Sterling hailing from Philadelphia, recorded his first song with his grandfather at ripe young age of 6. In fact, if it weren't for his grandfather's influence, he probably would not be where he is today. At that time music was forced on him, he would have much preferred to be out with his friends or cousins, running the streets of Philadelphia, but Sterlings grandfather, a musician himself, who introduced him to the sounds of Sam Cooke and other soul legends, wouldn't have it any other way.
Sterlings own musical influences included Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, New Edition, and Usher. As a talent, he has all the polish and charisma of Usher with all the soulful street edge of Jaheim. My Turn, his One Recordings/DefJam debut is the perfect confluence of his musical inspirations and his education in the school of hard knocks. His new CD which he wrote over a period of two years was inspired by his real life experiences. The party songs like "Juice In My Cup" and "Worth Your While" are funky and upbeat. They both make you feel like you are at a party. While "Best Friend", talks about someone who ended up pregnant with his buddies baby. "Eighty On The Freeway" tells the story of the urgency to get to your girl at at 3 o'clock in the morning.
Sterling has always been about taking care of business, according to his manager Donnie Medows, when he wasn't able to work, and had to record, he lived in the production studio for months, washing up in the mens room, using paper towels as washcloths.
After a period of struggling, Sterling had made a turn in his career and really began to focus on writing putting his artist ambitions aside. He worked at a local carwash in Atlanta with some other talented young musicians named Diggie Doms and Mistafiss. They were aware of Sterlings talent. One day he came in to work and the guys had just disappeared it seemed. Sterling knew in his heart that those guys must have made it. Months passed and his suspicions were founded when he ran into the guys who had signed a production deal with Sony and agreed to sign him as an artist. He fervently began working on what was to be his debut record spending night and day locked in the studio pouring heart and soul into his record until fate interviened once more. The attacks of 9/11 sent the recording industry into a downward spiral. Cut backs at Sony cause the imprint Sterling was signed to to be dropped leaving him floundering again. Yet Sterling was determined to continue.
Returning to Philadelphia, Sterling reconnected with one of the premiere musical legends in the city, Kenny Gamble. Gamble had been presented a then 13 year old Sterling who at the time said his talent and drive reminded him of a young Michael Jackson, but he declined to sign him because he did not want him to miss out on his childhood the way Jackson had. Now Gamble, respecting the fact that Sterling was now a developing writer and still driving toward success gave him the opportunity to record in his production studio for free. Sterling went to work laying down the frame work of his One Recordings/Defjam debut My Turn.
Sterling eventually moved back to Atlanta to escape the pressures in a city where street life would have been all too easy to succumb to. There he formed a company with a fellow writer named Chuka called "KnightWritahz". The joke was that they worked and held down jobs during the day, but at night, they wrote. Sterling enjoyed writing much more than the pressures of trying to succeed as an artist, and began to shop his music in Atlanta.
Sterling and Chuka met up with producer Teddy Bishop, who liked the songs Sterling was working on. Bishop asked, who was the voice behind the songs. Well, the voice was Sterlings, of course, and at Teddys prompting, Sterling decided to pursue his dream of becoming a performer again. After months of networking a buzz was circulating in the industry about this young new talent. While in miami for the Bmi and Vma award weekend Sterling and Teddy Bishop were approached by Bob Keetch thru a mutual friend of Teddy. Bob looking to break into the music business was searching for someone to carry the torch of his well funded independent label "One Recordings". Ater hearing Sterling's music and meeting with him, Bob was convinced that Sterling would be his star. He quickly signed Sterling to his indy label, and they began shopping to a major for distribution. The defining moment for Sterling was when a meeting was arranged for him by Defjam A&R Ray Romulus with one of the top, heavy hitters in music today. This was the first time that he had ever felt nervous about performing, but the years of training were on his side. As he stood in the room with music mogul and DefJam president L.A. Reid, he had to perform like never before. Nailing this performance could mean that his dream could finally be realized in an instant. He started his showcase for Mr. Reid and only after three songs he knew he wanted Sterling on his DefJam roster. Since that moment, there has been no turning back from the dream that was birthed inside of him when he was just a boy.
