WHO’S NEXT:

BERTELL

HOMETOWN: Houston, Texas

INFLUENCES: Marvin Gaye,
Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder

ALBUM: Goin’ Hard, out June 22

WEBSITE: bertellonline.com

R&B NEWCOMER BERTELL (BORN BERTELL YOUNG) got his start in his grade-school cafeteria, where he regularly took over the piano and sang to entertain his classmates. He attended college in new Jersey on a basketball scholarship, and through his team’s coach got to know music producer Royal Bayyan. At Bayyan’s studio he met Blackstreet member Chauncey Hannibal, who convinced him to give up his promising basketball career to pursue music.

He returned to Houston and began pressing and selling his own CDs, demonstrating an independent streak that extended to sleeping in his truck. His performance on a single by rap group Dem Franchize Boyz caught the ear of producer Bryan-Michael Cox, who landed him a record deal. “If I come in and go platinum, then it’s not a downtime in music, there’s no recession,” he says. “It just means that what’s been lacking is the effort in making good music.”