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Johnny Nunez/Getty ImagesA year ago, Bryson Tiller was sleeping in his car. Now he’s a breakout star with two songs in the top 10 on Billboard‘s R&B Songs chart, who hangs with Drake, even though he rejected a recording contract from Drizzy.
“Drake is known for…putting out good, quality music,” the “Don’t” singer tells GQ, who turned down Drake’s offer to sign with RCA, but took heart from Drake’s interest. “To acknowledge me and my music was all I needed to hear from anybody. Nobody could tell me anything after that,” he says.”
The 23 year-old from Louisville, Kentucky originally planned to become a video game designer, until listening to Omarion convinced him to pursue a music career. “When I first heard Omarion’s album,” he recalls, “I just started listening to that over and over again and began teaching myself how to sing.”
Tiller released his first mixtape, Killer Instinct Vol. 1, in 2011, which he admits was too ambitious and lacked focus. He adapted a more simple for his debut 2015 studio album, T R A P S O U L, which features production by Timbaland and was released this October.
Tiller, whose “Don’t” and “Exchange” currently are both in the top 10 on Billboard‘s R&B Songs chart, considers himself shy, however his personality changes to his alter ego, Pen Griffey, when he performs. “You know how Beyoncé has Sasha Fierce?,” he says. “That’s how I am. When I go out onstage, I become a different person.”
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