Jan Smith
Jan Smith, dubbed Mama Jan by Usher, is the world’s premier vocal producer and instructor. She has over 30 years experience in the music industry as both an artist and a mentor. Mama Jan is a Grammy nominated producer and a Georgia Music Hall of Fame inductee.
In addition to being a creative force for vocal excellence, Mama Jan is a visionary executive working across entertainment to reboot the music industry into an artist-driven business. As CEO of Mama J Music, she works tirelessly to fuse artist development, technology and music education into a successful career roadmap for all musicians.
Mama Jan’s extraordinary list of professional credits include multi-platinum, Grammy winning and nominated artists Usher, The Band Perry, Rob Thomas, Matchbox Twenty, Justin Bieber, Drake, Keyshia Cole, Sugarland, Monica, Jill Scott, LaToya, Ciara, TLC, Omarion, India.Arie and Collective Soul, as well as industry CEOs such as Matt Serletic, Jermaine Dupri, LA Reid and Clive Davis.
Mama Jan has played a significant role in shaping numerous award show performances, and she received a Grammy nomination for the song “Born to be Somebody” written by Diane Warren and performed by Justin Bieber for Paramount’s documentary “Never Say Never.” In all, over 4,000 vocalists, musicians and producers turn to Mama Jan for her special brand of technical artistry, tough-love training and music industry expertise.
The personal care Mama Jan provides artists is rivaled only by the vocal mastery she shares in the studio and when touring around the world. All of which make Mama Jan, who Billboard named one of the top 100 women in music business, the real deal and a true luminary inside the craft she loves.