He plays piano, guitar, dances and has collaborated with Akon, Brooke Hogan and the outrageous Lady Gaga; and that’s with just one album out. I’m talking about Colby O’Donis, an artist that’s been passionate about music ever since he was just a young boy. With much hard work and determination, he was asked to join Babyface’s record label but chose to work under Akon’s music production, Kon Live Distribution. He was nominated for a Grammy and has a few hit singles under his belt; but according to Colby O’Donis we haven’t seen nothing yet.
There’s a reason why he says his sophomore album is going to be his best work yet, “I’ve being growing musically and creatively. I understand who I am more as an artist and I’ve grown more musically.”
If you look at Colby’s resume, it’s quite impressive, he taught himself guitar and piano, he’s a songwriter, producer and let’s not forget the youngest kid to be signed onto Motown Records, “being signed to Motown at such a young age was a great accomplishment. It was life changing and definitely started my career to take off. It made me pursue music as more than a passion.
In 2008, Colby released his first album titled Colby O. It received a lot of positive feedback thanks to his hit single “What You Got” which featured Akon. In fact a lot of fans fell in love with this song; especially one specific fan… Lady Gaga. She enjoyed Colby’s work so much he collaborated with her on the smash single “Just Dance.”
“I am really blessed to have been a part of that project. We were setup through the label. Lady Gaga liked my music. She fell in love with my song “What you Got,” wanted me on her first single and the rest is history in the making. I had a blast with the record. It was definitely the greatest opportunity risen from my record.”
Lady Gaga isn’t the only pop princess Colby has had the opportunity to work with. If you’re a fan of reality television then you may have seen him collaborate with Brooke Hogan for a song on her sophomore record, on her hit Vh1 show “Brooke Knows Best.” But don’t get your hopes up ladies, Colby was not a fan of the cameras, “No, that’s not me. I’ll never see myself doing reality TV. I like to be in my zone. I don’t like cameras on me watching what I say.” Sorry ladies.
Colby thinks you’ve listened to Colby O long enough because he’s currently in the studio gearing up for album #2. He says this album is supposed to surpass the last, so what can we expect? “I definitely want to lyrically advance myself. I’m very inspirational. I love to talk to my fans. I give people hope. I want to showcase that on this record.”
Colby is in the zone being extremely focused on putting out a successful album, he’s so determined on putting out magic he’s not even worried about collaborating, “I’ve been focused on my end. Features will come, but I need to be happy with my music. I would be happy if Lady Gaga collaborated on this album. I was happy to be a part of that history.” If you couldn’t tell, Colby’s priority is recording a hit album and becoming more successful, “ I would like to write for a lot more artists, but my main focus right now is my album; it’s the only thing I care about.”
Now this interview wouldn’t be complete without Colby sending a message out to his fans that are hustling to make something of themselves, “your success is determined by how strong your passion is. Continue to work hard and your talent will get noticed. It’s about how bad you really want it. So many artists use YouTube, Twitter, and MySpace. Keep the inspiration and never give up on your dreams. I want to especially thank my fans for their support. You inspire me to stay motivated. I’ll always be making music for you.”
Colby O’Donis hasn’t put an album out since 2008, but his determination and passion for music shows that his sophomore record is bound to be pure perfection. Not only do I see another Grammy nomination…I see a win.
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