Page 73 - Winter/Spring 2015 Issue

JPB: I think I realized it when I was 6. I grew up in the church on the choir. I feel like I have been singing all my life. Professionally they say since 1991, which makes it 24 years. Personally, I have been singing since I was a little boy.
HMM: What made you decide to be what you have chosen as a profession today? Who were some of your earliest influences?
JPB: Ihavebeensingingallmylife. Singingis something I love to do. Growing up, I listened to a lot of the soul singers from back in the day and I was also an album cover reader. My library is deep. My earliest influences are countless soul stirrers like Sam Cooke, Nat “King” Cole, Teddy Pendergrass, Willie Hutch, Curtis Mayfield, The Moments, the Delfonics and the list goes on. Their spirits always channels in me when I am

doing a big performance.
HMM: What was life like growing up for you? What kind of family did you grow up in?

JPB: I was born and raised in Harlem in a single
household and mom raised me, my brother and
sister. Growing up was not great, but it was
good. Like most young men, the streets tried to
get me, but I was saved by some brothers in a
barber shop. God has blessed me with a way out
and I am doing it now. My mother held it down,
she played both my mother and my father and
she did a great job and for that I am thankful.
HMM: How old were you when you knew JPB: Stick with it, don't give up.
this was your calling and what you were
going to do for the rest of your life? HMM: What can we look for from you for 2015?

HMM: How do you maintain your integrity in an otherwise very competitive and scrupulous industry?

JPB: I stay humble. I don't think about what others are doing. I give everyone respect. We can make songs together and that would be beautiful to me or we can do our own thing and it would still be beautiful to me.

JPB: Keep soul music alive, so look for new music. My current single is called “Don’t Hold Back” with Will Traxx, the Voice of the City.
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HMM: What advice would you offer others with the DREAM?