MONAIRE BRWN Talks "We Know," Career Beginnings, and More

MONAIRE BRWN is an R&B artist known for blending soul, vulnerability, and storytelling in his music. Raised between Norfolk, Virginia and Paterson, New Jersey, his sound is shaped by early church roots, Caribbean heritage, and a love for ’90s–2000s R&B. Starting with drums and piano at age four, MONAIRE BRWN grew into a self-produced artist with a deeply personal style. Now independent, he works with a tight-knit team and creates music that helps people feel seen, heard, and understood.

With his single, “We Know,” out now, we took some time to hear from MONAIRE BRWN. Read below to learn more about MONAIRE BRWN, the story behind his single, and what’s to come.

Hi MONAIRE BRWN! Let’s start with how did you get your artist name?

I got my artist name from my father. He’s Jamaican and he gave me ‘Monaire’ as my middle name, and I took my last name, ‘Brown,’ and took out the ‘o.’ Funny enough, I used to HATE my middle name, haha, but after my closest friends told me to use it as my artist name and badgered me to do it, it started growing on me.

What city are you from and where are you based now?

I was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up back and forth in Paterson, New Jersey. I currently live in Bronx, New York.

At what point in your life did you decide to pursue a career in music? How did you get started?

I started playing drums and piano in church when I was about four, and later got into singing in middle school, and also through church. I grew up on reggae, dancehall, and 90s–2000s R&B, so that’s always been a big influence. Around seventeen, I started teaching myself how to produce and record, and by nineteen, I really locked in, doing covers for fun at first, then eventually deciding to take music seriously and put out my own stuff.

Has your upbringing played a role in shaping who you are and defining your sound today? If so, how?

My upbringing definitely played a part. If I didn’t have that meshed background with the gospel mixed with R&B and dancehall, I don’t think that I would really understand how to make great melodies, but also putting heart into it. I got the energy from the R&B and dancehall, and the feeling at musical touch from my gospel roots too.

How would you describe your sound to readers who may not be familiar with you?

I would describe my sound as a feeling. It’s a million ways to feel. I feel like with me, you can get so many different feelings whether it’s love, knowing how to express how you feel hurt but not sounding cringe. I feel like I say things that people feel or can’t express, so they can listen to me and feel free through my music.

Do you have any hobbies outside of music? What do you do to stay creative?

I have a few hobbies for sure. The best basketball player that you’ll ever meet, I don’t care what nobody say, haha. Also, the best billiards player on the planet, play me if there’s a problem, haha. All seriousness, I do things like that to keep me grounded to regular life – I like going out, vibing with my people, and just living everyday life. That’s what inspires me to write all the time and record because I have so much memories and situations to go off of and create from.

Who are some of your main musical influences?

BRANDY NORWOOD, Chris Brown, Mario, Tank, Miguel, The Walls Group, Kenyon Dixon, and many more, but these are some of the main people. I’ve shaped my sound through so many musical artists whether my vocals or just the music in general.

What are some of your future music career goals?

Some of my future music goals are to be living off of music full-time really soon. I want to be able to find my audience this summer and keep growing in my artistry. Also, a reachable goal that I want to reach is to do a good amount of features this summer with people that I really connect with as a person and musically.

What’s one of the proudest moments of your music career so far?

One of my proudest moments of my music career so far is when I had my first show that I was apart of in Virginia, and I was one of the headlines for my birthday and the turn out was great. I never felt so confident as an artist and as a performer.

What would you say are the greatest lessons that you’ve learned so far?

One of greatest lessons that I’ve definitely learned is to make your first move, no matter how small. The difference between you and your dream artist or any artist doing it big is that they actually just did it and worked hard. It just takes making the first step. Also, I’ve learned to never quit, no matter what because even if you make it, you’re going to always go through trials. Why not make it and do what you love fully and figure out your trials then.

Now onto your release, ‘We Know.’ What inspired this song?

Really what inspired this song was a YouTube short of somebody dancing that I saw while I was on break at my job. They were dancing to Busta Rhymes’ ‘Touch It,’ and all day at work, all I kept thinking is, ‘what would this sound like if I sampled it?’ So, I went home that night, and then I made the beat and the rest was history from there.

What is ‘We Know’ about?

‘We Know’ is about really just going out with a woman and really just doing everything that you can to please her and show her a good time. I really just wanted to paint a story with my lyrics of a good night with your girl and every fantasy y’all might have you can do that with her and just take care of her.

What is your favorite lyric in ‘We Know’ and why?

My favorite lyric is ‘I know you a creamer, just tell me your dreams, make you a believer. I know how you want it, you know how I’m coming.’ I love that just because I’m literally telling her, I know what her dreams are and her fantasies, and I know how she gets down, and I’m gonna make her a believer. She was dreaming, but now she sees that I made it a reality. She knows how I give it up, and I know how she needs it.

What message do you hope fans take away from your music and from ‘We Know?’

The message that I want to send with ‘We Know’ is that R&B right now has been about men and women going back and forth, and with ‘We Know,’ I just want to change the subject and bring back a good feeling about men going after their women and taking care of them in the right ways. I’m like a wingman, all you have to do is turn on my song, and I set the whole mood and vibe for you and your woman.

What’s next for you? Are you working on any upcoming projects, or do you have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?

What’s next for me really is to go ahead and put out more singles this summer until I keep finding my full audience, and I already have a EP locked and loaded for when the time is right.

Where can we follow you on social media?

You can follow me on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter (X):

https://www.instagram.com/monairebrwn