A Thibodaux musician who once performed for the BET Experience will drop a single and video next month.
Traci Brown, 25, most recently performed at Houma's third-annual Juicefest, and she will drop a new single and music video in the middle of August. She said she's still deciding which one to release, but it could be "Yo Body," which she performed live at Juicefest. It was recorded just a week before the festival.
Brown and Juicefest founder Deejay Juice, Justin Patterson, have been friends for some time. Patterson recalled how he invited her to perform at RadionNation DJ for the BET Experience on July 1, 2018.
“I was 100% behind her. She was a teen, searchin’ and just doing her thing,” Patterson said. “She’s always came off as professional. She’s always had dancers and the right blend of hype within her music.”
The BET Experience is the weekend leading up to the BET Awards show. RadioNation DJ takes place during the weekend, with DJs from around the country gathering to collaborate and show off aspiring talent.
"It was a great feeling seeing people in the music industry vibing with my music," Brown said of the experience.
Brown's talent was discovered by her high school when she released her first song, "Deuces," onto YouTube her freshman year at Edward Douglas White High School in 2015. The school gave her her first venue , letting her perform for the school’s pep rallies. That year, the Krewe of Ambrosia also asked her to perform for its parade. To this day, she said, she still performs every year for the parade.
She said E.D. White was very supportive of her.
“They started playing my song during homeroom on the TV," she said. "They supported me to the fullest when it came down to my music.”
"Deuces" is about a relationship going south because the boyfriend is interested in another girl, so the singer is saying goodbye. She released it on YouTube, and before she knew it, word spread around her friends at E.D. White, and to her surprise it was being talked about at Thibodaux High School as well.
“I had nearly 2,000 views the first day,” she said.
Brown said she doesn’t limit herself to one genre of music, but her songs tend to be up-beat because she likes to dance as part of her performance. It’s hard to dance to a downer of a song, she said. Inspired by "106 & Park," she practiced her dance moves into the nights in school parking lots.
Her proud mother, Charlotte Brown, often shows up to these practices with a cooler and snacks.
“You can tell they are putting their heart into everything,” she said. “You know, they sweat, they’re just fighting for it. They are hungry for it. They want this performance to be the best. It’s always over the top.”
She said Traci Brown will often practice with dancers for more than three hours straight each day to get the performance just right.
Since her performance for RadioNation DJ, Brown performed in New York, California, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas and more. When COVID hit, live performance opportunities dried up, making it hard to find gigs. Now that most venues have reopened, she said she’s trying to get her name back out. She said she intends to drop a new song every two weeks after this new one.
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“So people can see the older me, because I am older now," Brown said. "You know I’m 25, and people probably haven’t seen me since I was 20. You know I’ve matured, my songs are different, my voice is different. I’m just letting people see the real me.”
Brown's music can be found on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6b7uHHl5CSGVyF4aDah8Am .
This article originally appeared on The Courier: 'Professional:' Thibodaux musician's career matures with new single next month
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