Ryan Prescott

Ryan "PREZ" Prescott is an American music artist, songwriter, and music executive. He is best known for being a solo recording artist, as well as for being a former member of the boy band DIVERSE.

Early life to 1997:
Prescott began singing at the age of 5, often performing at his church and also in school music performances as he continued on towards his high school years. In 1997, he began writing songs and collaborating with notable commercial music artists such as Tamia, Jennifer Lopez, and the late Aaliyah.

1997-2001: Aspiring solo career to joining DIVERSE
In early-1999, while studying music in college and trying to land a record deal with a major record label, Prescott met Christopher "Rocket" Pasquin during the same music business course they were both taking at the time. The two quickly became friends, and Pasquin invited Prescott to go and watch a rehearsal Pasquin was having with a boy band that Pasquin had recently formed along with friends Mazzy Matin, Eric "Eggs" Veenstra, and Michael Link.

While Prescott was attending the rehearsal, he joined in singing as the group was harmonizing together. Pasquin and the other three members then invited Prescott to join the group as its fifth member after recognizing that Prescott's vocal style was the missing piece they were seeking in order to fully complete the group's vocal sound. Prescott quickly decided to put his aspiring solo career on hold and officially join the group. The group's five members then chose "DIVERSE" as the official name of the group since most of them were from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

DIVERSE signed a management & music production deal with H2O Entertainment a few months later during the Summer of 1999. Some of H2O's music executives had helped the young R&B music group Imajin land a deal with Jive Records a few years beforehand. Imajin had achieved worldwide commercial success with their Billboard Top 25 hit song "Shorty (You Keep Playing With My Mind)".

2001-2005: Leaving DIVERSE and joining Rocket Records as a solo artist
After performing together for over 2 years, DIVERSE had still yet to land a deal with a major record label. In October 2001, both Link and Veenstra decided to leave the group in order to focus on other endeavors outside of the music industry. Matin followed shortly thereafter in order to focus on a songwriting career, and then Prescott himself decided to leave DIVERSE so that he could once again concentrate on landing a major record deal as a solo artist.

Shortly after DIVERSE disbanded, Pasquin decided to start up his own independent record label and begin a career as a music executive. In January 2002, Pasquin officially launched the label, which he named Rocket Records. Still trying to obtain a major record deal for himself, Prescott officially joined Rocket Records as a solo artist under the name "PREZ" a month after the label's initial launch.

Veenstra meanwhile had decided to return to the music industry at about the same time, becoming the label's first ever Vice President. Veenstra then quickly proceeded to help Prescott write a few songs for Prescott's upcoming debut solo album. The lead single from the album entitled "Ease My Mind" was officially released to radio on May 7, 2002. The single failed to break into Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart.

On July 16, 2002, Prescott's debut album, which was self-entitled "PREZ", was officially released. The album failed to break into Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart at any point following its release, and a second single off of it called "What's That About" was released to radio on August 13, 2002, but it too failed to break into Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. On October 29, 2002, a third and final single off of the album called "Secretly Crazy" was released to radio which also did not break into Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart.

2006-present: Joining Siri Music Group to current ventures
While both Prescott's debut solo album and its three commercially released singles did not perform well on the charts, Prescott was able to write and collaborate on some songs with songwriter Chauncy Jackson in early-2006. Jackson founded Siri Music Group later on that same year, which is a record label directly underneath Universal Republic Records, itself a record label that is wholly owned and distributed by Universal Music Group. This collaboration ultimately resulted in Prescott moving on from Rocket Records and joining Siri as both an artist and songwriter shortly after Siri's initial launch.

Upon joining Siri, Prescott decided not to work on material for his own second album, but instead focused on writing songs for up-and-coming artists signed to Siri. Prescott also assisted Jackson and his Siri team in writing songs for popular commercial artists such as Tamia (who Prescott had previously helped write for years earlier), Jessica Simpson, and others. By 2008, having never released a second solo album, Prescott decided to suspend his commercial career as a recording artist, opting instead to write songs for developing artists on a full-time basis.

As of 2014, Prescott is mostly involved in ventures outside of the music business, particularly in the clothing and fashion design industries. He does however continue to occasionally write songs and also help mentor developing music artists signed to Siri Music Group, Rocket Records, and various other record labels.