Eric Aldwin Bellinger Jr. (born March 27, 1984) is an American R&B singer and songwriter. He began songwriting in 2010, and has co-written singles including " Lemme See" by Usher, "

New Flame "New Flame" is a song recorded by American singer Chris Brown. It was originally released as a promotional single from Brown's album on March 5, 2014. This version only featured rapper Rick Ross as a guest artist. A few months later, a day afte ...

" by

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

, " Right Here" by

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

, " On Chill" by Wale, and " Music Sounds Better with U" by

Big Time Rush ''Big Time Rush'' is an American musical sitcom television series created by Scott Fellows that originally aired on Nickelodeon from November 28, 2009, to July 25, 2013, featuring the band Big Time Rush portrayed as a fictional version of th ...

. His contributions to Brown's album '' F.A.M.E.'' (2011) yielded his first

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

. As a recording artist, he made his debut as a guest performer on the album ''

A Year Without Rain ''A Year Without Rain'' is the second studio album by American band Selena Gomez & the Scene. The album was released on September 17, 2010, via Hollywood Records. Gomez worked with Rock Mafia duo Tim James and Antonina Armato, as well as Fef ...

'' (2010) by

Selena Gomez & the Scene Selena Gomez & the Scene was an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2008, its last lineup consisted of vocalist Selena Gomez, drummer Greg Garman, bassist Joey Clement, keyboardist Dane Forrest, and guitarist Drew Ta ...

. In 2014, Bellinger returned to his recording career and released his debut studio album, ''The Rebirth'' in February of that year. He signed with

300 Entertainment Theory Entertainment LLC, doing business as 300 Entertainment, is an American record label founded by Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles, Todd Moscowitz, and Roger Gold. The label's roster includes acts across multiple genres such as hip hop, rock, pop, ele ...

to release the extended plays ''Eric B for President: Term 1'' (2016) and ''Eric B for President: Term 2'' (2017).

Early life

Bellinger was raised in

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, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, but attended schools in the Norwalk and

Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe Springs (''Santa Fe'', Spanish for "Holy Faith") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. The population was 19,219 at the 2020 census, up from 16,22 ...

area, where he met his future manager Nieman Johnson. Bellinger is the grandson of

Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

songwriter Bobby Day.

Career

''The Writing Camp'' and early career

Bellinger had earned a football scholarship to

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, but rejected the offer to record and tour with R&B group AKNU. The group was signed to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

by executives Max Gousse and

Tommy Mottola Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American businessman, record executive, television producer, theater producer, film producer, investor, and serial entrepreneur. Mottola is the chairman of Mottola Media Group, co-founder of Nter ...

, and in 2010 he was invited to work with songwriting collective The Writing Camp by childhood friend and mentor Erika Nuri. Bellinger first co-wrote for pop acts such as Selena Gomez and the Scene, Jacob Latimore, and

, until 2012 when he contributed to the song "Death Penalty" on Los Angeles

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

The Game's mixtape ''

California Republic The California Republic, or Bear Flag Republic, was an unrecognized breakaway state from Mexico, that existed from June 14, 1846 to July 9, 1846. It militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco, in and around what is now Sonoma C ...

''. Bellinger's connection with The Game led to him writing and featuring on several songs off The Game's album ''

The Documentary 2 ''The Documentary 2'' is the sixth studio album by American rapper the Game. It was released on October 9, 2015, by Blood Money Entertainment and eOne Music. The album serves as a sequel to his debut album. The project is first half of a two- ...

'', for which he received greater recognition and signed a publishing deal with Sony ATV. However, complications with Bellinger's songwriting catalogue caused him to leave Sony ATV to sign with publisher BMI.

Solo career and ''The Rebirth''

In 2013, Bellinger released a three-part series of mixtapes: ''Born II Sing Vol. 1'', ''Born II Sing Vol. 2'', and ''Born II Sing Vol. 3''. Bellinger released his debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''The Rebirth'', on May 17, 2014, as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

. ''The Rebirth'' peaked at 23 on the US R&B/Hip Hop charts, and 15 on the US R&B chart, and also entered the Heatseakers Albums chart. Bellinger followed ''The Rebirth'' with the studio albums, ''Cuffing Season'' and ''Cuffing Season, Part 2'', which released in July 2015 and December 2015, respectively. ''Cuffing Season'' peaked at 6 on the US R&B chart, while ''Cuffing Season, Part 2'' peaked at 23. Bellinger released two mixtapes in the spring of 2016, ''Choose Up Season'' and ''Eventually''. ''Choose Up Season'' featured the song "Valet" featuring

Fetty Wap Willie Junior Maxwell II (born June 7, 1991), better known by his stage name Fetty Wap, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He quickly rose to mainstream prominence after his 2014 song " Trap Queen" peaked at number two on the ''Bil ...

and

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...

