Grammy-Winning Eric Bellinger: Fame, Working with Chris Brown, Usher & Justin Bieber, and Legacy

What this episode is about

Eric Bellinger discusses his journey from humble beginnings to Grammy-winning success, highlighting his deep faith and ambition to achieve his dreams in music. He reflects on the duality of his career as both a successful songwriter for prominent artists like Chris Brown, Usher, and Justin Bieber, and as a performing artist, emphasizing the joy of seeing his work celebrated and the lasting impact of music.

Key takeaways

• Eric Bellinger's voicemail singing led to a career leap: talk about the ultimate phone tag.
• From Chuck E. Cheese to sold-out tours, Eric shows ambition has a beat anyone can dance to.
• You don't need a viral following, just a VIP listener: Eric's journey sings this truth.
• R&B's 'death' greatly exaggerated—sold-out shows in 2025 prove soulful comebacks are real.
• Watching Chris Brown perform my co-written songs? A backstage pass to dreams on stage.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Eric Bellinger (Guest) · 12 min speaking
• Founder's Story Host (name not stated) (Host) · 8 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Eric Bellinger, All Wins Entertainment, Chuck E. Cheese, Jagged Edge
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Billboard, Oh My Love, Say It With Me
3. 15:00 – 20:00: Circus Studio, Eric Bellinger, Instagram

Notable quotes from "Grammy-Winning Eric Bellinger: Fame, Working with Chris Brown, Usher & Justin Bieber, and Legacy"

• So, I'm excited today because we have a legend here, Eric Bellinger. Who was Eric and what was your dream, man? Eric Bellinger was always an ambitious man of faith. Grew up in church and strongly believed in God and.

  about Eric Bellinger · at 0:00

• And I heard you talk about you worked at Chuck E.Cheese. it's always funny to hear like the jobs that people had, but you were even you were like literally the voice like you were the voice of voicemails or answering.

  about Chuck E. Cheese · at 2:03

• Yeah. No, I always tell, I have a label, All Wins Entertainment, and I always encourage them to not worry about the numbers and to just post because, for example, if Beyonce hears something that she absolutely loves and.

  about All Wins Entertainment · at 3:49

• Seen the stat recently where it was like 70 to 80% of the songs that are the top charting songs on Billboard started off viral on Tik Tok, you know. So, it's obvious because…

  about Billboard · at 7:57

• French sounds, let's mix London sounds, let's mix, and we did a song called Say It With Me. We did a song called Oh My Love the very next day. And it's interesting because you…

  about Say It With Me · at 9:47

• We're potentially going to do a partnership with hats and this is company called Circus Studio and it really starts with just networking and being willing to work and let…

  about Circus Studio · at 15:40

• Yeah, make sure you hit me up, man. my Instagram is Eric Ballinger is my full name, E R I C B L I N G- Er. And you can also hit me up on X. You can hit me up on my website, eric bellinger.com.

  about Instagram · at 18:13

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Eric Bellinger — Person · 3 mentions · first at 0:02
• Andy Lloyd — Person · 1 mention
• Babyface — Person · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

• Chuck E. Cheese — Company · 1 mention · first at 2:05
• All Wins Entertainment — Company · 1 mention · first at 3:52
• Jagged Edge — Company · 1 mention · first at 4:19
  Man, I love your story. So, you're on this tour. you're with Jagged Edge and Lloyd and you epic, man. it brings back so many memories. I It's kind of crazy how music you can listen to a song and you can remember exactly.
• Billboard — Company · 1 mention · first at 8:02
• Circus Studio — Company · 1 mention · first at 15:44
• Instagram — Company · 1 mention · first at 18:16
• ASCAP — Company · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

• Say It With Me — Concept · 1 mention · first at 9:52
• Oh My Love — Concept · 1 mention · first at 9:55
  Let's mix, and we did a song called Say It With Me. We did a song called Oh My Love the very next day. And it's interesting because you go back and you listen to him now and…

Places & events

• Lagos — Place · 3 mentions

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 So, I'm excited today because we have a legend here, Eric Bellinger. Who was Eric and what was your dream, man? Eric Bellinger was always an ambitious man of faith. Grew up in in church and strongly believed in God and spirituality and believe that anything I put my mind to, you know, I could achieve it.

