View source for Johntá Austin

{{short description|American singer-songwriter (born 1980)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{BLP sources|date=September 2010}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name             = Johntá Austin
| image            = JohntáAustin2019.png
| caption          = Austin in 2019
| background       = solo_singer
| birth_place      = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], U.S.
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1980|6|28}}
| birth_name       = Johntá Moore Austin
| genre            = [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnta-austin-mn0000254125|title = Johnta Austin Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More|website = [[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
| occupation       = {{hlist|Singer-songwriter|record producer}}
| years_active     = 1995–present
| label            = {{hlist|[[So So Def Recordings|So So Def]]|[[Island Records|Island Urban Music]]|[[Island Records|Island]]|[[Def Jam Recordings|Def Jam]]}}
| past_member_of  = {{hlist|[[Ocean's 7]]|[[Charles Farrar #The Characters|the Characters]]}}
| spinoffs =
| website          = {{URL|johntaaustin.com}}
}}
'''Johntá Moore Austin''' ({{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɒ|n|ˈ|t|eɪ}} {{respell|jon|TAY}}; born June 28, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known for his production and songwriting work on hometown native [[Jermaine Dupri]]'s record label, [[So So Def Recordings]] during the mid-2000s. 

As a recording artist, Austin signed with the label prior to his guest appearance on Dupri's 2005 single "[[Gotta Getcha]]", which entered the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. The following year, his guest performance alongside [[Chris Brown]] on labelmate [[Bow Wow (rapper)|Bow Wow]]'s 2006 single "[[Shortie Like Mine]]" peaked within the top ten of the chart; the following year, his appearance alongside [[T-Pain]] on Bow Wow's single, "[[Outta My System]]" peaked within the top 40. As a lead artist, Austin released a number of singles—including "[[Turn It Up (Johntá Austin song)|Turn It Up]]" in 2005—in promotion for his debut studio album ''Ocean Drive'', which was never released.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnta-austin-mn0000254125|title=Johnta Austin on Allmusic|website=[[AllMusic]] }}</ref>

As a staff songwriter for So So Def, Austin's songwriting credits often accompanied Dupri's production, while he also collaborated with producer [[Bryan-Michael Cox]] and the duo [[Stargate (production team)|StarGate]]. He won two Grammy Awards for his work on the songs "[[We Belong Together (Mariah Carey song)|We Belong Together]]" by [[Mariah Carey]] and "[[Be Without You]]" by [[Mary J. Blige]].

==Early life and career==
Austin grew up in [[Atlanta]]. In 1989 at the age of 8, Austin hosted the daily television show, ''Kid's Beat'' on [[TBS (U.S. TV channel)|TBS]].  Covering current events, sports and the entertainment world, Austin went on to become the Atlanta Bureau Chief for the [[CNN]] weekly news program, ''Real News for Kids'' and the reporter for the TBS half-hour weekly, ''Feed Your Mind''. Austin is also related to [[Dreamville Records]] signee [[JID|J.i.D]].

Austin grew up singing in church choirs and wanted to become an actor. He interviewed celebrities including [[Michael Jackson]] and [[Michael Jordan]], among others, and in 1993 he made his television debut on ''[[The Arsenio Hall Show]]''. On the show he said he loved singing and was asked to sing with [[Arsenio Hall]]'s band.<ref>[http://www.6.islandrecords.com/site/artist_bio.php?artist_id=649]{{dead link|date=April 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

==Songwriting==
===1996–2004===
Austin's first professional credit as a songwriter was the 1996 single "[[Can't Be Wasting My Time]]" for singer [[Mona Lisa (singer)|Mona Lisa]].

Austin was signed in the mid-late 1990s to [[RCA Records]] before being dropped in favor of R&B singer [[Tyrese Gibson]]. However, he ended up writing a few songs for him (including the hit "[[Sweet Lady (Tyrese song)|Sweet Lady]]") as well as writing for other artists.

In 1998, Austin co-wrote the single "[[Miss You (Aaliyah song)|Miss You]]", which was originally intended for release on Aaliyah's self-titled third studio album (2001). However, following the singer’s untimely death in August of 2001, the track was ultimately included on the posthumously released compilation album, ''[[I Care 4 U]]'' (2002) alongside other Austin-penned songs "All I Need", "Come Over", and "Don't Worry". Austin co-wrote "[[Just Be a Man About It]]" for ''[[The Heat (Toni Braxton album)|The Heat]]'', the third studio album for [[Toni Braxton]].

===2005–2009===
Austin co-wrote [[Mariah Carey]]'s hit 2005 singles, "[[We Belong Together (Mariah Carey song)|We Belong Together]]", "[[Don't Forget About Us]]", "[[It's Like That (Mariah Carey song)|It's Like That]]", and "[[Shake It Off (Mariah Carey song)|Shake It Off]]" from her album ''[[The Emancipation of Mimi]]''. 

