Bryan-Michael Cox

Bryan-Michael Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an award-winning American songwriter and record producer.

He has co-written and co-produced singles including: Mariah Carey's "Shake It Off"; Tamia's "Still"; Fantasia's "Only One U"; Danity Kane's "Ride For You"; LeToya's "Obvious"; Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You"; Toni Braxton's "Trippin' (That's the Way Love Works)"; and Usher's "Confessions, Pt. 2". Cox has been producing professionally since 1998, receiving his first formal credit on 1999's "Get Gone" by the Houston R&B group Ideal.

History

Cox was born in Miami and grew up in Houston, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in the eleventh grade, he met and was mentored by Greg Curtis (who produced and co-wrote Keyshia Cole's 2006 hit "Love"). From Curtis, who had a studio in Houston, Cox learned the basic fundamentals of creating songs, including production, using audio equipment, recording, as well as songwriting and structuring.

During his senior year, he was joined at the school by singer Beyoncé and her former Destiny's Child group member LeToya Luckett. His friendship with Beyoncé and her belief in his talent resulted in his first "real" recording session, which consisted of doing three demo songs for the group then known only as "Destiny." Although the songs were never officially released, Cox expressed that the session really led him to know that he wanted to be a professional music producer.

In 1997, he moved to Atlanta to attend Clark Atlanta University (CAU), where he majored in music. However, the mean reason for his move was to get into the music industry. He looked for opportunities within the music industry. Based on information from a campus brochure, he sought out and obtained an unpaid internship with the Noontime production company, to gain experience and opportunities. His hard work paid off as his affiliation with Noontime led him to work with Jagged Edge, which led to him meeting Jermaine Dupri. Cox's relationship with Dupri soon led to producing and writing for Nivea, Monica, Da Brat and Lil' Bow Wow. Though Cox has since co-written and co-produced an extensive body of work (including Hot 100 #1 hits such as Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us" plus Usher's "Burn," "Confessions, Pt. 2" and "U Got It Bad") and won two Grammy awards (for his work on albums by Carey and Usher), Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You" marked his first Hot 100 Top 5 hit without Dupri.