Biography

Gospel vocalist and songwriter Brent Jones first emerged as leader of Brent Jones & the T.P. Mobb in the mid-'90s. Intertwining R&B and hip-hop influences in a manner similar to contemporaries including Kirk Franklin, Jones' stylized take on gospel led to collaborations with artists ranging from Vickie Winans to Childish Gambino. After crossing over between the Billboard gospel and R&B/hip-hop charts with Brent Jones & the T.P. Mobb in 1999 and Beautiful in 2002, he reached the gospel Top Ten with the softer, more soulful solo release Joy Comin' in 2014. Los Angeles native Brent Ray Jones began studying the piano at the age of six and was appointed music director of his church by his mid-teens. As an adult, his group Brent Jones & the T.P. Mobb made their recording debut on Motown's 1994 compilation Motown Comes Home. The comp featured such Motown luminaries as Smokey Robinson and the Temptations, as well as Jones' composition "Spirit Control Me." The group issued its self-titled debut in 1999, offering over a dozen selections of hopeful devotional fare with a hybrid of mellow R&B, West Coast hip-hop rhyme routines, and traditional gospel choir arrangements. They returned in 2002 with Beautiful, an album that scored a hit with "Midnight," a tune featuring SWV member Coko. Third album The Ultimate Weekend was released in 2007 and, after a recording hiatus, Jones returned in 2014 with the solo LP Joy Comin', featuring the Orange County Gospel Choir. In 2016, Brent Jones & the Best Life Singers provided choral accompaniment for multiple tracks on Donald Glover's 2016 Childish Gambino album, "Awaken, My Love!" Jones' solo follow-up, Open Your Mouth and Say Something, reached number three on the Billboard gospel chart upon its arrival in 2018. ~ Fred Thomas & Marcy Donelson, Rovi