Sleepy Brown

Ask Grammy winning singer/producer Sleepy Brown why he called his album For The Grown and Sexy and he breaks it down in his smooth style. ”This album reflects where I think people are going. I’m tired of wearing jerseys and throwbacks. Those of us in hip-hop are getting a little older and people want to change. It’s a whole grown up sexy movement going on and I wanna be a part of that whole vibe about to come on.”

What is the sound of that vibe? Definitely Sexy. Funky. Frisky. Soulful. Seriously sensual. Passionate and pimp-a-delic. Soundtracks for late night pleasure and day light partying. The songs on For The Grown and Sexy will compel you to lick your lips, move your hips and make a lil love. Sleepy draws inspiration from soul’s golden era, infuses it with rubbery funk grooves and laces everything with a touch of hip hop’s strut. Featuring the smoky, seductive hit “I Can’t Wait”(featuring Outkast) and contributions from Joi, Andre 3000, Big Gipp, Bubba Sparxx and Ludacris, For The Grown and Sexy is what R&B feels like, right now.

If Sleepy’s cushiony vocals sound familiar, they should. That’s him providing the infectious hook on Outkast’s smash “The Way You Move”, off the group’s 2003 Grammy winning album of the year Speakerboxx/The Love Below. Brimming with Sleepy’s laid back, old soul appeal “The Way You Move” allowed millions to experience one of the Dirty South’s best kept secrets. Because while it’s true that For The Grown and Sexy marks Sleepy’s major label solo debut, he has been a mainstay of Atlanta’s explosive music scene since the 90’s; appearing on countless landmark albums, producing smashes like TLC’s groundbreaking “Waterfalls”, En Vogue’s Don’t Go”, Ludacris’s ”Saturday (Oooh! Oooh!”) and providing vocal ammo on a diverse array of tracks, among them Killer Mike’s “A.D.I.D.A.S”, Jay-Z’s “Poppin Tags” and Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean”. As that list of credits proves, Sleepy Brown is an established player both in front of the mike and behind the mixing console.

Sleepy made his bones as a founding member of the innovative production crew Organized Noize (TLC, Goodie Mobb, Outkast) and the R&B/hip hop collective Dungeon Family. In addition, he’s a versatile artist whose output includes the critically acclaimed Society of Soul (1995) and his 1998 independent effort The Vinyl Room. After holding it down for the ATL and backing up some of that city’s most forward thinking performers Sleepy’s solo CD is not only highly anticipated, it’s long over due. “The good thing,” Sleepy offers, speaking to his slow but steady climb into the spotlight, “is that any success that I’ve had has really come on my own terms. Just the fact that I stayed down for so long, I finally had the chance to turn the corner. My whole thing is thank God that I had the patience and was willing to go through all the bullshit and make it work for me… this success and this sort of attention that I’m getting now feels wonderful. It’s great for people to finally recognize me and not just say ‘oh there’s that guy from Outkast’.”

The follow up to his first hit single “I Can’t Wait”, is the irresistible “This Is How I Feel”. Percolating and utterly danceable, the song is a slinky party jam guaranteed to make you shimmy. Another seductive slice of Sleepy is the scintillating “Give It Up” which resonates with Superfly wah wah guitars and an unabashed loveman’s perspective. Keeping it sexy but sweet is “Till Your Legs Start Shaking” which offers up a moist taste of Sleepy’s steez. Inspired by an intimate moment between a man and a woman, the song is reminiscent of Marvin Gaye and has a romantic sheen that’s hard to ignore. Bringing the uncut funk is the thumpin’ “Mr. No Good”, featuring Joi on vocals.

Years in the making and hotter than the fourth of July, For The Grown and Sexy is more than a new album: it’s Sleepy’s cosmic vision brought to fruition. As for what his goals are for the album, he states, “I want people to play the album, sit back and let it take you”…