Contemporary R&B artist Asia Bryant, also known under her solo recording alias
Asiahn, surfaced during the early 2010s with a variety of songwriting and background vocal roles. Established as a composer with
Jennifer Lopez's Top 20 hit "Booty" (2014) and featured on
Dr. Dre's
Compton (2015), she has since made her first moves as a headliner with Love Train (2017) and
Love Train 2 (2019), recorded with producer Cardiak.
Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Bryant moved with her family to Charlotte, North Carolina before her first birthday. Music became an outlet as she dealt with the divorce of her parents and the death of her brother. She crossed paths with producer
Craig King (
Quincy Jones,
Aaliyah,
Ludacris) who, with close
Ludacris associate James Bennett, worked on her artistic development and helped her land dates opening for the likes of
Ludacris and
Kanye West, and background sessions for
Quincy Jones' Q: Soul Bossa Nostra and
Killer Mike's PL3DGE. Advances as a co-composer were made in 2013 and 2014 with
Miley Cyrus' "Hands in the Air" and
Jennifer Lopez's "Booty," the latter a number 18 pop hit. In 2015 alone, Bryant contributed to
Ludacris'
Ludaversal,
Dr. Dre's number two hit
Compton, and
the Game's Documentary 2.5. A couple years later, after another assortment of featured appearances and writing gigs -- most notably work beside
Ne-Yo on the
Empire soundtrack cut "Shine on Me" -- Bryant concentrated on her own recordings. She debuted as
Asiahn in 2017 with Love Train, an EP of hot-blooded R&B ballads and slow jams produced by Cardiak (
Dr. Dre,
Tank,
PartyNextDoor). The duo continued to work together on the lengthier sequel
Love Train 2, which arrived in 2019. Both sets were issued independently. Early 2021 marked the arrival of the
The Interlude EP, which featured collaborations with
Grandmaster Vic and
Jordan Hawkins. ~ Andy Kellman