0:23 You had hits for Chris Brown, Usher, Justin Bieber. How is it for you being behind the scenes versus being at the forefront?

0:31 I get the best of both worlds cuz not only do I get to feel the love on the artist side, but I get to see the love on the songwriter side.

0:39 What's the feeling like when you're sitting in a restaurant and all of a sudden a song comes on? Whether it's your song or a song you wrote,

0:46 just enjoy it. You know, when it comes on it's like, yo, the song, you know what I mean, man? But it's just a celebration for the hard work, you know, especially being music. It's a gift that keeps on giving because even when the artist isn't performing, the song is still performing. So, I'm excited today because we have a legend here who is on tour right now, which is I mean that's I don't think we've ever interviewed anyone who is currently on tour. Uh but Eric Bellinger, what a story, man. What a story. But let's go back to before you were famous, before you were writing hits for the most incredible artists on the planet. Who was Eric and what was your dream?

1:36 Yeah, man. Eric Ballinger was always an ambitious um man of faith. You know, I grew up in in church and and strongly believed in God and spirituality and believed that anything I put my mind to, you know, I could achieve it. So, I was always walking with faith and victory even before the winds started rolling in.

2:03 And I heard you talk about you worked at Chuck E.Cheese. I mean, it's always funny to hear like the jobs that people had, but you were even you were like literally the voice like you were the voice of voicemails or answering machines back in the day. How did that transition to being in the music industry? So crazy part is I used to sing, you know, back, you know, when I grew up, we would we would have an answer machine on our cell phone and we would turn up the music and then when it was time like leave a message and it's like what? And then you turn it down, yo, what's going on? It's Eric. Make sure you leave a message. Call me back.

2:40 And then you turn the music up. But I was like, all right, how can I take that experience to the next level? And I literally used to sting on all my friends voice messages um and answer machines. And I actually got discovered because one of my friends who I sang on her voice on her answering machine rather her godmother was an ANR for Baby Face. So she was like, "Yo, who is that singing on your on your on your answer machine?" And sure enough, that's how I connected with, you know, my biggest um supporter and believer.

3:16 I love how nostalgia is coming back around. And that that is a wild story. Sorry, going back to what you just said. I think a lot of people nowadays are like, you know, when they look at social media, like I need everything to go viral, but I don't but like why does it go viral? Why do you need it to go viral in the sense for you literally one person hearing your voice changed your life? So, how do you how do you think about that in terms do you think we have it all wrong? Like, do we need a million people to hear us to be successful or if we just get into the, you know, the in front of the right people? Is that all we need?

3:49 Yeah. No, I always tell, you know, I have a label, All Wins Entertainment, and I always encourage them to not worry about the numbers and to just post because, for example, if Beyonce hears something that she absolutely loves and that she's a fan of, she'll just put it in the set. she'll put it in her tour because it inspired her. So, you know, it's not about how many people are watching, but it's about the right person watching to help amplify your vision.

4:17 Man, I love your story. So, you're on this tour. Uh you're with Jagged Edge and Lloyd and you epic, man. Like, it brings back so many memories. I It's kind of crazy how music you can listen to a song and you can remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and the song lyrics, but I can't even tell you what I did last week. How is it to be on such this nostalgia tour and and what's the energy of the people going? It's a lot of music lovers, a lot of R&B heads and it feels great because for a long time people were trying to say like R&B was dead or R&B is not as popping.

4:57 But, you know, I'm just glad I just stayed true and just kept doing what I love doing because sure enough, it came back around and the energy in every room, every show, every night is sold out. You know, I finish my set, I go in the crowd, I watch the rest of the set, you know, it's it's just beautiful to celebrate um R&B together in a communal way in 2025, you know. Man, I I love I grew up hiphop, R&B is pretty much what I grew up listening, but you've had hits for Chris Brown, Usher, Justin Bieber. How is it for you being behind the scenes when you're writing versus being at the forefront?

