
Brent Faiyaz took off with his guest appearance on GoldLink’s 2016 anthem “Crew.” Since then, the DMV artist has delivered hits like “Trust,” “Been Away,” and “WY@.”
On Thursday (June 6), Faiyaz talked with Billboard about his rise to fame as an independent act and what inspired him to launch a record label. During their conversation, the F**k the World creator revealed that he initially didn’t know whether he was “built for R&B singing.”
“I wasn’t really a take-my-shirt-off-and-show-my-abs kind of guy [onstage], so I didn’t think I was suited for it,” Faiyaz told the publication. “And [my manager], Ty, said, ‘That doesn’t necessarily have to be what you do.’ So, I just took the things that I would have been rapping about and put it in a way where I could sing it.”
Admittedly, the Grammy nominee is a bit more laid-back than his peers. In contrast to artists like Chris Brown and Jacquees, who frequently make headlines or do interviews, Faiyaz has seemingly taken a quieter approach to his career.
Regarding R&B, the ISO Supremacy founder described his place in the genre as “soulful and reality-driven.” He continued, “I want to portray the good, the bad, the ugly… I want to have a song for every situation you could possibly be going through. Life can be toxic sometimes, and I have records for that. That word tends to be the narrative because of the shock involved when people say, ‘Man, I can’t believe you said that.’ But people who have been following my music know that for every toxic record, there’s a heartfelt record, a sweet record.”
In May, Faiyaz joked that he was “enjoying retirement.” However, the crooner told Billboard that there are many more things he’d want to learn, both musically and on the business side.