Dayton-born musician Van Hunt made his start in Atlanta, where he gained attention for his work producing and songwriting with artists like Dionne Farris, Rahsaan Patterson, and Cree Summer. After writing “Hopeless”, an original song for the platinum-selling soundtrack Love Jones, Hunt released his self-titled debut in 2004, setting him apart as an original talent with its seamless mix of R&B, soul, funk, pop, and rock, and earning him a Grammy nomination for “Best Urban/Alternative Performance” for his breakthrough hit single Dust.
In 2006, Hunt released his sophomore record On The Jungle Floor, featuring the single Character and an unexpected cover of Iggy Pop & James Williamson’s Kill City classic No Sense Of Crime.
In 2007, Hunt received a Grammy Award for “Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals,” honoring Family Affair, a collaboration with John Legend and Joss Stone found on the 2006 Sly & The Family Stone tribute album, Different Strokes For Different Folks.
Hunt’s third album, Popular, was slated for 2008 but was pulled from the label’s release schedule in late 2007 at the dawn of a tumultuous decade for the music industry. Nevertheless, the album became an underground sensation, a classic lost album hailed by LA Weekly as “a left-field stunner” for its “trippy fusion of funk grooves, punk guitar and soul vocals.” Popular was officially released in August, 2017.
Hunt’s next effort was the 2011 album What Were You Hoping For? Reaching both Billboard’s Top 50 R&B/Hiphop and Heat Seekers charts, the album averaged a score of 90 among music critics, receiving the distinction of “universal acclaim” by Metacritic. What Were You Hoping For? was listed as one of the best albums of 2011 in publications ranging from The New York Daily News to The Chicago Tribune, The LA Times, and The AV Club, among others.
Van Hunt’s 2015 fifth album, The Fun Rises, The Fun Sets., chronicles love, loss, and nostalgia through the sounds of original funk and old soul. Inspired by the music of The Delfonics, Parliament-Funkadelic, Pink Floyd, and Billie Holiday, The Boston Globe says Hunt “achieves the kind of heated, raw sound that has virtually disappeared in too much of today’s overly manicured R&B,” adding that “Hunt, never loses sight of the past as he progressively forges his own way forward.”
In October 2018, Hunt opened for Vernon Reid’s Band of Gypsys Revisited in Los Angeles along with Pegasus Warning. At the suggestion of another friend, he returned to the songs of his debut album to commemorate its 15 year anniversary. The result is TRIM (THE REIMAGINED VAN HUNT), a lean and mean reimagining of the 12 songs from his self-titled debut album. Released in March 2019, TRIM was recorded at V__ILLA ICE and Jeff Peters’ The Pie Studios in Pasadena. “I used my love and exasperation to just make shit happen; and the pieces fell together,” says Hunt. “I found management, I was invited to attend and play shows, my friends showed up in my life – and there it was – standing in front of me – a pathway. That’s what getting back on stage was: a first stop onto that pathway out of confusion.”
In addition to his successful recording career, Hunt has toured with acts like Kanye West, Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, Afghan Wigs, Mary J. Blige, and The Roots, earning him a reputation as a charismatic and engaging live performer.