ALUMNI NEWS
Brother Williams sharing the stage with singer Erykah Badu.
“ ERYKAH IS LIKE A SISTER TO ME . I’VE BEEN WORKING WITH HER SINCE AROUND 1999, WHEN SHE STARTED WORKING ON HER SECOND ALBUM, MAMA’S GUN [2000].”
Williams graduated from high school in 1995 from the presti- gious Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing & Visual Arts, which has a storied history of developing talented musical students in Dallas. While at Washington, he learned to play jazz and synthesizer combinations. The young musi- cian had the opportunity to tour internationally with the celebrated gospel group, God’s Property. It was with God’s Property that he won a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album and a Soul Train Music Award for Best Gospel Album for their 1997 album, God’s Property from Kirk Franklin’s Nu Nation . To further his music education, Brother Williams attended the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, TX, and enrolled in the school’s renowned music department. During his time at UNT, he played piano for multiple Jazz Lab bands and
performed with the school’s gospel choir, Voices of Praise. He was also a member of the Zebras, UNT’s premier contemporary music ensemble. After receiving his undergraduate degree in 2001, he set his sights on becoming a full-time musician. Williams’ transition to a profes- sional career in the music industry was somewhat seamless. He found himself on extended tours with Erykah Badu and Kirk Franklin. Being on the road led to new invitations to work with other established artists, such as Snoop Dogg. “Around this time, I started producing and writing
on records with Badu and other art- ists, which led to many opportunities working with artists as a producer/ writer,” Williams says. After working with Badu for a couple of years, he became her musical director in 2003 and helped shape her legendary live performances for nearly 20 years. In 2004, his collaboration with Badu netted him a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song for his work as a song- writer for “Danger,” from her album, Worldwide Underground. Williams elaborated on his long-standing collaboration with the Grammy Award-winning songstress.
80 THE JOURNAL ♦ WINTER 2025-2026
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting