BRI
AKA BRIANA BABINEAUX
She’s been called the Justin Bieber or Ariana Grande of Gospel because Briana Babineaux, affectionately known as Bri, is a social media phenomenon that is making a compelling impact on the millennial generation. The exotic beauty and riveting vocalist rose to sudden fame after a friend posted a dramatic video of her singing “Make Me Over” on You Tube and the rest was history. She quickly amassed over 300,000 Instagram followers and the type of pandemonium reserved for rock stars or tabloid celebrities. Big name producers and record labels started courting Bri to record Pop music but she passed on the deals because her heart is rooted in gospel music. “I want to minister to people,” she says. “I wanted to be with a label that would help me spread the gospel in song and Marquis Boone offered that.”
Now signed to Lawrenceville, GA-area’s Marquis Boone Enterprises that has had tremendous success with gospel artists such as Casey J (#1 for 14 weeks on Billboard Magazine’s Gospel Airplay chart), Bri is living her dream. Her debut radio single “I’ll Be The One” was secretly released to digital retailers at midnight one Tuesday morning and twenty-four hours later; the song was in the Top Ten on the iTunes Christian/Gospel chart without radio airplay. The petite vocal powerhouse is now in the studio with her manager Marquis Boone and his team of producers creating an intriguing inaugural album that will hit the streets in the coming months.
Bri was born August 26, 1994 in Honolulu, Hawaii but her family moved to Louisiana when she was three months old. Her family is rooted in church where her stepfather is pastor of Refuge Temple in Lake Charles, LA. She began singing at the age of three and has developed an incredible vocal range that has left her fans on social media begging for more music. “I’ve always been outgoing with lots of energy, so it led me to playing sports in school like basketball, volleyball and running track,” she remembers. “Although, I was very good at sports, I really had a strong passion for singing within my church at a young age. In doing so, I was always singing in the Praise team or choir.”
After graduating from Northside High School in Lafayette, Bri was awarded a track scholarship to McNeese State University but eventually lost interest in competitive sports and enrolled at University of Louisiana at Lafayette criminal justice major instead. She intends to graduate next year and focus on her music full time. “I’m so humbled by everything that God is allowing to happen,” she says. “I’m telling God that I’ll be the one. It’s my vow to Him that I have his back and I won’t let Him down. In this song I’m letting God know He can always count on me. In essence, it’s a love song to God, pouring out my inner most thoughts and feeling to Him and Just letting him know that whatever He needs me to do, I’ll do it.”
