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24 year old, Jimmy Cozier, grew up in a musical household. His father is an accomplished saxophone player who exposed Jimmy to the pantheon of jazz greats while his Jamaican-born mother shared her love of reggae and dancehall music by playing recordings of Bob Marley (Jimmy Cozier was born on February 6th, Bob Marley's birthday)
When growing up Jimmy would get embarrased when his parents put him on the spot to sing for friends and family. The experience led him to pursue a career as a songwriter/ and background vocalist instead of performing in the spotlight for the masses. He began to write songs for new artists, stepped up to Mya, Sinead O'Connor and eventually co-wrote Janet Jackson's "Girlfriend" in 1999.
Jimmy's greatest musical influences, besides his father are Cassandra Wilson, Steven Coleman, Donny Hathaway and Luther Vandross.
Jimmy embarked upon his musical career as background singer, all the while learning, growing and preparing himself for the day he'd have his chance to shine as a solo artist. His voice was
first heard on the Junior M.A.F.I.A single, "Backstabber." In 1998, he was a member of Joe's "All That I Am" Tour. He's also toured with Boys II Men as well as Gladys Knight. The time spent on the road allowed Jimmy to hone his writing skills and perfect his vocal style which is, at turns, deep and sonorous, sensual and urgent.
His managers at NY based Upgrade Entertainment had big plans for him and slipped a tape of Jimmy Cozier's work to Wyclef Jean. Wyclef saw the talent in the Flatbush, Brooklyn-born Cozier and arranged a meeting with Clive Davis.
Jimmy co-wrote 10 of the 12 tracks, three of them with Wyclef Jean, on his freshman self-titled album
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