Rashaad Carlton - Exclusive Interview - Wed, Nov 12, 2014 - 5 pm PST

Rashaad La'Tjuán Carlton, known mononymously as RASHAAD and also known as Tsaddîyq bên-Yisrâ'êl (Hebrew: ?? ???? ?????), is a Hebrew-American recording artist, songwriter, model, inspirational speaker, spiritual teacher, and one-fourth of the super group, 'Abbey Road Band'. He is best known for his debut single “If You Leave."

|EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION|

Rashaad was born in Detroit, Michigan into a family of gifted singers, musicians, and ministers. Carlton sang his first solo at age 6 and made his first professional recording ("I Love The Lord") at age 12. He attended Perkins Middle School before graduating from John R. Buchtel High School in Akron, Ohio, where he regularly performed in the school talent shows as well as directing his high school's legendary gospel choir (The Buchtel Gospel Choir later known as the Ben Drone Chorale "BDC").

|MUSICAL CAREER|

While a junior in high school, Rashaad secretly recorded a Hip-Hop and R&B song he had written called "Hey Lover," with one of his friends. Secular music was not encouraged in the Carlton household, but the recording was only supposed to be for fun. His classmate's uncle (in whose studio they recorded), heard the track, liked it and unbeknownst to Carlton submitted it to a local radio station which played it on the air. The response he received was impressive and this gave him the confidence he needed to pursue a professional music career more aggressively. Rashaad would later say that this was his "accidental" debut recording.

After graduating, Rashaad went on to write and record numerous songs as a solo artist as well as writing and recording with "AK's Finest: 6ix Fyggaz", a Hip-Hop/R&B group out of Akron,