Nashville's Bren Joy is leading a new, jazz-fused wave in R&B. While studying music at Belmont University, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter wrote the relatable and fan-favorite debut project Twenties. Not only did it solidify his name as one of the most exciting names in Tennesse, but the effort has over 5 million streams to date. He penned tracks like "Scottie Pimpin" and "Henny In The Hamptons," which are arguably classics in the crooner's catalog.

In our recent chat, I got to speak with Bren about his Nashville upbringings, his debut project, and planes for the forthcoming years amongst other things. Check out our conversation below.

Are you staying creative and productive while everyone is on quarantine? 

I'm trying to do the best I can haha. Everything has been pretty chill as of late.

So what was it like growing up in Nashville? How would you compare the music scene to let’s say Los Angeles or Atlanta?

It was good, I didn't really grow up in music at all. I actually grew up doing everything but music. Nashville is quiet, super chill. There weren't too many concerts, kinda crazy now, but it was pretty much set. You go to school and then go home. Now, it's kinda blowing up in the past years as far as concerts, everyone's here, AMP theatres.

You wrote your debut project, Twenties, while studying at Belmont University. Tell me a bit about how it came together.

I didn't really think it would be a full project, it was supposed to be four singles. Making the singles and stuff, it kinda all just created itself. After I made "Henny in the Hamptons," it all just kinda came full circle. By the time it was ready to release a four-song EP, it had eight joints on it so I was like "alright, let's go."

Did you run into any bumps along the road?

All the songs on that project are the first eight I ever wrote. I was a vocal major in college so I started learning how to sing freshmen year of college. From there, it was great, but it kinda got stagnant and boring. I went to my teacher and said, "I'm not really fucking with this" so he was like "well, write your own stuff." Then I started writing my own stuff and thus came "Drag Race" and "Henny In The Hamptons." I think the toughest part was not having any references to base my music off of.

What's your favorite track on the project, or as a matter of fact, what's your least favorite?

Damn! I think "Scottie Pippen" just because of how it was a bitch to write and it kinda took me a long time to craft. Because all of my music, I say it's borderline cheesy. We went through like four-five different versions of the song. It's my least favorite song on the project, but it's still little heat.

With Twenties in the rearview, what’s on your agenda for the forthcoming months?

Can't give too many specifics, but I've been writing since last June. I've made some fo the best music I have ever made in my life and I'm excited to show people where my head is at since Twenties. You know we were supposed to be a little on the road right now, but this 'rona kinda stopped that. Hopefully, that's the goal, hop back on it next year.

Do you have any passions outside of music?

I'm really big on everything artistry so a lot of stuff in my room are things my friends paint or design. I'm really big on just making sure that I'm surrounded by people's art. So that's something I'm super super passionate about. I wish my life revolved around something other than music 247, but it doesn't haha.

From then to now, who has been your biggest musical influence?

I'm a huge Freddy Jackson fan, that's back in the day. Beatles, Earth, Wind, & Fire, and stuff back then. I'm the biggest Pharell fan, just kinda like the tastemakers that pushed R&B and made it something. The Dream is really great at that. Those are the legends that kind of drew that line and made it pop.

What’s your songwriting process like? Do most of your records stem from real-life encounters you’ve faced over the years?

For everything on Twenties, it started out at the piano. So I wrote everything John Legend style, that's kinda the music that I grew up in. It's kinda made its way now where I been big into production and making sure production stays modern and fresh. I'm a huge runner, I usually write my top lines running and I'll just voice memo them. Everything on Twenties, I wrote, but on this new stuff, they're going to hear a lot of co-writes with people in LA, New York, or whenever.

Do you remember the last song that you listened to?

Kim Petris, "Malibu," she just put it out. It's a crazy sick track. Noah Cyrus just put out "I Got So HighThat I Felt Jesus." Bro, it's fire! Lately, I've been making it to this quarantine I've been tryna get a perspective of new music besides Rap, Hip-Hop, Pop.

Lastly, talk to me about “Henny In The Hamptons,” what’s the story behind the record?

So it's one of the first songs that I ever wrote. I wanted the first song that I release to be where I look back in ten years and be like "damn, I really made it." So took two things: what is the man's drink of choice? What signifies wealth and status? And it's Hennesy. The Hamptons is the place to be so I just sat the piano and started singing. So I met this guy, Caleb, and he was the first producer I ever made. From the jump, he was like let's tackle it. From there, we made the whole project.