Warner Records Signs Keedron Bryant
• Keedron Bryant, the talented 12-year-old boy who ignited social media with his passionate video performance about being a young black man in today’s world, has been signed by Warner Records, and his poignant song, “I Just Wanna Live,” will officially be released on Friday, Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the U.
Bryant’s powerful a cappella video, which was originally posted on Instagram on May 26, features lyrics written by his mother, Johnetta Bryant, who told The Associated Press she wrote the song after watching the video of George Floyd‘s death. ‘It really hit my heart just so deeply because I am a mom to a black son. I have a black husband. I have black brothers, uncles, cousins, friends,” she said.
Keedron’s clip went viral, with Barack Obama, LeBron James, Janet Jackson, Lupita Nyong’o and other high profile personalities acknowledging its impact and importance on social media. Music producer Dem Jointz also saw Bryant’s heartrending performance, and said, “It hit me in the gut. It just moved me to create music around his vocal.” Dem Jointz produced music for the song and then contacted the Bryant family to share his version with them.
Dem Jointz’s remix caught the attention of Chris Atlas, SVP of Urban Marketing at Warner Records, who said, “I was already moved by the record but hearing the vocals over the production, it just hit me in another way. I was like, ‘Wow this is an amazing song.’ We should be a part of making sure the world hears this on a larger capacity but then also donate proceeds from the song to the right cause. That’s actually giving back and using music as a healing mechanism, which I truly believe it is.”
To that end, “I Just Wanna Live” will be delivered to radio Friday at 7am PT. Warner Records is donating 100% of the net profits of “I Just Wanna Live” to the NAACP and for every stream of the song on Amazon Music, the company will donate $1 to the NAACP for the first 24 hours the song is out, up to $50,000.
