Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Bryson Tiller began his musical journey in high school, releasing the mixtape Killer Instinct, Vol. 1 in his late teens. He gained wide recognition on SoundCloud with his sparse ballad “Don’t,” which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and resulted in a deal with RCA Records. Bryson Tiller became one of the key breakout stars in 2010s, ushering in much of today’s contemporary R&B with a descriptively titled parent album, TRAPSOUL (2015), a moody swaggering set of slow jams that neologized a subgenre the singer/rapper took to the mainstream with multi-platinum certifications and Grammy nominations, along with the album’s peak at #8 on the Billboard 200. The 3x platinum album is supported by additional multi-platinum hits “Exchange” and “Sorry Not Sorry,” the latter of which was co-produced by Timbaland. “Exchange,” ranked in the top 30 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best R&B Song.
He continued his success with, True to Self (2017) and ANNIVERSARY (2019), his subsequent studio albums, which both either topped the Billboard 200 or reached the chart’s Top Ten. Tiller’s additional hits as a featured artist and duet partner are highlighted by DJ Khalid’s “Wild Thoughts” and H.E.R.’s “Could’ve Been.” ANNIVERSARY went on to land at number five on Billboard 200 and contained “Outta Time,” featuring guest vocals by Drake and production from 40, Nineteen85, and Vinylz. A year later, coinciding with both Halloween and the tenth anniversary of his first mixtape, Tiller offered his second tape, Killer Instinct 2: The Nightmare Before. Another holiday-themed recording, A Different Christmas, was out the next month with Justin Bieber, Pentatonix, and Kiana Ledé on the guest list. The EP included mostly original songs and an update of “Winter Wonderland.” In 2022, he returned to the music scene with the solo single “Outside.”
At the start of 2024, Tiller launched his weekly music series “Tiller Tuesdays.” Originating from the series and by feverous demand from fans, an updated and finalized version of “Whatever She Wants” was released via his label home, RCA Records. The single found the R&B crooner’s way into the hip-hop/rap space as it debuted in the Top 10 of Billboard’s ‘Hot Rap Songs’ Chart, as well hitting the Top 10 of Spotify U.S. and Apple Music.
