Floyd Bentley

Last updated

Floyd "A1" Bentley
Birth nameFloyd Eugene Bentley III
Also known asA1, Sprng BRK, Sprngbrk
Born (1987-07-06) July 6, 1987 (age 37)
Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
  • television personality
Labels
  • Beat House
  • Pulse Music Publishing
Spouse
(m. 2016;div. 2022)

Floyd Eugene Bentley III (born July 7, 1987), also known by his stage names A1 and Sprng BRK, is an American record producer and songwriter. He has been credited on singles and albums for prominent music industry artists including Drake, Chris Brown, Trey Songz and Future, among others. He produced the latter's 2022 single "Wait for U", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award. Bentley has often worked in tandem with fellow producer Hitmaka and his former spouse, Lyrica Anderson. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

In his personal life, Bentley's relationship with Anderson has been publicized on the reality television series Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood , where Bentley appeared on seasons 3 through 6, as well as other various other reality shows. [5] [6] [7]

Career

Early life

Bentley grew up on “the rough side of Kansas City”, and was accepted to Highland Community College, where he played basketball. [8] In his junior year, Bentley suffered a serious leg injury, making the decision to subsequently leave both the basketball team and college. After returning home and starting a job, Bentley began to write songs and rap, attracting the interest of an early manager. He quickly realized that his passion was music, and moved to Los Angeles to break into the music industry. Bentley experienced homelessness for 8 months before a chance encounter with Tony! Toni! Toné! artist and producer Raphael Saadiq, who allowed him to use his studio for six months after hearing several early demos, and Saadiq also introduced him to Mike Caren, the former Executive President of A&R at Atlantic Records. [1] Caren subsequently gave Bentley the opportunity to write for several artists in his roster, including Trey Songz and Tank. [9]

2010-2018: Initial songwriting success

In 2010, Bentley co-wrote "Unusual" featuring Drake for American singer Trey Songz, which entered the Billboard Hot 100, peaked at number seven on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and won Bentley an ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Award. [10] Over years, he also received album placements on various Tank, Chris Brown, and Jason Derulo projects. In 2016, Bentley released his debut single "Upside Down" featuring rapper O.T. Genasis. [11] Bentley began to create a closer relationship with Chris Brown's camp at this time, accepting potential album submissions and demos for Brown from other songwriters. [12] In 2017. Bentley contributed twelve songs to Chris Brown's album Heartbreak on a Full Moon , including multi-platinum single "Party" featuring Usher and Gucci Mane, as well as platinum single "Questions". [13] [14] [15] Bentley would also co-write and co-produce "No Pressure" for French Montana's Jungle Rules project, as well as co-write and co-produce Platinum single "Something New" for Wiz Khalifa and Ty Dolla Sign, which went viral as the result of a summer TikTok dance challenge. [16] [17]

2019-Present: Sprngbrk

In 2019, through a Power 106 interview, Bentley was announced as a new artist signee of T-Pain's record label Nappy Boy Entertainment, releasing debut mixtape Turbulence, before changing his artist name to Sprngbrk as a form of "reintroduction" after his reality TV appearances. [18] [19] [20] Bentley released single "Pride" in 2021, as the first release in a new collaboration between Nappy Boy and music streaming platform Soundcloud's RePost A&R creation department. [21] In 2022, Bentley co-wrote two songs from Future's album I Never Liked You , including multi-platinum, Billboard number-one single "Wait For U". [2]

Personal life

Bentley met fellow artist-songwriter Lyrica Anderson in an elevator at a Los Angeles area studio prior to a songwriting session for a mutual friend, before getting married in 2016. [22] Together they have one son, Ocean Zion Bentley, born in 2018. Anderson filed for divorce in 2022 for undisclosed reasons. [23]

Discography

Studio projects

Guest appearances

List of guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name
TitleYearOther performer(s)Album
"Sensei"2017 Chris Brown Heartbreak on a Full Moon

Songwriting and production credits

Credits are courtesy of Discogs, Tidal, Apple Music, and AllMusic.

