Meet R&B singer Winston Warrior. The Atlanta native entered the music industry in 90’s. He was once a member of R&B group Lo’ Profile, who had the opportunity to open for R&B veterans such as Mary J. Blige, Soul 4 Real and Dru Hill. Unfortunately, the emerging group disbanded. As a result, Warrior took his needed break from the music industry.
Using his MBA he earned from University of Miami, Warrior ventured into Corporate America, where he eventually became a marketing executive for a big company.
Although Warrior was very successful in the corporate world, there was one thing missing that he wanted to fulfill – his music. He was hesitant to reemerge as an artist because he had been out of the game for so long. Therefore, his insecurities overshadowed his want to sing. Fortunately, Winston’s support system was instrumental in encouraging him to reconnect with his music.
In 2011, a more focused and mature Warrior released his debut album “Lifeology 101,” which spawned hit single “Bad 4 U.” The song was successful as it peaked at number 27 on Billboard’s Urban/AC chart.
Fast forward to now. Warrior is gearing for the release of his sophomore album, “Lifeology 101…Back to School.”
We had a chance to sit down with Warrior to discuss his forthcoming album, being in an R&B group, working in the corporate world, and more. Check out our interview with Winston Warrior below.
Who is Winston Warrior?
I’m a southern gentleman from Atlanta who’s an R&B singer…a regular guy who is going after his dream, and I guess finally living a piece of that.
Tell us about your experience being a part of the group of Lo’ Profile.
That was a great time in my life. I learned a lot. The guys and I are still close today. It taught me a lot about music, about being in a group, and about the industry.
What was it like opening up for R&B veterans like Mary J Blige & Dru Hill?
It was a great experience, and if I knew then what I know now, I would’ve taken more from it. [But] studying their work ethic, seeing how they interacted and how they approached everything when the cameras were off was a great experience because they were professional and took it seriously.
After Lo’ Profile disbanded, what did you do?
I dabbled back and forth but nothing serious – a couple open mics here and there. I went and became this corporate guy. It was straight boardroom, business meetings, presentations, the whole nine.
Talk about your transition from being an artist to working in the corporate world.
It was hard as hell (laughs). I worked for companies that were not as culturally stimulating as an entertainment company or something like that. It was media but it was very much corporate. Wearing twists and all those kind of things wasn’t acceptable in that environment. Having to suppress that, change gears and be in a more structured environment was challenging. But I have left and right brain mentality so I was able to shut that side off and use that MBA that I earned.
When you decided to take off the corporate hat and focus on you music again, was there anything that you learned from being in the corporate world that you applied to your career as a singer?
I think that has been one of my advantages coming back. I’m very business savvy because I ran my department and I was a marketing executive. A lot of people always asked me who’s the creative person behind your[brand]. I’m like “me” because that’s what I did for a living for other people. So, that has been a tremendous advantage that I’ve had — just brining that business sense to the music business. A lot of people don’t understand it’s about, in my opinion, today about 30 percent music and 70 percent business. If you don’t have the business side down – just understanding the idea of budgets, keeping track of your money, understanding your rights, knowing about publishing, and all those kind of things. I was able to use my experience from Lo’ Profile and my corporate experience being a marketing executive. It really helped me on the [business] side.