"We Belong Together" stayed at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, becoming the second longest-running number one song in US chart history at the time, behind Carey's 1996 collaboration with Boyz II Men on "One Sweet Day" (both songs have since been surpassed by [[Lil Nas X]] and [[Billy Ray Cyrus]]' 2019 hit single "[[Old Town Road]]", which spent 19 weeks in the number one position at its peak). "We Belong Together" won Grammys for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. 

In that same year, Austin also co-wrote [[Mary J. Blige]]'s single "[[Be Without You]]" from her No. 1 selling CD ''[[The Breakthrough]]'' and [[Monica (entertainer)|Monica]]'s single "[[Everytime Tha Beat Drop]]" from her album ''[[The Makings of Me]]''. He is also featured as a guest artist on Jermaine Dupri's 2005 song, "[[Gotta Getcha]]" and is credited as co-writer on several songs on [[Chris Brown (American singer)|Chris Brown]]'s [[Chris Brown (album)|self-titled debut album]] in 2005, such as "[[Yo (Excuse Me Miss)]]" and "[[Poppin' (Chris Brown song)|Poppin']]". He also co-wrote "[[With You (Chris Brown song)|With You]]" for Chris Brown and "Can I Call You" from [[Marques Houston]]'s debut album ''[[MH (album)|MH]]'' in 2003.

Austin produced and was featured on the songs "[[Shortie Like Mine]]" and "[[Outta My System]]", both singles by rapper [[Bow Wow (rapper)|Bow Wow]] off his album ''[[The Price of Fame]]''. Both of the songs were successful, "Shortie Like Mine" reaching number nine, and "Outta My System" reaching number 14 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/johnta-austin|title=Johnta Austin|website=Billboard.com|access-date=March 13, 2020}}</ref>

Austin co-wrote "[[Still (Tamia song)|Still]]" by Canadian singer [[Tamia]], found on her 2004 release, ''[[More (Tamia album)|More]]'', "This Song" by [[LeToya Luckett]], found on her 2006 debut, ''[[LeToya (album)|LeToya]]'', He also co-wrote "My Heart" on [[Jennifer Hudson]]'s self-titled debut album ''[[Jennifer Hudson (album)|Jennifer Hudson]]'' (2008).

In 2007, Austin co-wrote "[[Can't Help but Wait]]" by [[Trey Songz]] for his second studio album, ''[[Trey Day]]''. The song was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. Austin continuing his work with Trey Songz in 2009 and would go on to executive produce and write on his next album [[Ready (Trey Songz album)|Ready]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Johnta Austin {{!}} Credits {{!}} AllMusic|url = http://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnta-austin-mn0000254125/credits|website = AllMusic|access-date = December 10, 2015}}</ref> Austin wrote "One Love" with his musical partner [[Bryan-Michael Cox|Bryan Michael-Cox]]. Austin also co-wrote "[[I Need a Girl (Trey Songz song)|I Need A Girl]]" which saw radio success reaching No. 6 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Song chart.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://singersroom.com/content/2009-05-06/trey-songz-i-need-a-girl-2/|title=Trey Songz – I Need A Girl|website=Singersroom.com|date=May 6, 2009|access-date=March 13, 2020}}</ref>

===2010–present===
In 2010, Austin co-wrote the song "Foolin Around" with [[Jermaine Dupri]] and Bryan Michael-Cox for [[Usher (singer)|Usher]]'s Grammy award-winning album ''[[Raymond v. Raymond]]''. Also, he co-wrote the song "Never Let You Go" for Justin Bieber's debut album ''[[My World 2.0]]''. He executive produced and sang background vocal on ''[[Passion, Pain & Pleasure]]'', the fourth studio album of Trey Songz.

On June 25, 2010, in Los Angeles, California, at the [[ASCAP]] 23rd annual Rhythm & Soul music awards, Austin received the prestigious “Song of the Decade” award for his work on "We Belong Together" by [[Mariah Carey]], alongside fellow producer [[Jermaine Dupri]] and songwriter Manuel Seal. He is currently a recurring character on the Fox show Star (2016) alongside hip hop legend [[Queen Latifah]].<ref name="LoC">{{Cite web|url=http://www.mcarchives.com/index.asp?id=9495&PageNo=&keywords=&date=&f=2/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219183841/http://mcarchives.com/index.asp?id=9495|url-status=dead|title=MC Archives|archive-date=December 19, 2010}}</ref>

==Solo career==
After achieving success writing for other artists, Austin began work on his full-length debut album ''Ocean Drive'' on So So Def/Virgin Records. His first single "Lil' More Love" was released on June 7, 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/lil-more-love-single/715607350|title=iTunes – Music – Lil' More Love – Single by Johnta Austin|work=iTunes|date=January 2005|access-date=September 2, 2015}}</ref> It was followed by the release of "Dope Fiend" on November 29 later that year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/dope-fiend-radio-edit-single/723479318|title=iTunes – Music – Dope Fiend (Radio Edit) – Single by Johnta Austin|work=iTunes|date=January 2005|access-date=September 2, 2015}}</ref> While the album's first two singles failed to achieve radio/chart success, the label released a third single "Turn It Up" on July 11, 2006<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/turn-it-up-single/716223882|title=iTunes – Music – Turn It Up – Single by Johnta Austin|work=iTunes|date=January 2006|access-date=September 2, 2015}}</ref> along with a [[Jadakiss]]-added version in November.

