Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer Eric Bellinger is entering a deeply personal chapter of his career with his self-titled project, Eric Bellinger.
While Bellinger has built an impressive resume writing and producing for artists including Usher, Brandy, Justin Bieber, and Teyana Taylor, he says this album challenged him to look beyond the familiar themes of love and heartbreak and explore parts of himself he had rarely shared through his music.
The project began with a different approach to songwriting. Rather than waiting for the music to dictate what he would write, Bellinger and his team started with real-life experiences and built the music around those stories. His manager encouraged him to explore feelings from experiences like losing his mother, becoming a father, choosing his wife, and becoming a husband.
“Each of these songs stemmed from real places,” Bellinger explains. “Instead of us or me telling the music or the music telling me what to write, we told the producers what music they needed to make based on what we were coming in to write.”
That intentionality extended beyond the recording process to the album’s rollout, photography, content, and producer selection.
“Every component is so intentional that it’s like, yo, we’re going for the Grammy,” he says. “If I’m not kissing a Grammy at the end of this campaign, it ain’t nobody’s fault but ours.”
The album also allowed Bellinger to explore vulnerability and the responsibilities that come with success. Songs such as Closure, Crying in Front of You and, Heavy Is the Crown move beyond traditional love-song territory and personal discovery.
Bellinger said the process taught him that there were still new dimensions of himself to explore as a songwriter.
“I think this album is me, like finding out that you can write about more stuff than love,” he says.
As he balances his career with being a husband and father while touring and continuing to create, Bellinger credits his wife and a disciplined schedule for helping him manage it all.
Now, with what he calls the most important album of his career, he is embracing both the vulnerability and ambition that come with the next stage of his journey.
“This is definitely that moment,” Bellinger says, describing the project and his current feature on Usher and Chris Browns R&B Tour as a culmination of years of work.
“We’re making sure that we’re talking about something and doing something that ain’t never been done.”
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