By Neil Armstrong
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| Luther Brown, Creative Director and CEO of Lil' Island Boy Inc. |
Long before Jamaican-Canadian Luther Brown became known as “one of the world’s best creative directors and choreographers working today,” he participated in the programming of the Educational Broadcasting Service (EBS) for JBC TV as a child in Kingston, Jamaica.
Now based in Los Angeles, he flew into Toronto in March for the only Canadian stop of “Mary J. Blige: The For My Fans Tour” where the multi-Grammy Award winning American singer/songwriter and rapper dazzled her fans, complemented with performances by American artistes Mario and Ne-Yo. The tour continues in cities throughout the United States and will then head to Europe in June and July for performances in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
As the creative director of the tour, Brown, who is the CEO of Lil’ Island Boy Inc., says it a culmination of all the skills he has learned to this point. He grew up to Blige’s music in Toronto and the global superstar has always been popular in the city; he is glad she chose Toronto.
“Everything I learned from Jane and Finch and just working with people in the community and different people’s personalities, being at the community centre and having to organize programs and need a lot of people — it kind of brought me to this now where I am able to utilize all those things to make my title make sense,” says Brown who was nominated for an Emmy Award as a choreographer on the critically acclaimed hit television series, So You Think You Can Dance, seasons 9-16. He was a resident judge and choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance Canada for four seasons.
He also received an Emmy nomination for his choreography of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist – Season 2 Episode 6 ‘No More Drama’ ‘Black Man in a White World.’
“As a creative director I have to create her entire show. I have to design the stage, everything, what’s the look, what’s the lighting, wardrobe, special effects, all the things that I learned and all the things I was looking at when I was a kid and growing up,” said Brown about his role in the tour.
During his childhood, he loved sketching, was interested in fashion, and loved directing with camera so all those things helped him to be able to pitch a show, put it all together, and be able to sell it.
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| 'Mary J. Blige: The For My Fans Tour' at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto |
“So, working with Mary with her catalogue of music and her influence in the industry, which is crazy, it’s really cool to be able to do that now, to be able to do that at this level,” said Brown whose passion for dance and drive to continuously challenge himself has included him in the echelons of the entertainment industry.
He said the key ingredients to his success are originality, perseverance, connection to the culture, and trust. “You have to trust yourself; that’s one of the major reasons why I’ve gotten to where I am — trust and dream big.”
Growing up in Toronto, Brown said he did not have a blueprint for what he now does as a career so there have been times when he doubted himself.
When he founded the legendary Do Dat Dance Crew in the mid-90s, he knew that he loved entertainment and was inspired by things happening in the United States. He compared what was happening in both countries and would push himself to be better.
Immigrating to Canada with his family in 1983, Brown Jr. said the bug for entertainment started in Jamaica where he acted in an EBS show — similar to “Sesame Street” — with Louise Bennett-Coverley, aka Miss Lou, and Oliver Samuels. He had to study scripts and sometimes read them too.
“I was always into, like wanting to become an actor, in a funny way. Maybe that was just a kid and my dad was always around music so I always loved music. I was always infatuated with music, dance and movies because there used to be a lot of musicals on Jamaican TV at the time. It was like cowboy movies, Jamaican television and then musicals,” said Brown whose father Luther Brown, a retired veteran educator and recently-published author, was the host of “Caribbean Crucible,” a popular radio show at CHRY 105.5FM in Toronto.
Brown has been a choreographer for artistes such as Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, Gwen Stefani, Megan Thee Stallion, Puff Daddy, Ciara, Daddy Yankee, and several others.
“It’s been a dream, it’s surreal a lot of times. I looked up to so many of them, so to be able to work with them I am super grateful. Every time I’m in the room with a Janet or a J.Lo or Niki Minaj or Gwen Stefani, it always kind of blows my mind a little bit because I was a fan of their stuff before.”
Inside the Scotiabank Arena on March 24, Blige, the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul” and “Queen of R&B,” emerged on a secondary stage performing one of her hits before being transported on an illuminated carriage in midair to the main stage where a designed Crown-themed set awaited her with accompanying dancers, special effects, and well-orchestrated lighting.
Luther Brown’s creative direction and choreography were impressive.