5:36 Oh man, it's totally different. Totally different. It still feels, you know, like a connection while while I'm watching. For example, I went to Chris Brown's concert recently and it was fire to see the songs that we created together performed on such a large scale and see all the people singing along and seeing all the 50 dancers and the, you know, him flying in the air. Like, there's nothing like seeing the vision on that scale. But to also be able to perform my songs, you know, when I'm on tour and feel that same feeling, except I'm able to look at the people that I've actually impacted, see the people that sing along to my music every day in their cars, do the meet and greets with them. So, I get the best of both worlds cuz not only do I get to feel the love on the artist side, but I get to see the love on the songwriter side. What's the feeling like when you're sitting in a restaurant or somewhere and all of a

6:32 sudden a song comes on, whether it's your song or a song you wrote? I always wanted to know what is that feel like?

6:39 Yeah, man. It's definitely uh it's definitely good. You know, I at times I wonder if they know I'm there. You know what I'm saying? Sometimes it's like they do and sometimes they don't. But I I I stopped trying to figure out which one it was and just enjoy it. You know, when it comes on, it's like, yo, it's on. You know what I mean? Maybe some people around me might might put a camera out, but it's definitely a celebration because not only is that, you know, ASCAP checks uh uh uh BMI royalties um from the song getting, you know, that play, but it's just a celebration for the hard work, you know, especially being music. It's the gift that keeps on giving because even when the artist isn't performing, the song is still performing.

7:25 It It's amazing. I think social media now is like bringing back a lot of these songs. Like all of a sudden your hit from 18 years ago becomes like a dance trend out of nowhere. So how are you seeing like this whole this Tik Tok trend of music and dancing merging and then also now with AI and AI being able to write and now create songs like how are you how are you looking at technology since you have a label and you're also you know helping artists.

7:53 Yeah. Well, man, it's dope. Especially Tik Tok. You can't ignore Tik Tok. I seen the uh stat recently where it was like 70 to 80% of the songs that are the top charting songs on Billboard started off viral on Tik Tok, you know. So, it's obvious because that's just the platform, you know, that's where most of the the new next generation is and that's their discovery point of music as opposed to MTV, BET, and VH1 that we grew up on. So you have to pay attention to the social media, you have to pay attention to these platforms because that is your direct um you know visibility to the consumer. So when it comes to AI, you know, I see a lot of people kind of shunning away from it, but I'm just embracing it and knowing that no one is bigger than the program.

8:41 So it's like why not get involved? Why not see the ways that you could use it as a tool as opposed to try to fight against it?

8:48 I love that mindset when you talk about MTV. I remember MTV The Grind. I used to dance like all, you know, just 247 dancing on that show. I'd be like dancing along. That was like Tik Tok before there was Tik Tok. Uh you've you've collaborated with, you know, legends, right? Is there any sort of story that you remember that came out while you were either collaborating with them or maybe there was a collaboration that didn't even happen for whatever reason? Is there anything you can share?

9:19 Yeah. I mean, definitely. I think it's dope. Uh, you know, every time I get in the studio with Chris Brown, it's always just something different, you know what I mean? And I just enjoy creating with people that are fearless, you know, when it comes to creativity. Like from the first session we had, everything that we were doing, we were trying something that we had all never heard. You know, it was like, let's mix Michael Jackson, let's mix Stevie Wonder, let's mix French sounds, let's mix London sounds, let's mix, you know, and we did a song called Say It With Me. We did a song called Oh My Love the very next day. And it's interesting because you go back and you listen to him now and it's like, this is still something that I've never heard, you know? So to be able to just create uh with people that love music, it's just such an incredible um feeling because you go into the studio with nothing and now you come out with a

10:20 product that lives forever. I It reminds me um in like 2002 I was selling ringtones for next cell phones and our number one ne our number one song was regatone at that time. This is 2002. I didn't really understand the words, but I love the music. And it got me thinking about how universal music is. Like nowadays, we're hearing what do you what is your thoughts on this in terms of like different languages, different different countries music is merging together now and you have artists collaborating from all around the world.

