Brian Alexander Morgan is an American record producer from

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, United States, best known for his work writing and producing with the R&B group SWV.

Career

In his early 20s, Morgan recorded a demo tape with his childhood friend LaChelle Mathenia and a third member as a group called Cachet De Vois. They were discovered by

Club Nouveau Club Nouveau () is an American R&B group formed by record producer/performer Jay King in 1986 in Sacramento, California, following the breakup of the Timex Social Club. The group's name ( French for "Club New") was changed from its original i ...

founding member Jay King, who got the group a recording contract with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

in 1987. Morgan and Mathenia moved to

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

and recorded their first and only album, ''Personal'', released in 1988. When it failed to chart, the group was dropped, but Morgan decided to stay in California and attempt a solo career. Around this time, he met and was mentored by artist and producer Robert Brookins. After hearing of singer

Martha Wash Martha Elaine Wash (born December 28, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for her distinctive and powerful voice, Wash first achieved fame as half of the The Weather Girls, Two Tons O' Fun, along with Izora Armstead, as they sang b ...

's legal action against

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

for commercial appropriation, and knowing she was trying to get a record deal, Morgan wrote several tracks intended for her which were recorded as demos and sent to her through her A&R rep Kenny Ortiz. Upon hearing the songs, Wash called Morgan directly, telling him he had the "spirit of Patrick Cowley", the producer best known for working with disco legend

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

”. Morgan wrote and produced several songs for Wash's debut self-titled album, which established him as a successful songwriter and producer. Before being dropped from his initial record deal, Morgan was also labelmates with singer

Chanté Moore Chanté Torrane Moore (born February 17, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, television personality, and author. The first signee with record executive Louis Silas, Jr.'s Silas Records, she rose to prominence with her debu ...

at Warner Bros. At the time, Morgan had a crush on Moore and penned the song "

Weak Weak may refer to: Songs * Weak (AJR song), "Weak" (AJR song), 2016 * Weak (Melanie C song), "Weak" (Melanie C song), 2011 * Weak (SWV song), "Weak" (SWV song), 1993 * Weak (Skunk Anansie song), "Weak" (Skunk Anansie song), 1995 * "Weak", a son ...

" inspired by his feelings for her. The track, along with another track, " Right Here", were written for Charlie Wilson, one of Morgan's lifelong influences, and circulated for some years in the early 1990s as demo tracks. In 1991, producer Kenny Ortiz heard the tracks on cassette and convinced Morgan to license the tracks for his R&B girl group SWV. Morgan was brought on board to produce and write for the group's 1992 album '' It's About Time'', which earned commercial and critical success. In his later career, Morgan continued to write and produce songs for artists including

Lalah Hathaway Lalah Hathaway (born December 16, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and music producer. Credited as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, First Daughter of Soul", she is the first-born daughter of musician and soul singer Donny Hathawa ...

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. Evans initially performed as ...

, Coko, Usher, and

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

, among others. Around the early 2010s, he was summoned by

DJ Khalil Khalil Abdul-Rahman Hazzard (born October 16, 1974), professionally known as DJ Khalil, is an American music producer and disc jockey, DJ from Los Angeles. The son of National Basketball Association, NBA player Walt Hazzard, he signed with rapp ...

to work on a few projects with him. Khalil's desire to work with him caused Morgan to relocate from

back to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Due to the move, Khalil and Morgan worked on

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally as Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer and rapper. He is known for his guest performance on Avicii's 2013 single "Wake Me Up (Avicii song), Wake Me Up", which peaked on ...

's major label debut '' Lift Your Spirit''. Throughout his career, Morgan has also had a "parallel" career producing house music, with several releases on the label Thick Recordings as BAM.

Selected production credits

''La Rue – There's Love Out There'' (1989) * 2. Tell Me Something Good (produced with La Rue) * 4. There's Love Out There (produced with Diamond Crosley and Donnie Woodruff) * 8. You Should Know (produced with David Agent and Donnie Woodruff) '' SWV – It's About Time'' (1992) * 1. Anything * 2. I'm So into You * 3. Right Here * 4.

* 5. You're Always On My Mind * 11. Think You're Gonna Like It * 12. That's What I Need * 13. SWV (In the House) ''

–

'' (1993) * 1. Someone Who Believes in You (Prelude) * 3. Give it to You * 5. Now That You're Gone * 6. Things We Do for Love * 10. Someone Who Believes in You * 13. When It's My Heart ''

– A Moment'' (1994) * 1. Let Me Love You '' Usher – Usher'' (1994) * 5. Crazy ''SWV – New Beginning'' (1996) * 8. Fine Time * 14. What's It Gonna Be * 15. That's What I'm Here For ''

Somethin' for the People Somethin' for the People was a R&B group from Oakland, California, who scored several hits in the US in the late 1990s. They were best known for their 1997 hit single " My Love Is the Shhh!" featuring Trina & Tamara. History The group was f ...

– Somethin' for the People'' (1996) * 7. Take It Easy ''SWV – Release Some Tension'' (1997) * 6.

Rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

'' Nicole – Make It Hot'' (1998) * 7. Prelude (I Can't See) * 8. I Can't See '' Why Do Fools Fall In Love – Music Inspired by the Motion Picture'' (1998) * 8. Mista – About You (co-produced with

) '' Eric Benet –

A Day in the Life "A Day in the Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as the final track of their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, the opening and closing sections of the s ...

'' (1999) * 8.

Dust in the Wind "Dust in the Wind" is a song recorded by American progressive rock band Kansas and written by band member Kerry Livgren, first released on their 1977 album '' Point of Know Return''. The song peaked at No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the w ...

'' Coko – Hot Coko'' (1999) * 5. Bigger Than We * 9. Everytime ''

Ann Nesby Ann Nesby (born Lula Ann Bennett; July 24, 1955) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and producer known for her work in R&B, gospel, and dance music. She rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the Grammy Award-winning group Sounds of Black ...

– Put it on Paper'' (2002) * 6. Lovin' is Really My Game (produced with

Steve "Silk" Hurley Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962), also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including th ...

) '' JoJo – JoJo'' (2004) * 10. Weak '' Kobe Honeycutt – Ghetto Thrilla'' (2013) * 01. G On It (produced with DJ Khalil) '' KRNDN – Everything's Nothing'' (2013) * 09. Abetterbih ''

– Incomparable'' (2014) * 07. Incomparable ''

Tamar Braxton Tamar Estine Braxton (born March 17, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. Braxton began her career in 1990 as a founding member of The Braxtons, an R&B singing group formed with her sisters. The Braxtons r ...

– Calling All Lovers'' (2015) * 05. Never ''

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

– Views'' (2016) * 02. "9" (co-producer) '' Khalid – Suncity'' * 08. " OTW feat.

Ty Dolla $ign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

and 6lack (co-writer)

Studio album

* ''Personal'' (with Cachet De Vois) (Warner Bros., 1988)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Brian Alexander African-American record producers African-American songwriters American rhythm and blues musicians American house musicians Living people Musicians from Kansas Record producers from Kansas Songwriters from Kansas Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American musicians