Darien Brockington

Darien Brockington's warm and pleading voice links dozens of noteworthy recordings within and beyond the related <a href="spotify:artist:6gojCDLq10HLqBddPZx8IH">Justus League</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:60R4M19QBXvs0gO4IL6CpS">Foreign Exchange</a> families, and is in fuller display across a small catalog of solo projects cherished by lovers of progressive adult R&B. A native of Durham, North Carolina, Brockington arrived in the mid-2000s on tracks by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO">Little Brother</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:60R4M19QBXvs0gO4IL6CpS">the Foreign Exchange</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3BeQqzKdlARoOd6y30kCO2">Pete Rock</a>. He stepped to the foreground around that time with an EP entitled The Feeling (2005), the album Somebody to Love (2006), and a mixtape entitled The Cold Case Files (2009). That series of releases repeatedly demonstrated Brockington's comfort with gospel-rooted ballads, off-center R&B productions, and midtempo dancefloor material, among other sounds. Around the turn of the 2020s, Brockington returned from a hiatus and expanded his session credits before he offered When Love Grows (2024), an EP issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Foreign+Exchange+Music%22">Foreign Exchange Music</a>.

Brockington was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Durham. He took to singing in church at a very young age and performed his first solo at the age of six. While attending North Carolina Central University in 2000, he met <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Rapper Big Pooh</a> of <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO">Little Brother</a>, and a few years later -- after he bumped into <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Big Pooh</a> while working as a bank teller -- joined the related <a href="spotify:artist:6gojCDLq10HLqBddPZx8IH">Justus League</a> collective. Brockington was heard on a handful of recordings in 2004. He sang the hooks on <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO">Little Brother</a>'s "On and On" and <a href="spotify:artist:3BeQqzKdlARoOd6y30kCO2">Pete Rock</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO">Little Brother</a>-assisted "Give It to Ya," and he was key to Connected, the debut from <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3I8ExTKigDuneCoO1D7aYS">Nicolay</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:60R4M19QBXvs0gO4IL6CpS">Foreign Exchange</a>, fronting "Come Around" and "Call," the former of which he also co-wrote. The next year, Brockington was on <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Big Pooh</a>'s "On My Mind" and <a href="spotify:artist:3LIn3WbNEJurF2MiZqAWwO">Symbolyc One</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5NqVvG2agIxKs79xN1kjWP">Illmind</a>'s "Night Like This" (also with <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Pooh</a>), and he was also featured throughout The Minstrel Show, <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO">Little Brother</a>'s bold major-label debut. More importantly, however, Brockington made his solo debut that year with The Feeling, an EP issued through <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hall+of+Justus%22">Hall of Justus</a>. Brockington's support included executive production and writing input from <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a>, and production from the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:3I8ExTKigDuneCoO1D7aYS">Nicolay</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3LIn3WbNEJurF2MiZqAWwO">Symbolyc One</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:26SUZ69XXPe6mRMnEK8Nlq">Vitamin D</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7C83J5lWbdshWPFN7qFv8f">Black Spade</a>.

The Feeling proved to be a prelude to the wider-scoped Somebody to Love, Brockington's first full-length, released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ABB+Soul%22">ABB Soul</a> in 2006. Whereas <a href="spotify:artist:3I8ExTKigDuneCoO1D7aYS">Nicolay</a> handled most of the production on the EP, Somebody to Love involved a larger cast with <a href="spotify:artist:41VJkpWAbqzgt9cKld5Yra">E. Jones</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:08WNnspvTW1ztVl5Xye8ym">S1</a> (aka <a href="spotify:artist:3LIn3WbNEJurF2MiZqAWwO">Symbolyc One</a>), <a href="spotify:artist:7GVhrE69ShzMSsX0DG4HHT">Khrysis</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4s8ZGMVf3OiPktSP4ulpqU">9th Wonder</a> among those who chipped in. Brockington hadn't exactly saved all his creative energy for his solo endeavors. The same year, he helped <a href="spotify:artist:5sU2ovyukWzzvQw3Jo1SI9">Strange Fruit Project</a> conclude The Healing, set off <a href="spotify:artist:3I8ExTKigDuneCoO1D7aYS">Nicolay</a>'s Here, and also contributed to <a href="spotify:artist:72tRiBHei5G9M8it4h4sfC">Oddisee</a>'s Foot in the Door. Brockington stuck to supporting work for the next few years, fronting <a href="spotify:artist:1BlBZ9jQGOjmj6Zykgg43L">4hero</a>'s "Give In" (also featuring <a href="spotify:artist:5SyCTZ8X8YQCI0J1VRp4iC">Phonte</a>), enlivening <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO">Little Brother</a>'s "Two Step Blues," and appearing on <a href="spotify:artist:60R4M19QBXvs0gO4IL6CpS">the Foreign Exchange</a>'s Leave It All Behind, most notably fronting that album's second single, "Take Off the Blues." Brockington returned just before the end of the decade with The Cold Case Files, a mixtape made with <a href="spotify:artist:41VJkpWAbqzgt9cKld5Yra">E. Jones</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7GVhrE69ShzMSsX0DG4HHT">Khrysis</a>, as well as Sheldon Williams and Fatin. The hour-long set was promoted with the airy if hotly impassioned ballad "Rain."

Fifteen years would pass before Brockington's next solo effort. The singer remained quite busy at the top of the 2010s with supporting roles on tracks by <a href="spotify:artist:60R4M19QBXvs0gO4IL6CpS">the Foreign Exchange</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO">Little Brother</a>, fellow <a href="spotify:artist:60R4M19QBXvs0gO4IL6CpS">FE</a> associates <a href="spotify:artist:0XoDNlIZvfQP47lyLBVIsz">Zo!</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1OIFNnBQXsOyblFG9ZcGlE">Yahzarah</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1SUFqa4aXxvMrGdOnqiMmR">Rhymefest</a>. His duet with <a href="spotify:artist:1OIFNnBQXsOyblFG9ZcGlE">Yahzarah</a> on "All My Days," off The Ballad of Purple Saint James, is among his most streamed recordings. Brockington appearances were rare for most of the remainder of the 2010s, but the singer was in the background on May the Lord Watch, the 2019 return of <a href="spotify:artist:0s9MrSopEoAn8JqwBipgdO">Little Brother</a>, and activity continued into the 2020s. <a href="spotify:artist:0XoDNlIZvfQP47lyLBVIsz">Zo!</a> & <a href="spotify:artist:2bz6GlqjAN5fTFWvy0rmSP">Tall Black Guy</a>'s "Hold My Hand," <a href="spotify:artist:2WDSk4ZbwCw2E99XV6gkRk">BeMyFiasco</a>'s "Thinkin Bout It," <a href="spotify:artist:2hfa22hIjNd79uMZlWb0UF">Big Pooh</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5KBwAQ3DCGfHNdAcFr4eSh">Young RJ</a>'s "Smile," and <a href="spotify:artist:5D7j3YOhscvrld2WzjSIpN">Phife Dawg</a>'s "2 Live Forever" all featured Brockington between 2021 and 2022. In 2024, Brockington contributed to <a href="spotify:artist:4vGS9mc7YHh5Mpfd51X8MF">Sy Smith</a>'s Until We Meet Again and released Where Love Grows, a rich EP produced primarily by <a href="spotify:artist:0XoDNlIZvfQP47lyLBVIsz">Zo!</a> & <a href="spotify:artist:2bz6GlqjAN5fTFWvy0rmSP">Tall Black Guy</a>. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi