Award winning songwriter Sean Garrett has had an outstanding year collaborating with artists like Chris Brown, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, Eve and Mary J. Blige. Listed as one of Giant Magazine’s 100 Giants that has been influential in shaping pop culture, Sean Garrett has already laid the foundation which solidifies that he deserves the name “The Pen” given to him by Def Jam President Jay-Z. You know you've successfully carved your niche when Jay-Z gives you a nickname. “I know how seriously he (Jay-Z) takes lyrics, putting songs together and really conveying them to the world, so to have someone like him give me respect like that, let’s me know that I’m definitely doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” said Garrett. “Hov is the best that’s living in my opinion, so it feels incredible for someone of that status to respect what you do.”

Part of the reason Garrett has been so successful is he never tries to outright change an artist’s style and direction. Instead, he opts to enhance it. When Garrett linked up with Usher, he went with his gut feeling regarding the musical direction the R&B superstar should take for his next single. The final product of Usher’s voice and Garrett’s pen turned out to be “Yeah.”

With demanding deadlines, record labels admire the way Garrett can churn out several quality songs in a short period of time. Garrett, with the help of Beyonce, knocked out 10 songs in about eight days for her new album. “My records are generally spontaneous. I’m just really blessed to have that ability to go in on the spot and just do a multiple amount of records,” explained Garrett.

And if Garrett’s pen should run out of ink (not likely), he can equally impress artists and labels with his work behind the boards. “I think that’s the biggest misconception: that I’m only a songwriter. I produce too,” said Garrett, a craft that he’s equally serious about. “I feel like I’m the future of music. Teddy Riley had a time, Pharrell had a time, Dr. Dre had his time, but I’m that new next kid.”

When Chris Brown’s first single Wall to Wall hit radio waves it became one of the fastest-rising singles on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Eve’s club smash “Tambourine” which samples "Blow Your Whistle" from The Soul Searchers, became her first charting single in over four years. On her sophomore album “Miss Kelly,” former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland’s lead single Like This reached the top 10 in both Canada and the UK. Grammy Award winner Enrique Iglesias had an all around hit with Do you Know which landed on Billboard’s Hot 100, Hot Dance Club Play list and Hot Latin Tracks Chart where it spent 12 weeks at #1. And now to close out 2007, Sean has collaborated with Grammy Award winner Mary J. Blige on her new single Work That off her new album entitled “Growing Pains.” Work That is also featured in the new Apple iPod commercials.

“Sean just brings this mad energy to a record!” exclaims Mary J. Blige. “He has it, first. Then he brings it to the record, in the writing and melodies. And after that, the reaction to the record almost can’t help but be as heated…That’s what he did for me.”

Currently Sean is in the studio creating magic with Janet Jackson, Jennifer Hudson, Ludacris, Usher and Young Jeezy.

The upcoming 2008 holds a few surprises for fans of Sean Garrett, as he will be shaking up the music industry with the release of his first solo album. The yet untitled album is an electric current from start to finish. The first single will be hitting the airwaves January 2008. “It’s a peak into my life,” Sean says of the yet untitled album which is to be released on Bet I Penned It Music/Interscope Records.

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LAST MONTH'S FEATURE: TROY MARSHALL