Amadeus, music producer & drummer who works with Trey Songz, Rick Ross and Chris Brown, started in Bronx church band at 10

NEW YORK — A music producer and drummer, who may not have the same name recognition as the artists he’s worked with is, proving to be the mastermind behind many classics in pop music.

The success of Antwan Thompson, also known as Amadeus, all started in a church band in the Bronx.

“I was really passionate about music and passionate about musicianship and wanting to just play and one day tour the world,” said Amadeus. “It’s a blessing man. One thing I’ve always done was look back on the hardships, look back on the struggle, look back on what it took for me to get to where I am today.”

Today, he’s going around the world touring on the drums with artists like Trey Songz, Rick Ross and Chris Brown.

Amadeus’ trajectory into the music industry started at a church in the Wakefield section, where he paid his dues and cut his musical teeth in a band at the age of 10 at Cathedral of Greater Faith.

Amadeus’ former bandmate and current pastor, Steven White, said the band was a launching pad to much success.

“When something is pure, when something is true, it’s just going to develop naturally, organically, and that’s what happened,” said White, executive pastor of Cathedral of Greater Faith.

MORE: Bronx’s own Amadeus talks music, motivation and more

The church band didn’t have a name, but their sound anointed thousands of people who visited. White’s mother and the church’s late Bishop, Michel White, played a vital role. She even has a street sign named after her on the corner of where the church is located.

“My late bishop always told me, just play what’s in your heart. She would say, ‘Play what heaven wants to hear,’” said Amadeus.

The birth of that sound was brought to life in the Claremont section. The towering concrete structures of the Morris Houses were the havens of a boy who strived for a better life.

“From just a little kid sitting behind the drums saying one day you’re going to do it and one day you can do it, and you’re gonna do it,” said Amadeus.

And he did it, while never forgetting his origins.

“I’m like this guy is going places. He’s going places,” said White.

Amadeus is now the CEO of Platinum Boy Music, Inc., a brand ambassador and has a residency in Las Vegas doing the thing that has started it all, playing those electrifying drums.

“As I get older it’s more about making an impact,” said Amadeus, “and making sure that these young kids know that they have choices.”