. Between 2016 and 2017, Bellinger released three

extended plays An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive ...

as part of the ''Eric B. for President'' series, the title referencing the Eric B & Rakim song " Eric B. Is President". The ''Eric B. for President'' series featured two full-instrumental extended plays: ''Eric B for President: Term 1'', released on September 9, 2016, an acoustic remake of the EP titled ''Term 1, titled Eric B for President: Term 1 (Acoustic)'', released on January 20, 2017, and ''Eric B for President: Term 2'', released on March 10, 2017. G.O.A.T. (combiner two version) and Drive By Certifications Gold from

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. On April 6, 2018, Bellinger released the album ''Eazy Call.'' One month later, while on his Eazy Call Tour, Bellinger released a 5-track EP, ''Meditation Music,'' to commemorate National Meditation Day (May 21). This project was inspired by yoga and meditation which he claimed changed his life for the better. The 5 tracks ("Meditate", "Frequency" (ft. Blaq Tuxedo), "Chakras", "Hours" and "Massage") were later joined into a single 20min track titled after the EP name, ''Meditation Music''. On September 10, 2021, Bellinger released ''New Light'', the album which earned him his first Grammy nomination as an artist: Best Progressive R&B Album. In May 2022, Bellinger announced his publishing deal with

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, the company is a successor to his previous Roc-A-Fella Records label, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a re ...

. It was also announced that he performs the theme song of the

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

spinoff series Mecha Builders, alongside

Shanice Shanice Lorraine Wilson-Knox (née Wilson; born May 14, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and dancer. She had the ''Billboard'' hit singles "I Love Your Smile" and "Silent Prayer" in 1991 and "Saving Forever for ...

Awards

As a songwriter In 2011, Bellinger won a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

in the category of Best R&B Album for his work on '' F.A.M.E.'' by Chris Brown. As a songwriter, he was nominated three other times for a Grammy: two nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album ( Fortunate and '' X'' by Chris Brown) and one nomination for Best R&B Song (for "

" from '' X'' by Chris Brown). In 2013, Bellinger co-wrote " Lemme See" by Usher, which was named an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

Award Winning R&B/Hip-Hop Song. As an artist As an artist, Bellinger's album "New Light" (2021) received a nomination for Best Progressive R&B Album at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

Personal life

On January 1, 2015, Bellinger married La'Myia Good. Bellinger and Good met in the early 2000s in Los Angeles, where both were working on music with the same manager before losing contact for a few years; they re-connected later. Bellinger and Good have two sons, Elysha and Eazy Bellinger. Bellinger is the brother-in-law of

Meagan Good Meagan Monique Good (born August 8, 1981) is an American actress and model. She first gained critical attention for her role in the film '' Eve's Bayou'' (1997) prior to landing the role of Nina in the Nickelodeon sitcom '' Cousin Skeeter'' (199 ...

Discography

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

Extended plays

Mixtapes

Singles

* "I Don't Want Her" (2014)
* "Valet" (2015)
* "Type a Way" (2019)
*"Moist" (2019)
*"Only You" (2021)
*"Hit Eazy" (2021)
*"Gotta Have Faith" (2023)
*"Curious" (2023)
*"Gang Slide" (2024)

Songwriting credits

Guest appearances

*2011 **"Whatever" (with Ashlyne Huff on ''Let It Out'') *2013 **"Don't Wanna Fall In Love" (with Lil Rob on "''Don't Wanna Fall In Love''" single) *2016 **"Stay Away" (with

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. Stevens is a founding member of the rap group The Click (band), The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 27 stud ...

on '' The D-Boy Diary: Book 1'') *2017 **"Welcome to My City" (with Ai & Junior Reid on ''

Wa to Yo is the eleventh studio album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Ai. It was released on June 7, 2017, through EMI Records, as a double album. Wanting to express both her American and Japanese background, Ai recorded the ''Wa'' disc in Japa ...

'') *2020: **"How I Feel" (with

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

and

Killer Mike Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, singer and activist. He made his recording debut on Outkast's fourth album ''Stankonia'' (2000), and guest appeared on the duo's Gr ...

on '' The L.I.B.R.A.'') *2021: **"Over the Moon" (with Oso) **"Bet" (with Kristinia DeBarge) **"Filet Mignon" (with

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

) **"Single & Happy" (with Kash Doll & Wale) **"World Is One" (with

Chuu Kim Ji-woo (, born October 20, 1999), known professionally by her stage name Chuu (), is a South Korean singer, actress and television personality. She is a former member of the South Korean girl group Loona and its sub-unit, yyxy. Early lif ...

and Kim Yo-han) **"Energy" (with VEDO on ''1320'') **"On My Way" (with DJ Era, O.T. Genasis & AD)

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellinger, Eric 1984 births 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers Living people African-American record producers Record producers from California African-American male singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from California Grammy Award winners American contemporary R&B singers