Thomas Lee Brown (born May 1, 1986 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), also known as TBHits, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his work with Victoria Monét, which has led to appearances and placements on six of Ariana Grande's seven studio albums, her Christmas project Christmas & Chill and the 2019 Charlie's Angels: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Brown also contributed several songs to Meghan Trainor's second album, Thank You released in 2016.^[1]

Brown was mentored by notable producers Roy "Royalty" Hamilton and Rodney Jerkins before creating his own production, songwriting, and publishing teams.^[2]

Producing and songwriting

Before entering the music industry, Brown worked at Sears in Atlanta, Georgia. He would hand out CDs of his songs, eventually catching the attention of artist Gorilla Zoe, who invited Brown to work in the studio with him.^[3] In 2008, Brown joined the production group Darkchild, where he met future collaborator and fellow upcoming writer Victoria Monét. During this period, he worked with artists like Jennifer Lopez, Wyclef Jean, and the The Black Eyed Peas, notably producing their song "Just Can't Get Enough".^[4] In 2012, Brown signed an independent publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. He currently lives in Los Angeles, producing tracks for established artists including Travis Scott, Cee Lo Green, Nas, T.I., Chris Brown, and Teyana Taylor, among others.^[3][5]

In 2013, Both Brown and Monét met Broadway and Nickelodeon alum Grande at a writing session for fellow artist Nick Jonas, forming an inseparable bond. Both would subsequently appear on her debut studio album Yours Truly.^[6] Brown would continue to contribute multiple tracks to each future Grande album, including 2018 healing project Sweetener.^[7] Less than six months later in 2019, Brown contributed five songs to Grande's Thank U, Next after several weeks of writing in collaboration with Grande, Monét, and mutual friend Tayla Parx.^[8] He next created his Champagne Therapy Music Group publishing imprint in collaboration with Universal Music.^[9][10] In 2021, the relationship between Brown and Universal further expanded to include a Global Publishing deal.^[11]

Discography

Awards and nominations