Adrian Marcel's “RNBAY SZN” Isn't His 'Comeback' — It's His Bay Area 'Movement': 'We Want to Make a Stamp' (Exclusive)

The East Oakland native spoke to PEOPLE about recording his new EP, being an industry veteran and the importance of regional representation in today’s R&B scene

If Adrian Marcel had it his way, he would’ve never made the 2014 smash hit “2AM” his debut single.

“I'll be completely honest with you… I did not like the song,” the 34-year-old R&B veteran admits to PEOPLE. “I did not want that song to be the forefront of Adrian Marcel.”

When the East Oakland singer burst onto the music scene over a decade ago — then signed to Universal Republic Records — he found himself and his first hit song (featuring fellow Bay native Sage the Gemini) among a wave of uber-popular West Coast and Bay Area-inspired hip-hop/R&B tracks — Chris Brown’s “Loyal,” Omarion’s “Post to Be” and Ty Dolla $ign’s “Paranoid,” to name a few.

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At the time, Marcel couldn’t see how the Billboard-charting track would prepare him for a long stay in the industry, allowing him to release two studio albums, a mixtape series, countless singles and his latest project, RNBAY SZN, which arrived on Friday, July 12.

But as the now-independent artist looks back on the song that, to this day, has people “in a chokehold,” he sees how necessary that stepping stone was for his musical maturation.

“God has a funny way of making what he has planned for you work and pushing his agenda,” the R&B singer says in awe. “It was an era. There was a time when that was the sound. And as a new artist in that time, I was blessed.”

The success of “2AM” not only led Marcel down the indie route — where he’s also established his own record label, Third Voice Music Group — but also served as the perfect introduction to his take on the Bay’s swaggy R&B sound, cleverly dubbed by him as "R&Bay."

In collaboration with singer/songwriter/producer Sonny B., Marcel crafted RNBAY SZN, a tribute to the genre that raised him and the distinct local sound that’s propelled his years-long career. With a featured roster of fellow Bay Area natives and six tracks packed with odes to his roots, the singer blends the gritty beats of his hometown’s “hyphy history” with the allure of traditional R&B for a “movement” he’s aiming to take global.

“RNBAY SZN is us owning our season right now,” he explains. “Everybody [who] always come to the Bay love it. They fall in love with it. They want to be here. They want to take from it. But we saying, listen, it's a reason for that. This is for the Bay, from the Bay, to the world.”

Marcel recently spoke to PEOPLE about his new EP, the inspiration behind it and why he feels compelled to bolster regional representation in R&B — plus the Bay area legend who delivered an all-star feature in record time.

I want to start by talking about legacy because you've been in the music game for over a decade now. What does your current legacy say about you?

Resilient. Extremely resilient. I don't have a spirit to give up as much as I ever may have. I've been discouraged and went through all of the valleys that you can as an artist coming up. But I just have this unwavering faith that this is destiny and purpose, and when you put purpose with passion, you can't go wrong.

Everything that's happened to me, whether it's been good, bad, a win or a lesson, it's all to prepare me for what's to come. To have a decade under your belt of knowledge and experience, and to also know that there's so much more that you haven't done yet. I mean, that's a beautiful place for an artist to be because you're right between just beginning and a veteran.

Now you have your new EP RNBAY SZN, an ode to your hometown that's been years in the making. Tell me how the vision for it came together.

Well, [me and Sonny B.] met in 2020. We originally were going to work on seven records to create an EP, but the way that we created these [songs], the vibe and stories that we shared with each other, it was just like there's something deeper to this. I didn't want it to be about an Adrian Marcel "comeback." It was more about it being bigger than me, bigger than Sonny B., bigger than any individual artist. This sound was different.

We had records, like "Bip City," where we were taking inspiration from [rappers] Keak Da Sneak, Mac Dre, and blending it over some Michael Jackson chords. And also kind of remembering our history, like the J. Valentine's, the ‘Go Dumb’'s, or the ‘She Worth the Trouble’ — those type of records that were motivating us at a young age in the Bay Area and made us think deeper.

It was like, man, you got so many female artists from the Bay Area representing R&B culture — Kehlani, H.E.R., Jane Handcock, Keyshia Cole. And for us, it was like, in the past 10 years, who are the male R&B artists of this generation that really have a seat at the table? We've had pieces of "R&Bay" created throughout time, but no one has taken the stand to say, "This is from here." So for us, it was like, we want to make a stamp.

Talk about your artistic evolution between releasing your last album, 2019's 98th, and RNBAY SZN.

Well, in 2019, it was very fresh for me as an independent artist. [98th] was my first independent project that I worked on with some dope people, and I really appreciated it because it was just learning what independence was. Having to bring these people together, formulate the music, produce more on it, be more part of the behind-the-scenes, know the business, where the money comes from, how to get it out there, distribute, all of that.

Then, in 2020, COVID happened, and I took a step back from music completely for about a year. So when it came to meeting Sonny B. and us [recording together], I appreciated the vulnerability that we showcased to each other.

In creating these new records, it was really about re-finding myself; being vulnerable enough to showcase this other side to me. I'm now making the music that I've always wanted to make and maybe didn't know how to. But again, meeting Sonny B. and forming our team, The Brodies, created a universe around me that allows me to do what I do in a way that is unapologetic.

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Would you say going independent felt necessary for you to have the creative freedom you always wanted from the start of your career?

Absolutely. I think everything happens for a reason. It's a blessing that even with the labels, I was able to walk away the way I did. They could have put a bill over my head, put me on a shelf, but they allowed me to walk away. And to be able to find myself the way I did and to not give up, that was something that needed to happen.

There were a lot of things that I was neglecting: my family, my kids and myself, life that I was putting to the side while everything was working with “2AM.” Everything was all bad everywhere else on the real side of that. But getting to where I am now, I don't allow that to happen. There's so much more balance in my life to where I'm able to do what it is that I need to do for me, my family and the people around me.

You landed some nice features on your new EP, E-40 and DJ Drama being the biggest ones. Tell me how those collaborations happened.

E-40 was such a huge one. He’s been such an inspiration to me as an artist. I've done records with 40 that were initiated through past management or label stuff, but this was the first time that it was really an independent effort to tap back in, especially with a record like "Bip City." Out of having all these people reach out to him and not get a response, I finally was like, let me DM him — and he responded! People told me he was going to take four months to do the record — he took 45 minutes. Now he did take four months to do the video, but that's OK. It was so dope that he showed up and got to meet my team, catch the vibe and see a growth in me from before.

Then DJ Drama — rest in peace to an old friend of mine. She had a connect with Drama and tapped in. He pulled up [to the studio in Atlanta], vibed off the record. It was dope to reconnect with him. Especially for the big features like that, it was dope because it was all an effort of people around me that believed in the records and the vision of what "R&Bay" was. And this is just the first batch, so I'm excited that we get to keep going because we want this "R&Bay" genre movement to continue spreading and evolving.

Does that mean we may get an RNBAY SZN Vol. 2 or 3?

This is just the first installment —RNBAY SZN is actually an album. Me and Sonny B., between 2020 and now, we have over 250 records in the vault. And [this EP] is just the first six that we want to be — somewhat like a Costco sampler for you where you can get a feel for what we have here, and how much of a variety it is to go from songs like "Bip City" to "Lovin' Me" to "So Good," "Wait" and "Pullin Up."

It just proves that we're taking our time and making sure that we're being consistent. I want people to grow with the vision and the genre the same way me and Sonny B. did while creating it. So that when you catch up with us, it's like, "Welcome."

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