It’s a little pass 11 o’clock at night and Anthony Hall has yet to show any signs of fatigue. From the top of his blue and white Philly’s hat down to his white Nike Air Force One’s, the energy around him is clearly seen and felt by everyone in the room. With a melodic ballad steadily pumping through the studio speakers behind him, thoughts easily find their way through the pen in his right hand to the white sheet of paper that lies in front of him. Looking up he catches the eye of a young female fan seated in the corner. His lips turn into a smile and a piece of Anthony is unselfishly given away. Signaling his readiness, he pushes back from the table and makes his way to the booth, stopping every few feet to glance back at his patient fan. As he throws on the headphones and his voice fills the studio, it’s not hard to tell why Anthony Hall is well worth the wait.
Born in Philadelphia, a city that for close to a decade has yet to live up to it’s popular moniker “The City of Brotherly Love,†Anthony Hall has seen his fair share of the real world. Raised by a no-nonsense, tell it like it is Grandmother who neither sugar coated life or it’s struggles, he was more than prepared for the harshness of the real world. Always one for a good joke or a chance to make someone smile, the 17-year-old singer chose to push away from the limits and strongholds of a lifestyle that so many have fallen victim to and sought refuge in a gift that no one, not even himself, knew he had until his teen years.
“I was always singing since the age 4,†starts Anthony Hall. “Well at first I just really mimicked a lot of what was on radio and at that time it was a lot of Jodeci, R. Kelly, and Mary J. Blige. Then there were the times you could catch me at the lockers singing to a girl or group of girls. But, it wasn’t until my audition for the performing arts school, where I made one of the teachers cry with my rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly†that I began to take it serious.â€
Finding his voice, Anthony Hall also found a talent and passion for writing during his time in high school. A class assignment that required poems in sonnet form proved his ability to put words together and express himself. Inspired by daily interactions with the opposite sex, struggles of life, and the up’s and downs, Anthony Hall has something to say and people are starting to listen and take notice.
A talented writer and singer with influences like Sam Cooke, Luther Vandross, and Donny Hathaway, Anthony Hall looks to breathe old life into a genre that many say has lost it’s way. True to ballads full of emotion and real life, he sings from the heart and experience. Although many may say, ‘What does a 17-year-old know about life,’ his music steadily answers that question time and time again.
As the year of 2008 starts with the Introduction of Anthony Hall, the rest of the year will continue with the creation of something fresh and new. Anthony Hall is truly that new wave that this industry so desperately needs.
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