experience as a multi-faceted songwriter bringing that into country is why people are having so much fun,” he said. “If you can’t hold yourself down, it’s easy to get thrown off your path. Me being here is the result of me believing in myself and a lot of other people believing in me as well.”