For all its challenges, growing up in the 'hood' has at least one advantage; you develop a natural resilience to whatever life throws at you. R&B singer LeMarvin Harris can certainly attest to that. The Inglewood, CA native has survived the street life, a stint in the Navy, and a series of failed record deals. But as the saying goes, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
His interest in music began in high school, where he played the trumpet in the school band. Like many young men growing up in his neighborhood, his interest was geared towards Hip Hop/Rap. His experiment with rap was short-lived as he admits that he "wasn't very good at it." At the age of 16, he discovered his voice while singing along to New Edition and Color Me Badd songs on the radio. Realizing he was on to something, LeMarvin joined an R&B group named Last Minute. Though LeMarvin wasn't a lead singer in the group, he apparently stood out enough for David Esterson to approach his business partner, Minetta Gammage to manage his solo career.
Under the guidance of his new management, LeMarvin began recording songs and working diligently on his solo career. After graduating from high school, he continued pursuing music full-time. Like most parents raising a child in the 'hood,' his mother's aspirations for her son didn't include music. After much urging, LeMarvin enrolled in the Navy. He spent two and a half years as an E3 Airplane Maintenance and traveled to China, Malaysia, Australia and Abu Dhabi. However, the military life didn't suit LeMarvin for very long. He was formally discharged in 2002.
LeMarvin quickly began recording again and shopping his demo. He landed his first deal with Tracey Edmonds' Edmonds Record Group. After the Edmonds' failed to get a distribution deal, LeMarvin suddenly found himself shopping his demo again. He eventually signed with Flyte Tyme Records, owned by veteran producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. History would repeat itself because they too were unsuccessful in obtaining a distribution deal.
LeMarvin then hooked up with a new batch of producers including: The Co-Stars (Fantasia, Jaheim, Chingy, Jojo, Bone Thugs & Harmony). In 2007, they recorded a new demo and shopped it all over New York City. "We had about twelve meetings. The last meeting was with Universal Motown. After singing for Sylvia Rhone I was signed that day." However, like many major label situations, the project's momentum slowed to a near standstill and LeMarvin grew restless. "I had to move on", he says. "I wasn't doing nothing but getting old. There was no bad blood or anything I just needed to get things moving". It was during his time at Motown where he worked with THE INSOMNIAX (JLS, Bobby Valentino, Charlie Wilson) and felt a strong chemistry musically. "I remember writing and recording songs in THE INSOMNIAX hotel room. They had a portable setup and we would just vibe out and chill. Even after my deal at Motown didn't work out, they would still keep in touch and show me love".
For a third time, LeMarvin was back at square one. "I was kinda depressed for a little while after that," he says. "I thought [Universal Motown] was my last shot." Still, he kept recording. During that time, LeMarvin received numerous phone calls from A&R executives where a lot of promises were made but not fulfilled. Still he kept recording with producers like Trackmasters, The Co-Stars, August Rigo and Justin Graham and also working with songwriters Keri Hilson, The Clutch and Tank. Still things weren't clicking for LeMarvin.
While all this was taking place his manager, Minetta Gammage was still in heavy communications with Emile Ghantous from THE INSOMNIAX.
"It was summer of 2009 that it all clicked. Emile called me up and told me that he was moving from Chicago to LA and wanted to sign me and work on a new sound together. We started working several times a week and songwriting never felt like work. We experimented with different sounds and mixed pop and rock elements with R&B. it was through him that I met Pascal Geraths, CEO of Brandgeneration/Unique Army Records. Pascal loved the sound we had created and offered a deal after hearing the song 'Almost Famous.'" Now after years of almost being a household name, his shot being at famous is right around the corner.
