Eric Bellinger

Eric Bellinger
Bellinger in December 2013
Background information
Birth name	Eric Bellinger, Jr.
Born	(1986-03-27) March 27, 1986 Compton, California, U.S.A
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	R&B, Soul
Occupation(s)	Music engineer, Music producer, singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2009-present
Labels	300 Entertainment
Associated acts	Usher, Justin Bieber, Trey Songz, Chris Brown, Sage the Gemini, The Game, Beyonce, Selena Gomez, Victoria Monet, Ty Dolla $ign, Tank, Iamsu!, Ashanti
Website	ericbellinger.com

Eric Bellinger, Jr. (born March 28, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and engineer. His co-writing credits include Lemme See ft. Rick Ross (2012) for Usher, New Flame for Chris Brown (2014), You Don't Know (2016) for Tank, Right Here (2012) ft. Drake for Justin Bieber, and Disrespectful ft. Mila J (2012) for Trey Songz.^[1] He's released 9 projects since 2013, including Born II Sing Vol. 1, Born II Sing Vol. 2, Born II Sing Vol. 3, The Rebirth, Cuffing Season, Cuffing Season Part 2, Eventually, Eric B for President: Term 1, and Eric B for President: Term 1 (Acoustic).

Early life

Eric Bellinger grew up in Compton, CA, but went to school in the Norwalk/Santa Fe area, where he met his future manager Nieman Johnson. The grandson of Jackson 5 songwriter Bobby Day. Eric begin to focus on music which launched his career to the next level .^[2]

Career

The Writing Camp and Early Career

After turning down a football scholarship to USC, Eric began to record and tour with R&B group AKNU. His work with AKNU led to being signed to Epic Records by executives Max Gousse and Tommy Mottola. Shortly after touring with AKNU, Eric returned to LA and was invited to work with songwriting collective The Writing Camp by childhood friend and mentor Erika Nuri.^[3] At The Writing Camp, Eric began his songwriting career.^[4] He first co-wrote for pop acts such as Selena Gomez and the Scene, Jacob Latimore, and Big Time Rush in 2010 and 2011,^[5] but transitioned into a variety of genres throughout his career.   

In 2012, Eric was cosigned by fellow Los Angeles artist The Game, after working on the song “Death Penalty” ^[4] off of The Game’s 2012 mixtape California Republic.^[6] Eric’s connection with The Game led to him writing/featuring on several songs off The Game’s album The Documentary 2. Around the same time, Eric signed a publishing deal with Sony ATV.^[7] However, due to Eric’s songwriting catalogue, he left Sony ATV to sign with publisher BMI instead.^[8]

Music

In 2013, Eric Bellinger released a trio of mixtapes: Born II Sing Vol. 1, ^[9] Born II Sing Vol. 2,^[10] and Born II Sing Vol. 3.^[11] Never one to shy away from putting out more music, he released his debut album The Rebirth on May 17, 2014 as a double album.^[12] The album peaked at 23 on the US R&B/Hip Hop charts, and 15 on the US R&B chart.^[13] The album also entered the Heatseakers Albums chart, which acts as a 25-album extension to the Top 200 albums chart. Bellinger followed The Rebirth with his 2015 releases Cuffing Season and Cuffing Season, Part 2, which released in July and December, respectively. Cuffing Season peaked at 6 on the US R&B chart,^[14] while Cuffing Season, Part 2 peaked at 23.^[15] After his Cuffing Season series, Bellinger released two mixtapes in spring of 2016: Choose Up Season and Eventually.^[16] Choose Up Season featured Eric Bellinger’s biggest song to-date, Valet feat. Fetty Wap and 2 Chainz.^[17] Most recently, Eric Bellinger released a series of three projects for his Eric B. for Pres series, referencing an Eric B & Rakim song of the same name. The series featured two albums, Eric B for President: Term 1, and Eric B for President: Term 2. The series additionally included the acoustic remake of Term 1, titled Eric B for President: Term 1 (Acoustic).^[18][19]

Awards

Eric Bellinger has won multiple major awards throughout his career. In 2011, Bellinger won a Grammy in the category of Best R&B Album for F.A.M.E. by Chris Brown.^[20] Later, in 2013, the Bellinger co-wrote “Lemme See” by Usher feat. Rick Ross which was named an ASCAP Award Winning R&B/Hip-Hop Song.^[21][22]

Personal life

Eric Bellinger is married to singer and actress La’Myia Good, the sister of actress Meagan Good. Eric and La’Myia met in the mid-2000’s in Los Angeles, where both were working on music with the same manager. Despite losing contact for a few years, they re-connected later, when Eric took La’Myia on a cereal date - La’Myia later stated that “I came over and this guy had a whole set-up of just cereal. It was classic.” ^[23] The couple has one son, Elysha Bellinger.^[24]

Discography

Studio albums

Extended Plays

Mixtapes

Songwriting Credits

^[22]

Guest Appearances

• "Stay Away" (with E-40) on (The D-Boy Diary: Book 1)

Notes

References

External links

• Official website
• Eric Bellinger at AllMusic