Vanessa Brown was born in Northampton, England. She is the eldest of six siblings; Her mother is Jamaican and her father is Puerto Rican. She attended Overstone Park School near Northampton, which her parents own and work at. Brown learned to play the piano, developed her vocals and took classical and jazz piano lessons at a musical arts school. Brown was given her name “V V” from her peers as an MC nickname when she attended her middle school. Her love for hip hop and artists such as J Dilla and Q-Tip still exists. Brown studied violin at the age of 9 but gave it up because she found she was better at the piano and trumpet. She completed her grade 8 jazz trumpet at the age of 16 and went on to play in jazz bands up to the age of 21. Growing up, V V listened to jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. Brown earned four “A” grade A-Levels, studying at Kingsthorpe Upper School (now Kingsthorpe Community College) a year early; she was offered places at five top UK universities to study law including Oxford, King’s College London, LSE and York. She declined the offers to follow a career in music. V V Brown was first offered a deal by Gut records when she was 14 but due to educational commitments she decided to finish her studies. She was then offered a deal by Danny Simms, the manager and mogul associated with Bob Marley. Brown declined to finish her studies. She joined a punk band at 15 and had the opportunity to tour Japan. Subsequently, P. Diddy attempted to sign her to his record label Bad Boy Records. At 18, Brown was invited to an open audition for “VH1 Divas” by friends and was stopped outside the venue by an executive from London Records. Brown was offered a development deal by London records. The development soon came to an end and, at 19, Brown was offered a deal by Polydor records in the UK and A&M records in the US. She left her deal with Polydor and A&M in 2006 with no single or album release. Brown moved back to London and began performing in bars and clubs around London. She was rediscovered by executive Darcus Beese and signed to Island Records. Traveling Like the Light was then recorded in 2007-2008. Brown said that most of the lyrics on the album (such as those from the singles: “Crying Blood,” “Leave!” and “Shark In the Water”) are about a failed affair Brown endured. The album seen the release of four singles Crying Blood, Leave!, Shark in the Water and Game Over. Shark in the Water charted in both UK, French and USA charts. It received gold status in America and France in 2009. On September 14, 2011, Brown announced that the first single off her yet untitled sophomore album would be called ‘Children’ featuring Chiddy of Chiddy Bang. The song hit US iTunes on September 20, 2011. On 4 October 2011, Brown confirmed the title of her second album as Lollipops & Politics as well as releasing the full tracklist. On her Facebook account, while premiering the official music video for “Children”, Brown announced that her sophomore album, “Lollipops & Politics”, will be released on February 7, 2012 in the US |
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