Artist on the Rise: Antioch Graduate 2’LiveBre Inspires with Musical Success

2’LiveBre smiles easily and often – and wants to inspire listeners to do the same.  

“That’s the main thing I do music for: to bring people together and smile,” the 28-year-old recording and touring artist says. “When I see that, that’s when I know the job is done.” 

2’LiveBre has been getting the job done a lot lately. The Antioch High School graduate’s country hip-hop songs, including last year’s “Southern Country Girl,” have been racking up millions of streams on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms as he’s come to the attention of the Country Music Association and met some of his heroes at the GRAMMYs. 

And it all started for him in Nashville Public Schools.  

Known as Breion Dixon and Lil Bre back then, he attended Lakeview Elementary and John F. Kennedy Middle before arriving at Antioch High School, where his principal was the woman who is now MNPS’s superintendent, Dr. Adrienne Battle.  

He said his teachers poured their knowledge and love into him every day, while Battle worked to create opportunities by bringing in community leaders and partners and staging concerts and talent shows. For his senior capstone project in Antioch’s Academies of Nashville program, he researched how he could build a business towards making money from music and released an album just before his senior prom.  

The connections he made, combined with growing buzz about his music, led to Bre headlining a show at Municipal Auditorium when he was 17 and going on his first tour not long after he graduated in 2015. 

“It created enough noise to introduce me to the music industry,” he said. 

In a recent conversation with her former student, Battle said her own experience as an MNPS student influenced what she worked hard to do for the young people who came along after her. 

“I know the experiences I had that really prepared me for the future,” said Battle, a John Overton High School graduate, “and I was unwavering in my commitment to make sure every other student had the same opportunities.” 

“MNPS Prepared Me As a Leader”  

Bre’s mother bought him his first guitar during his sophomore year. When he wasn’t writing, recording, and performing, he played basketball, ran track and cross-country, took dance and French classes, and embraced the diversity of Antioch’s student body. 

“When you go after your dream and go after the world, you’re going to meet people from all backgrounds,” he said in an interview at the studio space he often uses at the Hutton Hotel. “MNPS gives that opportunity for you to learn other people’s stories. MNPS prepared me as a leader.”  

He said his teachers were often his best support system after his grandmother died and his father was shot.  

“That community of the teachers, they stepped up to the plate and put their hands on me. Having that type of support definitely showed me it’s strangers that will come in your life that will be the biggest blessing but also be the biggest lesson and help you can ever imagine.” 

After graduating, Bre enrolled at Tennessee State University, where he majored in marketing and continued to pursue a career in music. He graduated from TSU in 2020. 

With family roots in West Tennessee, he said he started “leaning into country” over the past year. His success with “Southern Country Girl” and other songs has led to new opportunities, including an invitation to participate in CMA’s Country Forward showcase and the chance to meet R&B legend Smokey Robinson at the GRAMMYs.  

2’LiveBre also released the single “One More Round” with JUVENILE in 2025. He put out his latest song, “Let’s Get Away,” a collaboration with Magnolia Rising, in January. He hopes to release a new album in 2026.  

Giving Back 

Bre, who plays piano as well as guitar, said his stage name was inspired by the idea that he knew, in effect, two lives as a teenager: a challenging one on the streets his father lived near and a more nurturing one in his grandmother’s church and at school.  

“I’m grateful for the two lives I’ve experienced,” he said. “A lot of people feel like one side is better, but all sides have a different journey. No matter where you come from, you’ve got to come out of something.  

“The story of 2’LiveBre is just picking the good over the bad. What track are you going to pick? I was exposed to many different tracks, and the number 2 represents the best track.”  

Bre, who has a 4-year-old son, said he feels a strong obligation to give back whenever he can. In December he brought his mother, several friends from the music and sports worlds, and many gifts to the students at John Early Middle School, which his sister once attended. The Stratford STEM Magnet High School Marching Legion, which had recorded a video of “Southern Country Girl” with him, was also there to back him on a live performance of the song.  

Bre also regularly spends time working with and recording music by young people in the Davidson County Juvenile Court system, and he has a dream of opening a community center focused on fostering creativity.  

Battle said her former student can be an inspiration to everyone.  

“I want our students and educators and families and everyone in the community to stay encouraged,” the superintendent said, “because 2’LiveBre is a shining example of the talent and of the amazing leaders we have in our community.” 

2’LiveBre wants to give that encouragement to the students who have come along after him, showing them what’s possible for a young person with big dreams. 

“I’ve made it my duty,” he said, “to be that person that is going to tell every kid they can do it.” 

Video: 2’LiveBre and Dr. Adrienne Battle 

Watch a conversation between 2’LiveBre and his high school principal, MNPS Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle.