Keys To My Heart

The passionate voice of urban inspirational singer Bri (Briana Babineaux) is carving out a unique niche for the 21-year old college student. In less than a year, she’s become one of the most buzzed about singers on social media counts superstars like Rhianna, Brandy Drake among her nearly 400,000 Instagram ‘Followers’. Before any radio airplay, hundreds of thousands of fans enjoyed hearing her heartfelt cover songs on YouTube. Born August 26, 1994, Bri’s journey started on the island of Hawaii where her father was doing his stint with The Marines; later he moved his family to his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana. Her parents separated when she was two & Bri began singing in the church at the age of five where her stepfather is a pastor at Refuge Temple Ministries; “I never planned to become a professional singer,” she laughs. Instead, a gifted high school athlete, she earned a track scholarship to McNeese State University but after a semester she moved on to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as a criminal justice major. “At that point I was focused on becoming an attorney,” she says. Then, fate entered. During the fall of 2014, Bri was despondent after a romantic breakup. Upon hanging out with her friends to get her mind off of her heartache, fooling around, Bri started to sing Tonex’s “Make Me Over". A friend posted a camera phone video of it on YouTube & within hours her riveting cover had gone viral. “I guess I was releasing all of my hurt & emotions through the song,” Bri recalls. That one video & subsequently others kicked off the #Brination phenomenon garnering a fan base that increased exponentially. After turning down several offers to record RB music, the Louisiana native signed with Marquis Boone Enterprises (of Casey J success) releasing her debut gospel song “I’ll Be The One” in June (of 2015) & watched it spring onto four different Billboard Magazine sales charts including the Gospel Digital Songs chart where it hit the top spot. Since that time, the song has now become a Top 20 gospel radio hit & is inciting demand for Bri’s much-anticipated debut album 'Keys To My Heart' (Marquis Boone Enterprises, LLC/Tyscot Records, LLC) releasing March 25, 2016. Korey Bowie, an independent artist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter & producer who has worked with the likes of RB veteran Angie Stone as well as Casey J & soulful crooner Darwin Hobbs, produced the twelve-track set skillfully. The set contains up-tempo 21st century power anthems such as the rousing “Heaven Must Be Something Like This” & the pulsating “Lord of All” which both show off Bri’s most fiery & raspy vocal wails on the climatic vamps of these engaging sing-a-long selections. At her core, Bri is a worshipper & smooth cuts such as “Holy Spirit,” “Set A Fire” & the plaintive “Love You Forever” reveal her love for this sub-genre of gospel music. Tunes such as “Run Over,” ripe for Inspirational radio formats, & the smooth as silk “My Everything” which has Urban AC radio written all over it will gain quick attention. Another compelling segment is Bri’s first composition, the rock-edged “Jacob’s Song” & its explosive reprise “I’m Desperate.” Fellow recording artist & close friend Bryan Andrew Wilson wrote the beautifully warm, stripped-down ballad “Grace” with her in mind. Christian Hip-Hop star Uncle Reece crafted the uplifting paean “Love You Forever” that Bri sings with intimate zeal & deep understanding. All in all, it’s a very personal album with the ability to move many personalities. “I named the album 'Keys To My Heart' because each song is a testimony from an experience that I faced whether good or bad. Through this album, I'm letting #Brination have access to what was in my heart when I gave God the keys.”