TitleYearArtistAlbum
"Unusual" (Featuring Drake)2010 Trey Songz Passion, Pain & Pleasure
"I'm Pouring My Heart Out" Norman Brown Sending My Love
"Stingy" (Featuring Donnie Wahlberg)2011 Jordan Knight Unfinished
"Lonely" (Featuring Chris Brown)2012 Tank This Is How I Feel
"Nowhere" (Featuring Busta Rhymes)
"I'm Gone" (Featuring Big Sean) Tyga Careless World: Rise of the Last King
"All We Do"2014 Trey Songz Trigga
"Valet" (Featuring Pleasure P & TeeFlii) Eric Bellinger Choose Up Season
"Little Bit"2015 Chris Brown Royalty
"Wrist" (Featuring Solo Lucci)
"Love Like That" (Featuring K. Michelle) Jason Derulo Everything Is 4
"I Just Wanna" (Featuring Dej Loaf) Elijah Blake Shadows & Diamonds
"Wrist Remix (Featuring Young Thug & Jeezy)2016 Chris Brown Before the Trap: Nights in Tarzana
"I Need Love" (Featuring Hoody Baby, Young Blacc)
"Partyin' Next Door" (Featuring Young Blacc)
"Questions"2017 Heartbreak on a Full Moon
"Roses"
"Confidence"
"Sip"
"Hope You Do"
"Pull Up"
"Party (Featuring Usher & Gucci Mane)
"Summer Breeze"
"If You're Down"
"Run Away"
"Don't Slow Me Down"
"I Wanna"
"Hotel Bathroom" French Montana Jungle Rules
"No Pressure" (Featuring Future)
"Classic You" (Featuring Chris Brown) T-Pain Oblivion
"No Rush"
"Ex" (Featuring YG) Ty Dolla Sign Beach House 3
"Enormous" (Featuring Ty Dolla Sign) Gucci Mane Mr. Davis
"Tone It Down" (Featuring Chris Brown)
"Crash & Burn" (Featuring Kehlani) G-Eazy The Beautiful & Damned
"Don't Get Much Better" Jeremih, Ty Dolla Sign & Sage the Gemini The Fate of the Furious (soundtrack)
"Pie" (Featuring Chris Brown) Future Hndrxx
"Me So Bad" (Featuring Ty Dolla Sign & French Montana)2018 Tinashe Joyride
"Something New" (Featuring Ty Dolla Sign) Wiz Khalifa Rolling Papers 2
"Goin Thru Some Thangz"MihTy MihTy
"New Level"
"Take Your Time"
"These Days"
"Imitate"
"You Like That"2019 Chris Brown Indigo
"Cheetah"
"Part of the Plan"
"Technology"
"No Stylist" (Featuring Drake) French Montana Montana
"I Got Time" (Featuring Shad Da God)2020 Chris Brown & Young Thug Slime & B
"Undrunk" (Featuring Too Short & E-40) Chris Brown
"Wait for U" (Featuring Drake & Tems)2022 Future I Never Liked You
"Back to the Basics"
"Hmhmm" (Featuring EST Gee) Chris Brown Breezy
"Hate Me Tomorrow"
"Closure" (Featuring H.E.R.)
"Need A Friend"2023 11:11
"Go Girlfriend"

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2016-2019 Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood Himself54 Episodes - Supporting Cast S3-S4; Main Cast S5-S6 [24]
2017Hollywood Unlocked With Jason Lee UncensoredHimself1 Episode
Love & Hip-Hop Hollywood: Dirty Little SecretsHimself1 Episode
2018 Love & Hip Hop: New York: The Love EditionHimself1 Episode
2019Love & Hip-Hop Awards: Most CertifiedHimself1 Episode
40 Greatest Love & Hip Hop Moments: The Reboot – Part 1 & 2Himself2 Episodes
2020 The Conversation Himself2 Episodes - S1.4 - 1.5 [25]
2022 Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars 17 - Hip Hop Edition 5 Himself10 Episodes - Main Cast S19 [26]

Awards and nominations

YearWorkAwardResultRef
2012 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards Award-Winning Songs ( Unusual )Won [27]
2023 65th Annual Grammy Awards Grammy Award for Best Rap Song ( Wait for U )Nominated [28] [29]
Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance ( Wait for U ) A Won [30] [31]
BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards Most-Performed Songs ( Wait for U )Won [32]

Notes

A. A Winning songwriters in this category are awarded with a Winner's Certificate.

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