Josh X-an-tus

Soft-spoken contemporary R&B singer/songwriter Josh X ably handles wholesome romantic ballads, brash slow jams, and hedonistic club tracks. Active since the late 2000s, when he became known as Josh X-an-tus, he has released well over a dozen singles, such as the charting "First Time" and "Heaven on My Mind," as well as a couple commercial EPs, namely Amour (2017) and Piano Confessions (2019). The latter was distributed by major-label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a>.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, Joshua Exantus started playing piano at the age of six and wrote his first song, spurred by hearing <a href="spotify:artist:6k0IBR0lU42s2GYpNX7kA9">Brian McKnight</a>'s "Anytime," roughly seven years later. He developed his talent at the Juilliard School and Five Towns College. After he contributed to <a href="spotify:artist:4rKPpij2gIDKsZsfjCfk1U">Grafh</a>'s Black Hand America mixtape -- on which he was credited as Josh Exantus -- he made his recorded debut as Josh X-an-tus with the 2008 single "Let's Ride," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:5pnbUBPifNnlusY8kTBivi">Jadakiss</a>. Additional singles were scattered throughout the next few years, highlighted by "First Time," which spent 12 weeks on Billboard's Adult R&B chart in 2009, and the <a href="spotify:artist:6FD0unjzGQhX3b6eMccMJe">Ghostface Killah</a> collaboration "I Don't Care," which two years later had a month-long stay on the R&B/hip-hop chart. During the same period, he provided hooks on tracks for <a href="spotify:artist:5v0XTlB9FqNvfBfnw8n5b0">Statik Selektah</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7oF48iRjggIDjtfRcmmMvl">Termanology</a>.

Around the mid-2010s, Exantus shortened his performing name to Josh X and continued to progress into the next decade. In 2015, he enlisted <a href="spotify:artist:5pnbUBPifNnlusY8kTBivi">Jadakiss</a> again for "All for Love" and co-wrote "Ready to Go," sung by <a href="spotify:artist:120Hnh6hOWiIpfL4WDo7nm">Jussie Smollett</a>, for the television series Empire. The next year, his name was on the Adult R&B chart for 20 weeks with the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22KSR%22">KSR</a> release "Heaven on My Mind," a collaboration with new labelmate <a href="spotify:artist:4kYSro6naA4h99UJvo89HB">Cardi B</a>. This success led to the 2017 arrival of Amour, an EP containing a solo version of the preceding hit. Exantus and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22KSR%22">KSR</a> then struck a distribution deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a>, resulting first in another single with a long stay on the Adult R&B chart, the 2018 <a href="spotify:artist:1sBkRIssrMs1AbVkOJbc7a">Rick Ross</a> collaboration "All on Me." Across 2019 and 2020, Exantus' supply of new music was steady, including the Piano Confessions EP and singles such as "I Don't Care" (with <a href="spotify:artist:6FD0unjzGQhX3b6eMccMJe">Ghostface Killah</a>), "No Luv," and "I Miss You." ~ Andy Kellman