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Van Hunt is a Grammy award winning singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and record producer. He was influenced by his father and his lifestyle. His father was a part-time painter and pimp. He was also a summer resident at an insane asylum, a result of his having faked mental illness in order to get a break from the heat and monotony of his full-time job as a factory worker. And, on at least one occasion, he went to visit him in the tiny room he shared thought and toilet paper with "real" crazy people. He also loved his fathers lifestyle. His father and his friends would put on some fly-ass clothes, smoke a lil' herb, talk a whole lot of shit and chase beautiful women. He would often take me along with him. And, I loved it. I loved watching him take a lady into the back room, loved seeing the door close behind him, and I loved listening, straining with all my might to hear the strange sounds that followed. Sometimes, after they'd finished, I would sneak into the room and wonder what in the world could have caused such a smell - a heavy bitter mix of sweat and perfume. But, I loved it. I loved sitting in the corner of a smoke filled dope house, tapping my feet to the music while my father and his friends cussed each other out over a game of cards. It seemed to me the beat of the drums urged on their behavior, and drove the alcohol that flowed through their veins out of their bloodshot eyes. " Van Hunt went to school in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996 to attend Morehouse College, where he studied English, but soon dropped out. In Atlanta, he started producing a few hip-hop demos for Atlanta rappers in order to pay bills. Hunt met up-and-coming record producers and artists like Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, and TLC through his work on demos. He won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a duo or Group with vocals for appearing on the tribute version of the Sly & the Family Stone song: "Family Affair". His latest album, What Were You Hoping For was released in 2011 and hits on the issues of contemporary society within a predominately rock sound and the incorporation of funk and soul. For absorbing all of his influences and making them in to great music for the rest of us to enjoy, Afropunk salutes Van Hunt as a true original.