10:55 Man, it's important, you know, like if you think too regional, it's impossible for your music to go international. you know, my last two albums that I did um were based in Africa, you know, I flew out to South Africa and recorded them all all the songs in Cape Town, you know, and recently when I just did the album release party and all that stuff, I did it in Lagos, Nigeria, you know, so it's important to plant seeds in different territories so that, you know, you can be a global artist, you know, and all of the countries that are out there can, you know, be able to share your I a couple years ago I was in Lagos, Nigeria and they wanted me to dance to Afro beats. I had such an amazing time.

11:39 Like the people it was so much fun. The food was amazing. Uh it was it was definitely a magical experience that I still connect. I made so many great friends while I was there. Fascinating place to visit. Uh how do you how is it when it when it comes to like fan interactions? I've always wondered like how does it feel uh to be an artist to have all these people like they want you to do an autograph or they want to take pictures like how is that feeling to somebody um you know this this fame fame is always an interesting thing right like I'm not sure if it's always good for people or if it can be negative for people right like how is it how is fame and and this whole process

12:22 man I look at I look at it like you just have to keep a humble mindset you know, in it all because the people are giving you so much gratification. And I do think it's necessary for artists that truly pour themselves out. You know, as much as I dedicate my time and my energy, blood, sweat, and tears, as they say, it would be a lot if no one were to come. Like yesterday, for example, someone gave me an entire bouquet of flowers at my meeting cre before the show. So, I have a line of people to meet and hear their story, give them a hug, thank them for listening to their music, and someone gave me some flowers, and it was just incredible. And then the t-shirt that I'm wearing right now, someone gave me this t-shirt is two songwriters. Um, and that's why there's two V's for the next. And, you know, I wear it. I appreciate them. And it's super dope, man, to touch the people um that I've touched musically and for them to come

13:25 back and, you know, give me that same energy um and connection um when we meet at the shows.

13:33 I've heard nothing but amazing things about you. By the way, I did a lot of research. I watched I talked to people and everyone has said the same thing that you are like an incredible human being and you're super humble and kind. And I've talked to other artists who may not always or people in the entertainment industry I should say and they weren't always the same way. So hats off to you. I think that's part of what's enabled you to stay relevant for so long when when you I'm really interested in like the business of music nowadays. I think it used to be like sell albums, you know, platinum selling and and obviously there was tours and like people were making money and you know, you had to sign with a record label. Now there's a lot of like independent artists and people doing their own thing and and obviously making money in different ways. How like what is the way that artists nowadays can can

14:27 make money from or or create a business from music? Yeah. Well, I mean for starters, if you are making your own music and you're putting it out yourself, you get checks monthly. You know, it's as simple as that. you might have to wait like three or four months for the music to actually get through the system and people, you know, actually start streaming and your music actually starts making money. But every single month you can get a check um from royalty statements and um another thing is shows. You know, once you get enough of demand, like I was saying, people will want to see you.

15:04 Promoters will pay to have you um at their venues. And it doesn't just start with the music. You know, you can be funny and people will want to see you. You can be fashion and people will want to see you. Whatever you can do that makes a promoter feel like if they put you on that flyer, some people are going to come because they want to see you. They want to take a picture. They want to, you know, you will bring the aura. You'll bring the atmosphere. It's up to you. You know what I mean? So now that's that department. And now you also have like brand deals where say for example someone loves you know this hat for example someone sent me this hat and now we're potentially going to do a partnership with hats and this is company called Circus Studio and it really starts with just networking and being willing to work and let people know like yo I support you and I'm down to cross collaborate because that

15:55 automatically shares your fan base with their fan base and it's really what it's all about is collaborating because, you know, we can all get to bigger audience, bigger returns, and just from working together. So, I think that's just a few things, you know, and not including what else features if someone wants you on their song. It's like, yo, you know, you could start off at $500, but it can go up to like $50,000 just from someone wanting you on their record. So you can't look at it like it's going to play pay you only from the streams or only from the publishing because you know there's so many different avenues and streams of income possible through music.