A fourth single, "Video" featuring [[Unk]] was released a year later on July 31, 2007.<ref name="apple.com">{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/video-single/260399879|title=iTunes – Music – Video – Single by Johnta Austin featuring Unk|work=iTunes|date=January 2007|access-date=September 2, 2015}}</ref> Following the departure of So So Def Recordings from [[Virgin Records]] for [[Island Def Jam]] in 2007, the album was pushed back from a February 6, 2007, release to a September 4 release.<ref name="apple.com"/> A final single, the ballad "The One That Got Away" was released in 2008, before the album was eventually shelved.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Drive-Johnta-Austin/dp/B000VUFJ1E|title=Johnta Austin – Ocean Drive |website=Amazon.com|access-date=September 2, 2015}}</ref>

In 2010, Austin released a digital single "Close Your Eyes".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/close-your-eyes-single/373081707|title=iTunes – Music – Close Your Eyes – Single by Johnta Austin|work=iTunes|date=May 25, 2010|access-date=September 2, 2015}}</ref>

In 2012, Austin announced the upcoming release of the "Love" EP, part 1 of a three-part release with the subsequent "Sex" and "Religion" EPs to follow. "Love" EP was released on December 12 preceded by the buzz single "What a Feeling" featuring Jermaine Dupri.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisisrnb.com/2012/12/new-music-johnta-austin-love-ep/|title=New Music: Johnta Austin – "Love" (EP) – ThisisRnB.com – Hot New R&B Music, Videos, News|website=Thisisrnb.com|date=December 12, 2012|access-date=September 2, 2015}}</ref>

==Discography==
===Studio albums===
*2008: ''Ocean Drive'' <small>(Shelved)</small>
*2019: ''Love, Sex, & Religion''

===EPs===
*2012: ''Love''

===Singles===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!rowspan=2|Year
!rowspan=2|Single
!colspan=2|Peak charts
!rowspan=2|Album
|-
!width="60"|<small>[[Billboard Hot 100|US]]</small>
!width="60"|<small>[[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|US R&B]]</small>
|-
|rowspan="2"|2005
|align=left|"Lil' More Love"
| —
| —
|rowspan="5"|''Ocean Drive<br /><small>(Shelved)</small>'' 
|-
|align=left|"Dope Fiend"
| —
| —
|-
|2006
|align=left|"Turn It Up" <small>(featuring [[Jermaine Dupri]])</small>
| —
| 48
|-
|2007
|align=left|"Video" <small>(featuring [[DJ Unk]])</small>
| —
| —
|-
|2008
|align=left|"The One That Got Away"
| —
| 94
|-
|2011
|align=left|"Close Your Eyes"
| —
| —
|rowspan=1|''Love, Sex, & Religion''
|}

===Featured singles===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!rowspan="2"|Year
!rowspan="2"|Single
!rowspan="2"|Artist
!colspan="3"|Chart positions
!rowspan="2"|Album
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
!width="35"|[[Billboard Hot 100|US]]
!width="35"|[[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|US R&B]]
!width="35"|[[Hot Rap Tracks|US Rap]]
|-
|2005
|align="left"|"[[Gotta Getcha]]"
|[[Jermaine Dupri]]
| 60
| 31
| 15
|''[[Young, Fly & Flashy, Vol. 1]]''
|-
|rowspan="2"|2006
|align="left"|"[[Shortie Like Mine]]"
|[[Bow Wow (rapper)|Bow Wow]] <small>(also feat. '''[[Chris Brown (American singer)|Chris Brown]]''')</small>
| 9
| 9
| 1
|rowspan="2" align="left"|''[[The Price of Fame]]''
|-
|align="left"|"[[Outta My System]]"
|Bow Wow <small>(also feat. '''[[T-Pain]]''')</small>
| 22
| 12
| 2
|-
|2009
|align="left"|"[[You Can Get It All]]"
|Bow Wow
| 55
| 30
| 9
|align="left"|''[[New Jack City II]]''
|-
|2010
|align="left"|"[[Shawty Wus Up]]"
|[[Dondria]] <small>(also feat. '''[[Diamond (rapper)|Diamond]]''')</small>
| —
|66
| —
|align="left"|''[[Dondria vs. Phatfffat]]''
|-
|2022
|"Better Days"
|[[JID]]
|–
|–
|–
|[[The Forever Story]]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070704052810/http://www.defjam.com/site/artist_home.php?artist_id=649 Official Def Jam page]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120204201158/http://www.johntaaustin.com/ Official website]}}

{{Johntá Austin}}
{{Grammy Award for Best R&B Song}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Johnta}}
[[Category:1980 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:African-American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:African-American record producers]]
[[Category:American contemporary R&B singers]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Island Records artists]]
[[Category:Singers from Atlanta]]
[[Category:Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:So So Def Recordings artists]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American male singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male singers]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)]]