Vanessa Brown was born in Northampton, England. She is the eldest of six siblings. Her mother is Jamaican and her father is Puerto Rican. She attended Overstone Park School near Northampton, which her parents own and work at. Brown learned to play the piano, developed her vocals and took classical and jazz piano lessons at a musical arts school. Brown was given her name "V V" from her peers as an MC nickname when she attended her middle school. Her love for hip hop and artists such as J Dilla and Q-Tip still exists. Brown studied violin at the age of 9 but gave it up because she found she was better at the piano and trumpet. She completed her grade 8 jazz trumpet at the age of 16 and went on to play in jazz bands up to the age of 21.
Growing up, V V listened to jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. Brown earned four "A" grade A-Levels, studying at Kingsthorpe Upper School (now Kingsthorpe Community College) a year early; she was offered places at five top UK universities to study law including Oxford, King's College London, LSE and York. She declined the offers to follow a career in music. V V Brown was first offered a deal by Gut records when she was 14 but due to educational commitments she decided to finish her studies. She was then offered a deal by Danny Simms, the manager and mogul associated with Bob Marley. Brown declined to finish her studies. She joined a punk band at 15 and had the opportunity to tour Japan. Subsequently, P. Diddy attempted to sign her to his record label Bad Boy Records.
At 18, Brown was invited to an open audition for "VH1 Divas" by friends and was stopped outside the venue by an executive from London Records. Brown was offered a development deal by London records. The development soon came to an end and, at 19, Brown was offered a deal by Polydor records in the UK and A&M records in the US. She left her deal with Polydor and A&M in 2006, with just one single - "Whipped" - officially being released, and a planned album titled "Back to the Music" never materialising.
Brown moved back to London and began performing in bars and clubs around London. She was rediscovered by executive Darcus Beese and signed to Island Records. "Traveling Like the Light" was then recorded in 2007-2008. Brown said that most of the lyrics on the album were about a failed affair Brown endured. The album was promoted by four singles: "Crying Blood", "LEAVE!", "Shark in the Water" and "Game Over". "Shark in the Water" charted in the British, French and American charts, and was certified gold in America and France in 2009.
On September 14 2011, Brown announced that the first single from her then untitled sophomore album would be "Children" featuring Chiddy of Chiddy Bang. The song was released digitally on September 20 2011 (the release was limited to the US, Canada and Mexico as her UK deal with Island Records expired). On October 4 2011, Brown announced that the album would be titled "Lollipops & Politics" and released on February 7 of the following year.
Weeks before its planned release, a digital preorder for the album on Amazon was removed, leading to Brown announcing that the LP would be pushed back in order for a worldwide release to occur and to add more songs. However, she eventually confirmed that the entire release would be scrapped and a new album released in its place, with news also emerging that Brown had left Capitol Records and set up her own label, YOY Records (You Own You).
"Samson" was released as her second album proper's lead single on July 14 2013. Brown announced that the LP would be called "Samson & Delilah" and released on October 8 in the US and September 9 in the UK. The second single, "The Apple", was released on August 25 in the UK, with a third single, a remixed version of album track "Faith" featuring Bloc Party's Kele, following in March 2014.
Brown commenced recording of her third album in mid-2014 exclusively with producer Nearly Native (James Leggett), who she had found on SoundCloud. The project, initially planned to be an EP, expanded into an album, with a planned release date of March 2015 being pushed back. Brown filmed 3 music videos for the songs "Shift", "Instincts" and "Lazarus" in March, with the former song's video leaking in June.
The next month, Brown announced that she would be adopting a new stage name, V V, made her album available for preorder on Pledge Music, and shared the video for "Instincts". "Shift" was released officially on August 7 exclusively to streaming services, with its parent album "Glitch" expected in autumn.
