Idol Chatter & Voice Views

His audition: BDII (aka Brian Darden), Hampton, Va., “Adorn” by Miquel: Brian’s smooth opening prompted quick chair turns from Michael Buble and Kelsea Ballerini. Adam Levine soon joined them. Late in the performance, John Legend turned as well, giving BD a four-chair turn. Kelsea blocked Adam in an effort to land Brian. She said she doesn’t have an artist like Brian on her team and heard a lot of pop in his voice as well as soul and R&B. Adam called him “world class.” Michael also said BD would be unique on his team. John called the performance so good and loved Brian’s laid-back approach to the song. BD decided to join Team Legend.

Here’s more about BDii.

* That’s the stage name for Brian Darden, an R&B artist from Hampton, Va., who’s now apparently Atlanta based.

* He’s already released lots of music, including a five-song EP in 2020, an album called “Love Jones” in 2022, and another five-song EP in June of 2023.

* BDii’s latest release was a single called “Love Again” from December 2023.

* Another 2023 release, “Back Around,” is his most popular on Spotify with more than 50,000 streams. Check out a live version below.

* He’s also been featured as a collaborator on a number of other releases. One of the most recent is “Good Girl,” a song and music video from Kalipop that came out last summer.

* Brian attended Hampton University from 2011 to 2016. An all-state basketball player at Phoebus High School, he played guard for Hampton University Pirates.

* In a March interview with Highly Respected, Brian said he grew up singing in church. His father, two sisters and both grandfathers sang. But his focus growing up was basketball.

* He stepped into a recording studio for the first time in 2016 and said the experience “got my adrenalin going crazy. Like, ‘This is a new feeling.'” He said he started taking music seriously in 2019, just before moving to Atlanta.

* His musical inspirations include D’Angelo, Marvin Gaye and Jazmine Sullivan.

* And he’s working on a new BDii project called “Nostalgia” in which he hopes to bring back the sound of R&B music from the 1990s and early 2000s.

Update: On Jan. 22, BDii released a three-track EP featuring the songs “Anxious,” “Do to Me” and “Walls.”

BDii on social media:
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