Johnta Austin: A One-Man Chart-Buster as a Songwriter Emerges Again as a Dynamic Performer

Johnta Austin: A One-Man Chart-Buster as a Songwriter Emerges Again as a Dynamic Performer

'Turn It Up,' New Single From December-Slated Album OCEAN DRIVE is a Radio and Video Breakout

NEW YORK, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Joining the winner's circle in an important new cadre of richly-talented male singer-songwriters, So So Def/Virgin Records' debut artist, Grammy winner Johnta Austin is poised to join the ranks of such rightly-praised R&B torchbearers as Anthony Hamilton, Ne-Yo and John Legend with his new single, "Turn It Up," a track from his much-anticipated artist debut, OCEAN DRIVE, scheduled for release December 26th, 2006.

At just 26 years old, Austin is already known as one of pop music's key overachievers for his accomplishments of the past two years, co-writing a series of massive hits for Mariah Carey ("Don't Forget About Us," "Shake It Off," and the record-setting worldwide No.1 "We Belong Together"), Jessica Simpson ("A Public Affair"), Mary J. Blige ("Be Without You"), Enrique Iglesias, and numerous others, winning his first Grammy Award in the Best R&B Song category for "We Belong Together."

Defining the essential musical spirit of the times, and cutting a wide swath through every imaginable category of music fan with his songs, he has merited the highest superlatives from the A-list artists who've collaborated with him: "Johnta is the best thing to happen to the music industry," Blige declared recently; Chris Brown enthused: "His pen is like a basketball to Michael Jordan. He's creative and not afraid to go outside the box in his writing." Adds Ciara: "The way that he tells stories through music is so vivid that you can paint the picture." Frequent co-writer Carey sums up: "As a fellow songwriter, I really had an incredible experience working with Johnta. I'm really excited for him and happy that such a true talent is getting a chance to shine as a solo artist."

Their excitement is spreading fast in all directions, as "Turn It Up," Austin's ode to the great music of our past and present, makes a soulful noise throughout radio and video this month. As Austin is featured on the October 21st cover of Billboard Magazine, the track is moving up in Urban format radio airplay, with 9.1 million estimated listeners this week nationally. Online, Johnta has been chosen as a featured artist this month in both the influential AOL Breaker program, and on Clear Channel's NEW! website. Austin is also currently featured on Yahoo! Music Who's Next Hit List and joins MSN's "Ones To Watch" the second week of November.

The "Turn It Up" video has been added on BET and BET J; also, a "Discover Music" feature has appeared on BET.com. Johnta is the first artist to participate in BET/BET.com's "Ya Heard University Master Class," soliciting original songs in a creative competition. "Turn It Up" is also heavy rotation on VH-1 Soul, and added to MTV Jams; Austin is among the music industry mentors in VH-1's in-school project, "Save The Music Master Class." VH-1 Soul's Hear Music First will feature the album a week prior to album release. DirectTV's weekly CDUSA program features Austin on October 21st.

Johnta Austin's album release is the culmination of more than a decade's work -- and fulfills his early dream of being a performer. From his southwest Atlanta church choir, the young Johnta scored a spot co-hosting a children's television show on cable network TBS at age 12. An appearance on "The Arsenio Hall Show" led directly to his first major label record deal, signing with RCA when he was only 13. After a year, the relationship with RCA ended, but Austin bounced back immediately, co-writing the top 10 R&B/top 15 pop smash "Sweet Lady," while still in high school. The song drove platinum-plus album sales for talented singer and actor, Tyrese Gibson.

In the wake of his two massive 1999 hits, "Sweet Lady," and his No. 2 R&B song for Ideal, "Get Gone," demand for Austin's writing and background vocal arrangements led to behind-the-scenes work with such A-list artists as Aaliyah (the soundtrack hit "I Don't Wanna" and the R&B No. 1 and pop No. 3 "Miss You"), Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Ciara, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Ginuwine, Faith Evans, and Mario. When a 2003 introduction to So So Def founder Jermaine Dupri led to a string of hit collaborations and outsized successes, Austin's demo of the OCEAN DRIVE album track "Lil More Love" convinced Dupri to sign Austin to So So Def/Virgin.

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Source: So So Def/Virgin Records

CONTACT: Melissa Victor of Virgin Records, +1-212-786-8318,
Melissa.Victor@virginrecords.com; Patti Webster, patti@w-wpr.com, or Aliya
Crawford, Aliya@w-wpr.com, +1-732-786-5955, both of W&W Public Relations, for
So So Def/Virgin Records

Web site: http://clearchannelmusic.com/cc-common/new/4/indexhiphop.html
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