Photographed by Shaun Andru.
[Rhyon Brown](https://www.instagram.com/rhyonbrown/?hl=en) is a triple threat, in all facets of her life. Whether she’s dancing, singing, acting, or overall entertaining, the Los Angeles native has high hopes of becoming one of the best to ever do it. In fact, this has been her dream since she was a toddler.
You may have seen her on the television show _Empire_, the movie _Get Rich or Die Tryin_, or even the Lifetime biopic _Surviving Compton_ — but RNB is now focused on her own artistry, writing, recording, and performing her own music isn’t as common nowadays, and Brown has full creative control of her art.
She states, “I’m trying to bring back what it means to be an entertainer,” which emcopasses her love for dancing, music, and acting into one. With each and every song, she injects soul, passion, love, and everything in between.
Most recently, Brown released her single “Leaves,” holding fans over until her forthcoming project. Flaunt caught up with Rhyon to discuss her acting endeavors, growing up in Los Angeles, new single “Leaves,” and wanting to be the very best.
**Talk about being an entertainer and all that you do.**
Right now, I’m shooting a show called _Empire._ We’re wrapping up our last season. That was an awesome experience, but I’m transitioning into putting my music at the forefront. I have a lot to say and my music is my outlet to tell the world how I view things. My thing is when people come to my show, I want them to have a full experience. I want them to hear the band, I want them to see dancing. I want them to be engrossed in the music. I want to give people a full show.
**How do you view the world having grown up in Los Angeles?**
I’m from Carson. Reason and I grew up together, we went to high school together. I’m blessed to be from the best city on the planet to be honest, especially for what it is that I do. It’s crazy because there’s so many people that you meet who aren’t from LA, who come here. They say “people from LA are fake, they’re this and that.” My question is always “so how many people have you met who are actually from LA?” Because I consider people from LA to be the West Coast version of the South. Every LA person’s like “oh, come over. You need weed? I got weed. You want to come to a game night? You want to chill?” We’re super welcoming in and super cool. That’s the version of LA I want to show people.
Photographed by Shaun Andru
**When did you realize this music this was for real?**
I always had an interest in music. I grew up doing musical theater. Acting took off for me first, then I took a break from acting and went to USC for film school.
**What did you study there?**
I studied film. I went to the film school undergrad. It gave me a better understanding of the full scope of things. When it comes to my music videos and the way that my visuals look, my show looks, I’m super into the aesthetics of it. What the viewer gets out of not just what they hear, but what they see.
I know how to talk to the director. I know how to talk to the DP. I consider myself to be a really good communicator. Not just on what it is I feel and what it is I want, but to be able to listen to people and see their vision. Allow it to be one big family coming up with this incredibly dope vision. Every piece of my life has played into me being the artist that I am.
**What piece of your life are you at now?**
I do this because I love it. I do this because I have something to say, but I’ve never gotten involved in anything that I didn’t want to be the best at. I want people to hear my music and see my shows, consider me at the end of this whole thing to be one of the best entertainers of our time.
**What do you think it’s going to take to get you there?**
I’m a really, really hard worker. At this point what I’ve learned is a big part of it is the team of people you have around you. I’m finally in a place where I have that team of people surrounding me who don’t just believe in me, but people who are always going to be honest with me regardless if it’s things that I want to hear or I don’t.
I’ve been privy to a decent amount of people’s careers. I’ve seen really really talented people not get to where they want to go because they’re surrounded by “yes men.” That essentially has been the demise of their careers. Going at this for a minute, I finally found people that are surrounded around me who carry a lot of weight. I know what I’m good at, they know what they’re good at, we come together and we make it happen.
**Who or what inspired “Leaves”?**
\[chuckles\] “Leaves” is actually the only song on my project I didn’t write. There’s two writers I work with from time to time. I went into the studio and heard the song, it was something I’d been going through at the time. Everybody can relate to those situations where you fall in love with somebody, you know it’s fucking time to go but you can’t imagine your life without them. You’re stuck with this person like “you fucking drive me insane, but I’m still here because I love you.” One day you’re in, one day you’re out. It’s something people need to hear.
**How was doing choreography with your boo thang?**
Everyone asks about him. \[laughs\] He’s not somebody I’m dating but he’s a really awesome guy. Super talented. I’m lucky to have him in the video because he’s one of Jennifer Lopez’ main dancers. He brought it. The teamwork was incredible. We have a lot of chemistry that showed up on camera so a lot of people think we’re dating. It was awesome, a really good experience. Cold in that fucking rain though.
**What are some goals for yourself at this point in your career?**
I have a lot of goals. At the forefront, I want to be considered one of the best entertainers of our time. You know how you listen to music and… let’s say Usher’s _Confessions_ album. Remember what period of time that held in your life? I want to give people music where they hear my music years from now, and they know exactly where they were when they listened or exactly what space in time that held for them. I want people to grow with me and live with me, throughout however long this career takes me.
**What can we expect next?**
Next I have another single coming out in about two weeks. We have D Smoke on the track, I’m really happy with it. Then I’ll release the project called _Love Anyways_. LA is the acronym for me. There’s a lot of people who come here and talk a lot of shit, but it’s my city so I love it anyways. It has to do with heartbreak for me. I’ve dealt with a lot of that in my life but at the end of the day, I’m never going to choose not to love.
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