Bryant Barnes

As soon as his fingers connect to an instrument, soul and spirit fill the room. Music freely flows through Bryant Barnes the Houston-born singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist everywhere he goes. Born in Cypress, TX, he moved back and forth between Tacoma, WA, and the Houston area as a kid. At six years old, mom and dad placed him in classical piano lessons, which he continued through freshman year of high school. During middle school, he learned cello and joined the orchestra. His basketball ambitions would be derailed by a torn ACL, so he rapped for fun. Throughout COVID, Bryant gained traction on TikTok with viral piano covers of XXXTENTACION, Joji, Mac Miller, Brent Faiyaz, and more in addition to the Interstellar score. Viral videos captured him behind the public pianos at LAX and George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Along the way, he grabbed a microphone and guitar. Between building an audience of 1.7 million on TikTok, he quietly crafted a signature style of his own. His cover of “Carry On” by XXXTENTACION and Shiloh Dynasty caught the attention of Mercury Records who promptly signed him in 2023. After generating hundreds of millions of views online, earning co-signs from the likes of Trippie Redd and Kodak Black, and landing a deal with Mercury Records, he merges grainy lo-fi pop and emotionally electrified R&B through a deliberate handcrafted approach on his debut EP VANITY featuring his viral song "I'd Rather Pretend”—which landed on the Top 20 of Billboard's Heatseekers Album and Hot R&B Songs Charts.