VV Brown

VV Brown

VV Brown is the stage name of Vanessa Brown, a British singer-songwriter, model and producer from Northampton, England. She is also known as V V. Her background combines pop, indie and alternative music with strong influences from jazz and hip hop.

Early life and musical background

Brown is the eldest of six siblings. Her mother is Jamaican and her father is Puerto Rican. She attends Overstone Park School near Northampton, which her parents own and work at, and later studies at Kingsthorpe Upper School, now Kingsthorpe Community College, where she completes four A-grade A-Levels a year early. She is offered places at five leading UK universities to study law, including Oxford, King's College London, the London School of Economics and York, but chooses music instead.

She starts piano lessons at a musical arts school and also studies classical and jazz piano. She begins violin at the age of nine, then gives it up in favour of piano and trumpet. By 16, she completes grade 8 jazz trumpet and continues playing in jazz bands until the age of 21. Her early listening includes Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie, and she also develops an interest in hip hop artists such as J Dilla and Q-Tip.

Early career

Brown receives the nickname “V V” from school peers as an MC name. She is first offered a deal by Gut Records at 14, but stays in education. She later receives an offer from Danny Simms, the manager associated with Bob Marley, and also joins a punk band at 15, which leads to the chance to tour Japan. P. Diddy later tries to sign her to Bad Boy Records. At 18, after an open audition for VH1 Divas, she is approached outside the venue by a London Records executive and offered a development deal. After that arrangement ends, she signs to Polydor Records in the UK and A&M Records in the US at 19.

In 2006 she leaves those deals after only one single, “Whipped”, is officially released. A planned album, Back to the Music, does not appear. She returns to London and performs in bars and clubs before being rediscovered by Darcus Beese and signed to Island Records.

Recorded work

Her debut album, Travelling Like the Light, is recorded in 2007 and 2008. She says much of its writing comes from a failed affair. The album is promoted by the singles “Crying Blood”, “LEAVE!”, “Shark in the Water” and “Game Over”. “Shark in the Water” charts in the UK, France and the US, and is certified gold in both America and France in 2009.

Later releases

Brown announces “Children”, featuring Chiddy of Chiddy Bang, as the first single from her then-untitled second album. The song is released digitally in the US, Canada and Mexico after her UK deal with Island Records expires. She then announces the title Lollipops & Politics, but the project is delayed and later scrapped. She leaves Capitol Records and sets up her own label, YOY Records, which stands for You Own You.

She later releases “Samson” as the lead single from her second proper album. The album is titled Samson & Delilah. Its other singles include “The Apple” and a remixed version of “Faith” featuring Kele of Bloc Party. In mid-2014 she starts recording a third album with producer Nearly Native, also known as James Leggett, whom she finds on SoundCloud. The project begins as an EP, expands into an album and is associated with the track “Shift”, along with “Instincts” and “Lazarus”. Around this period she adopts the stage name V V and releases material through Pledge Music and streaming services.