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Biography
 Amid
the scores of albums by contemporary soul brothers, Anthony Hamilton’s
beautiful Coming From Where I’m From is one of the few that actually
captures the essence of soul’s golden age in the late ’60s and early
’70s. Rich, gritty and sexy as hell, his beautiful voice and equally
beautiful songwriting are infused with convincingly
wise-beyond-his-years grit that evokes Bill Withers, Bobby Womack and
the like more than a little. But unlike most of today’s big-throated
thrushes, Hamilton is a real musician: Equally proficient as a writer,
singer and producer, he can front a band as well.
"My album is honest
soul music. The records are straight to the point, raw, and organic.”
says Hamilton. "It's not neo," he stresses. "When I think
of neo, I think of neon, like
It’s gon' glow in the
dark or something. My shit ain't glowin' in the dark; It’s just really
good music.”
Hamilton has been humbly
paying his dues for more than a decade and has made a lot of friends
along the way. Born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Harlem
resident discovered his talent while singing in his church choir at age
10. As a teenager, he honed his chops while making the rounds on the
local nightclub and talent show circuit, performing alongside fellow
Charlotte natives Horace Brown and the members of Jodeci. “I outgrew
that real quick, though,” he recalls, adding, “I knew I had to leave
Charlotte in order to make it in the music business.”
In 1993, Hamilton left
Charlotte for New York City, where he signed with Andre Harrell’s
Uptown Records imprint, then the epicenter of New Jack Swing and the
bourgeoning hip-hop–soul movement with an all-star roster that
included Jodeci and Horace Brown, in addition to Heavy D, Mary J. Blige
and Guy. Unfortunately for Hamilton, the label folded soon after he
completed his unreleased first album in 1995.
 Following
Uptown’s demise, Hamilton relocated to MCA, which put out his
wonderful yet widely overlooked debut CD, 1996’s XTC. After the album’s
release, Hamilton briefly reunited with his former mentor at Harrell
Entertainment before landing at the Los Angeles-based Soulife label
launched in 1999 by his hometown cronies Mark Sparks and Chris Dawley.
While Soulife geared up for the release of Sunshine Anderson’s Your
Woman, Hamilton recorded another album’s worth of new material and
penned songs for other artists, including Anderson (“Last Night”)
and Donell Jones (“U Know What’s Up,” “Pushin’”).
In 2000, D’Angelo
recruited Hamilton to sing background vocals on his worldwide Voodoo
Tour. “I went all over the world—Europe, Brazil—and had the best
time of my life,” Hamilton recalls. But by the time he returned from
globetrotting with D’Angelo, Soulife had also collapsed and the
singer-songwriter found himself back at square one. “I became
depressed,” Hamilton confesses. “I was like, ‘Why? Lord, why? All
this love I have for the music—what’s going on?’ Still, I kept
praying and working and looking for a better deal.”
For the next two years,
Hamilton kept bust by singing background vocals and appearing on songs
by likes of Eve (“Ride Away”), Xzibit (“The Gambler”) and 2Pac (“Thugz
Mansion”). Finally, in 2002, he received the break he’d been waiting
for when he was tapped to sing the catchy chorus on “Po’ Folks,”
the lead single from Nappy Roots’ debut album, Watermelon, Chicken and
Gritz. Thanks to Hamilton’s contribution, the song became an instant
smash that was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2003
Grammys. The day before the ceremony, renowned entertainment attorney L.
Londell McMillan invited Hamilton to close the show at his star-studded
Grammy brunch. Blown away by the singer’s galvanizing performance,
Michael Mauldin, a music industry veteran with a famously keen eye for
talent, urged his son, Atlanta hitmaker Jermaine Dupri, to take a
meeting with Hamilton. Dupri indulged his father’s request and, after
absorbing an earful of the singer’s work, eagerly signed him to his So
So Def imprint within 48 hours.
At long last, after
enduring the bureaucracy of the music industry for more than a decade,
Anthony Hamilton is poised on the verge of stardom. But rather than
brood over his rocky road to success, he maintains a remarkably positive
outlook. “Everything that’s happened up until this point in my
career has been preparing people for my arrival,” he says. “Back
when I was signed to Uptown, my music was labeled ‘alternative soul.’
Now, people have reference points for my sound, so it won’t be
shocking or abrasive to the ear; it’ll be well worth the wait.”
Indeed, Coming From Where
I’m From is driven by imaginative yet down-to-earth lyrics that draw
listeners in to Hamilton’s world-weary tales about love and life that
hit upon basic universal truths that can be appreciated by everyone.
Even though cuts such as “Float” and “Cornbread Pimp” find him
playing the soft-core mack daddy with as much relish as Ginuwine, it’s
when he opts to sing about the human side of his conquests that you
really warm up to him. [Examples TK based on the official track
listing.]
To help craft the
old-school–inspired grooves and country soul jams that illuminate
Hamilton’s subject matter, he brought in a number of producers and
musicians he’s crossed paths with throughout his career, including
Mark Babson, Cebb Solo and James Poyser from the Soulquarians. They
succeed in creating an authentic vintage soul feel by enhancing the
music with wah-wah guitar licks, stirring piano riffs, rousing horn
swells, churchy organs and bumping bass lines.
“I wanna change the
game in way where I’m not knocking nobody out of the way, not claiming
to be the best at this or that, but just doing wonders with the gift I’ve
been given,” says Hamilton. “I’m thankful I was standing in the
way when God was throwing out musical talent, and I was just wanna pass
it on to the people and remain humble and shine a little bit…an
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