Knife
V V Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everything that I've got, that I've got
I haven't got a thing to lose
No nothing no, not at all, not at all
We gave everything that we had
11 years and 7 months
You chose to throw it all away
So closer tender unto
It’s welcome forever shortened
One million pieces over
It’s over, it’s over
I don’t really feel like laughing
It’s not a joke not anymore
I don’t really feel like crying
There’s no tears here anymore
I don’t really feel like trusting
It’s not worth it anymore
Like a knife overloving you
And you’re hurting me more and more
Took your time to arrive
I don’t know the full story
Pulled me down, give me life
Everytime you could see there was more in her beautiful
Maybe I’ll get it right, get it right next time
I can feel us slowly dying
There’s no water anymore
I can feel like we are drowning
You don’t love me anymore
Can’t you feel us slowly drowning?
I can’t take this anymore
Like a knife overloving you
And you’re killing me more and more
I don’t really feel like laughing
It’s not a joke not anymore
I don’t really feel like crying
There’s no tears here anymore
I don’t really feel like trusting
It’s not worth it anymore
Like a knife overloving you
And you’re hurting me more and more
The lyrics to V V Brown's song "Knife" speak to the pain of a relationship ending and the feelings of betrayal that come with it. Brown begins by expressing a desire to say everything she's been holding back and has nothing left to lose. She then goes on to explain that she gave everything to the relationship, eleven years and seven months, only to have it thrown away for something that her partner didn't love and that couldn't hurt.
The next verse brings a sense of finality and resignation to the situation, with Brown accepting that it's over and that there's no going back. She outlines the feelings that she's left with: no laughter, no tears, and no trust, as the relationship has been like a knife slowly harming her. The final verse brings a sense of reflection, with Brown thinking about what went wrong and wondering if she'll get it right in her next relationship. However, she still can't escape the feeling that the current relationship is slowly drowning her.
Line by Line Meaning
I wanna say everything
I want to express everything that's on my mind.
Everything that I've got, that I've got
Everything that I have, that I possess.
I haven't got a thing to lose
I have nothing left to lose.
No nothing no, not at all, not at all
Absolutely nothing left.
We gave everything that we had
We put all of our effort into this.
11 years and 7 months
The length of time spent together.
You chose to throw it all away
You decided to end it all.
To something that you didn’t love, couldn’t hurt
You left for something you didn't care about and it didn't hurt you to leave.
So closer tender unto
Take comfort in the fact that it's over.
It’s welcome forever shortened
The end is finally here.
One million pieces over
The relationship is completely broken.
It’s over, it’s over
The relationship has officially ended.
Took your time to arrive
It took a while for you to come around and realize the truth.
I don’t know the full story
I don't have all the facts.
Pulled me down, give me life
You brought me down, but also gave me a reason to live.
Everytime you could see there was more in her beautiful
You always saw something more in her that I couldn't see.
Maybe I’ll get it right, get it right next time
Maybe I'll learn from this and do better in the future.
I can feel us slowly dying
I can sense the relationship slowly falling apart.
There’s no water anymore
There's no substance or passion left.
You don’t love me anymore
You no longer have feelings for me.
Can’t you feel us slowly drowning?
Can't you see that we're sinking quickly?
I can’t take this anymore
I'm at my wit's end with this situation.
Like a knife overloving you
The love is so intense it feels painful like a knife.
And you’re killing me more and more
Your actions are causing me more and more pain.
I don’t really feel like laughing
I have no reason to laugh right now.
It’s not a joke not anymore
The situation is not funny at all.
I don’t really feel like crying
I don't have any tears left to cry.
There’s no tears here anymore
I've run out of tears to cry over this situation.
I don’t really feel like trusting
I have lost my trust in you.
It’s not worth it anymore
It's not worth the effort to try and rebuild our relationship.
Like a knife overloving you
The love is so intense it feels painful like a knife.
And you’re hurting me more and more
Your actions continue to cause me more and more pain.
Contributed by Parker D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
James Nigro
Storytelling at its best.
Alehandra Kaprina
I believe that this is like a tribute to "the knife"!!
Sian Webster
Emotional! Love
Joe Piz
splendide !
Ian Armstead
TUNE!