With an evening show on "42 radio stations nationwide, all the way down the Eastern seaboard" (US), a role in the current American series of Celebrity Apprentice and a TV show launching in September along with a brand new album, Brian McKnight is on a mission to squeeze everything he can out of 2009.
On his recent visit to London, the multi-tasking multiple Grammy Award nominated singer and songwriter sat down with Black Sheep magazine to talk about taking on the many forms of media, being trapped by long-term record deals and why he left Warner Bros to go independent.
"I don't really look at myself as being one type of anything," he tells me. "I'm an artist, now whether it's a soul artist or this artist or that artist... I've had number one pop songs, number one R&B songs, I've had number one country songs; I've done it all. So when you don't put yourself into whatever basket they wanna put you in, it allows you the freedom to try just about anything."
Speaking of freedom, McKnight recently made the jump from major label artist to releasing his music through his own label, "completely independent of all the record company mumbo jumbo." Having played the game for two decades - admittedly with a forced hand - McKnight has built up his knowledge of the industry and his audience and can finally apply it under his own terms with his forthcoming album.
"When I looked at how much money I made the record labels that I've been signed to and how much they gave me there was a huge disparity between the two. So I could actually sell considerably less records on my own label and make more money!" laughs the LA-based singer.
"The record labels know what they do when they sign you to a long-term deal because they lock you in - I had to wait, I had to satisfy the end of those deals until I could finally do things the way I really wanted to.
"Records have been the bridge to get everywhere I would like to be. These days it's about multimedia because people have so many choices. I never just wanted to be a music artist or just a producer or just a writer, I kind of wanted to do everything and when the opportunity's arisen I've risen to the occasion."
Secure with an established and loyal fan base, McKnight is unperturbed about reaching his audience on his own steam ("The big record companies have a lot of machinery so for an artist like myself who already has a fan base it should be easier...") but instead has to keep an eye on the shifts in the music market - hence the radio hosting, reality TV features and talk show.
"We've turned into a singles-based medium, where people know your single but they don't even know you have a record out - and in a lot of ways they don't even care that you have a record out because they bought your single for 99 cents or downloaded it for free. So that's one of the biggest challenges."
Following in his footsteps, his two sons Niko and Brian Jr currently accompany him on tour, introducing his audience to their developing brand of pop, rock and soul. Their debut album "should be out at the end of the summer, under the name McKnight," he gushes. Accomplished musician, songwriter, singer, radio and TV personality - and now musical mentor to his offspring... what's next for McKnight to conquer?
"Who knows, who knows what tomorrow's going to bring?" he muses about the forthcoming year. "Who knows what today might bring? It's gonna be a wild ride, I'm just getting prepared for it."
The Brian McKnight TV Show airs in the States in the first week of September with his forthcoming album due for release at the same time.
