Los Angeles singer/songwriter, animator, actress, and activist Brittany Campell represents a new generation of R&B artists, crafting songs that are personal in nature, yet universal in scope, as seen on her Black Lives Matter protest anthem “Matter,” featured on NPR and Democracy Now!
In between starring alongside Idina Menzel in the new musical Wild and serving as one of five writers of the music for Paramount+’s upcoming Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies show, today, she shares her latest heartfelt single + self-animated video for “Eternally,” co-produced with Sam Hoffman (Mereba, Durand Bernarr) and first premiered via Under the Radar. Fusing an inherent love of classic R&B with a distinctly modern sensibility that challenges perceptions of identity while pushing the genre into bold new territory, the song finds Campbell earnestly grappling with the boundless ripple effects that come from a crumbling relationship.
“I can’t say that I was thriving when I finally revisited this song…grieving was the pinnacle part of the process…this song was a wish…for love eternal.,” she explains. “I wrote it when I was still with my first love…even though the walls were crumbling around us, I held to him, fixated on this idea that my first would be my last…everlasting…it has taken sometime to get over us…I have tried to go about it a multitude of ways but the only way over was to go through it…realizing that our love has left its imprint on me…eternal. Accepting that you are in the very fabric of my being… eternal…understanding it was you who walked with me in the beginning of my journey towards radical love…eternal.”
Known for her roles in Broadway productions such as Hamilton to Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It remake on Netflix, Campbell is also in the band Mermaid with girlfriend Candace Quarrels, who were featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Top Shelf curated by Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard and whose upcoming debut album showcases production by Sam Hoffman and Brittany herself. Her creative passions also led her to become a self taught animator, who, apart from the work on her own videos, has created content for the likes of supermodel Shaun Ross, who tapped her to animate a video for his debut single “Symmetry.”
A first generation American, Brittany was born to Jamaican parents in Brooklyn, NY. As the daughter of a reggae DJ, she found herself immersed in music from a young age, even being recruited as a singer for the Metropolitan Opera at age seven. Years later in 2018, she emerged on the contemporary scene with her full length debut Stay Gold. With its diary-like lyrics and deceptively complex musicianship, it quickly found an audience amongst progressive, open-minded listeners.
In 2020, Brittany’s career received a major boost when her song “Matter” was included in NPR’s topical ‘We Insist: 2020’s Protest Music’ playlist. Since then, she has steadily grown in stature, enthralling listeners with her ever-evolving style. Now, as she enters a new phase of her career, Brittany is poised to become one of the era’s most vital voices.
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