Story by Danielle Canada
Images by DeWayne Rogers for Steed Media Service
Grooming by Erica Bogart
Wardrobe by Sarar
Brian J. White is in business mode and dressed for the part. Looking like a contemporary executive, White is fully committed to the role as he shoots with rolling out’s art director on the side of a desolate Atlanta building. He feigns hailing a cab and whistles for it loudly. He points off in the distance as though he sees something eye-catching and chuckles. Later, once the cameras are turned off, he relaxes on the passenger side of a motor vehicle and nods his head to the street poetry of rapper 2 Chainz, guffawing at times at a few of the rapper’s more ludicrous lines. For now, however, he’s in the zone.
The former footballer and model-turned actor is poised and showing off his 32 pearly whites. His skin is aglow and makeup free, a fact he’s proud of considering that he uses products from his wife’s skin care line. White doesn’t wear a metaphorical mask, either. He’s clear and precise in his answers to our questions and boasts that he can just about do it all; that is except sing. When pressed for details, the Renaissance man gives a surprising response. “I sure can’t sing,” affirms White with a laugh. “I’d have 10 albums out by now if I [could] sing. I’ve actually had offers to be in a boy band because I can dance, I can hold a tune but [I] can’t sing like Usher or MJ. … I’ve never wanted to do something just to do it. I wanted to do something because I was proficient at it or because I had some kind of skills at it that I could develop. When I start singing in church my mom says, ‘be quiet,’ so there goes that.”