16:33 Well, I appreciate how much you're encouraging artists to do their thing and to live their dreams. If there was one lesson that you learned that you think every artist needs to hear it, it could be, you know, from a really downout situation that happened or or something that you missed along your journey. What is one lesson that you you think every artist should hear?

16:54 I think you just need to be aggressive with what you feel you're entitled to, you know, and also be open to the reality of the truth, you know. So, if someone is like not aware of what they're making, not aware of their contracts, not aware of what their percentages or ownership is, that's on them. I would say, yo, find out and be on it. you know, be relentless until you can find out. And when it comes to your expectation, you just have to be a realist and know that, yo, it's up to me to get hot. You know, if no one wants to come to the shows or if it's not going platinum or if it's not viral or whatever it is, it's like it's no one but you, you know. So, instead of looking for someone to blame, always, you know, look for a crack in the system on your end or a flat tire on the car.

17:47 um you know just look in the mirror first instead of trying to figure out the issue with other people.

17:53 I like that sometimes we get caught up you know paying too much I think social media we pay too much attention to everyone else around us u versus really looking inward and seeing how you know how we can get better. So, Eric, if people want to get in touch with you, they want to find out more. Obviously, they can uh you still have this tour going on. How can they do so?

18:13 Yeah, make sure you hit me up, man. Uh my Instagram is Eric Ballinger is my full name, E R I C B L I N G- Er. And you can also hit me up on X. You can hit me up on my website, eric bellinger.com. And man, all wins ent to reach out to me or any of my team members if you want to join our distribution company and get some help with your artist development, get some help with um media training, producers, songwriters, studio time, executive production, graphics, um videography, you know, anrringing. That's what we're all about. bringing that back to make sure people have the proper tools and they're led in the right direction from the beginning.

19:04 Well, Eric, it's honor to have you. I remember listening to your songs like Goat and all the other hits you've had on top of this. Like when I was looking at the songs that you've written for other artists too, I'm like, "Oh, I love that song. I love that song. I love that song. Got that song at Spotify." I'm like, man, I I sometimes because like you said, you don't always know who who is involved with the song because it's normally just the artist. So, when you when you break it down, it's incredible. So, I'm honored that you're on here today. And I think the audience is going I think our audience is going to have a nostalgia. They're going to be like, I need to go to this concert and whatever you're doing, I hope they reach out. But Eric Beller, thank you so much for joining us today on Founders Story.

19:49 No problem. I appreciate it. Thanks for the love and time and just, you know, the opportunity to tell people a little bit more about my story.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Grammy-Winning Eric Bellinger: Fame, Working with Chris Brown, Usher & Justin Bieber, and Legacy"?

Eric Bellinger (Guest), Founder's Story Host (name not stated) (Host).

What is "Grammy-Winning Eric Bellinger: Fame, Working with Chris Brown, Usher & Justin Bieber, and Legacy" about?

Eric Bellinger discusses his journey from humble beginnings to Grammy-winning success, highlighting his deep faith and ambition to achieve his dreams in music. He reflects on the duality of his career as both a successful songwriter for prominent artists like Chris Brown, Usher, and Justin Bieber, and as a performing artist, emphasizing the joy of seeing his work celebrated and the lasting…

What is mentioned in this Founder's Story episode?

13 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Eric Bellinger, Lagos, Chuck E. Cheese, All Wins Entertainment, Jagged Edge, Billboard. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Grammy-Winning Eric Bellinger: Fame, Working with Chris Brown, Usher & Justin Bieber, and Legacy"?

The episode runs 20 min; the transcript is about 3,713 words in 36 timestamped sections.

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