I Did It For Love

BRANTLEY De’ANGELO’S BIO: As the world continues to turn, days start in the morning and end at night. The sounds of the south continue to grow when a new face, voice, and writer enters the arena of soul music. Brantley De’Angelo is a native of the college town Athens, outside of Atlanta, Georgia. He is ready to make some noise, put his bid in on the scenes, and behind the scenes. When asked, “What drives the young soulful writer to show the world his talents?” He states, “Sometimes when I close my eyes the sound of a beat, tune, or melody haunts my mind to the point that I can’t help, but to surround myself with my love and passion for music.” Believing in the power of music, Brantley De’Angelo seems to feel that many will be able to relate to his stories, because love is a universal language. The 70’s was a powerful era in music, because artist expression was on the rise. Various subjects were addressed by artist for the first time such as social, political, or life experiences. Struggle, survival, love, and lost can be heard in soul music. The true essence of soul music is to expose what is in your heart, in order to heal another heart in the poetic form of song. As a youngster, Brantley De’Angelo’s father use to wake him every morning for school by placing a speaker in front of his bedroom door. His father blasted artist such as Lakeside, Confunkshun, George Benson, Tyrone Davis, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, The GAP Band, Sugar Hill Gang, Whitehead and McFadden, Brick, Slave, The Manhattans, Otis Redding, and Curtis Mayfield, etc. Despite growing up in a household with parents that were Jehovah’s Witnesses, Brantley De’Angelo was exposed to a large variety of music. Jehovah Witnesses beliefs on music are often misinterpreted or misunderstood by some. Music is another form of expression or entertainment; like reading or watching television, Jehovah Witnesses must abide by biblical laws and principles. Brantley De’Angelo, a dedicated witness offers his views on the music industry, “The scene of the world has changed! I believe that only few artists today deliver good quality music, without the debasing lyrical content of profanity or the degrading of women. I have much respect for artist, writers, and producers who have the standards, morals, and strength to create music the way they want.” At the age of 10, Brantley De’Angelo discovered his singing voice. To his amazement while singing along to his walkman, he realized he could change his voice to sound exactly like the artist. During his junior and senior high school years, Brantley De’Angelo enjoyed listening to groups such as Boys II Men, Jagged Edge, After 7, Levert, 112, and Jodeci. His love of music led him to audition for a neighborhood singing group, which was assembled by Tellas Rashawn Thompson. Brantley recalls, “Those were some crazy times; we started out with six members that changed to four members, back to six, then finally three. The six members consisted of Twain Tarpkins, Paul Deece, (aka BET Comic Views Smokey Deese) Tellas Thompson, Jeremy Horne, Cha Stevens, (aka Chino Dollar of Yung Joc Master Mind Music) and myself. We called ourselves Ecstasy; we realized that name was not appropriate for 15-year-olds, so we changed our name to Kalaj.” Kalaj became a hit in Athens, and would win every talent show they entered. Xeron Pledger quickly noticed the group’s potential and became their manager. Xeron Pledger efforts gave Kalaj more exposure by means of talent shows, showcases, and ceremonies. After recording there first demo, Kalaj caught the attention of Micheal Bivens, of New Edition/BIV 10 Records/Motown. A meeting was set up by Todd Russaw, (Faith Evans Husband) which at the time was working for BIV 10. This meeting lead to Kalaj opening up for Laface Recording artist, A Few Good Men, which finally landed the meeting with Micheal Bivens. After meeting BIV, Brantley De’Angelo recalls, “I was excited to work with him, but during this time my life and priorities were changing. I had become distant from the group; my zeal for being in the music industry was being choked by my new found love for Jehovah and his word the Bible.” Without looking back, he decided to leave the group, so that he could focus on his spirituality. Now 11 years later, Brantley De’Angelo is endeavoring to be known as a song writer. He wants to be able to put his words and thoughts in the hands of new and established artists. He states, “My goal was not to be an artist; but to be a song writer. I believe the best way to advertise my company is to showcase the material I have written by creation of songs. Those who are willing to help me accomplish this goal are greatly appreciated.” Taking the pain and joys of his life Brantley De’Angelo delivers to you the album entitled “I Did It for Love.” He explains, “I remember flying back from D.C. with one of my writing partners Xeron Pledger, when he invited me to assist with the grand opening of Glady’s (Glady’s Knight) and Ron’s Chicken and Waffle restaurant. I was on the plane headed back to Atlanta, while reflecting on a conversation I had with Darwin Hobbs. He asked the question, “What have you written?” I could not say anything at that moment. I began thinking about my life and how in everything we do, we should show love to our fellow men and women. I started writing the song with the idea of selling it to Darwin, but as I was writing the song, it had progressed into a story about my life. Consequently, I used the song and named the album after the song. The name was fitting, because the album as whole gives bits and pieces of things I have experienced in my life involving the many avenues of love.” Considering that it had been such a long time since Brantley De’Angelo had been in a studio, he turned to his long childhood friends and ex-group members of Kalaj, Jeremy Horne(Voice) and Cedric Lester(Wizz) AKA Choir Boyz Productions. They brought incredible sounds to his lyrics and helped make his dreams a reality. As an independent artist and songwriter Brantley D’Angelo formed his own company, The Write Music. He is currently assembling a team of producers and writers, to market the company as a one stop shop. The company will serve newly signed and established artists, who are looking for good old fashion soul music. The album “I did it for Love” was a long awaited project for the song writer. Having written songs for many years and now having the opportunity to present songs like “Just friends”, “I never want too..”, and “Its’ yours”; Brantley De’Angelo claims that he has a great deal more songs to share. As he eagerly waits to see the fruits of his labor, he believes there is still work to be done. Brantley De’Angelo is determined to stay focus and spiritually grounded while accomplishing his goals. From the mouth of Brantley De’Angelo, “No matter what you do, let it be for LOVE.”