Miles Caton‘s bluesy baritone literally made Michael B. Jordan’s jaw drop in Sinners. Now, the young artist is hoping to have the same effect on Recording Academy voters.
On Friday, Caton dropped his new single, “Lean On.” The singer-actor revealed that he wrote the track as a “late-night anthem for anyone who has ever loved someone enough to give them space, but stayed close enough to catch them if they fall.” The video was shot around New York City, including his native Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn.
“Lean On” is his second single on Columbia Records since signing with the label earlier this year after “Don’t Hate Me” was released in March. Both songs are eligible for the 2027 Grammys, with next Friday’s deadline looming, “Lean On” got in just under the wire. Columbia has confirmed to Gold Derby that Caton will be campaigned for Best New Artist.
Even before today’s release of “Lean On,” Caton was solidly in the mix for that award. He sits at No. 9 in Gold Derby’s latest Grammy predictions, well within range to secure one of the eight slots when nominations are announced Nov. 16.
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Of course, Caton is no stranger to the Recording Academy. He performed five songs on the Grammy-winning Sinners soundtrack, including the Oscar-nominated “I Lied to You” and the end-credits duet with Alice Smith, “Last Time (I Seen the Sun),” which he and Smith cowrote with Ludwig Göransson.
As Göransson told us, finding Caton helped unlock the film. “From the moment we heard his voice, we knew this guy is really special,” the composer recounts. “He couldn’t play guitar, but I could tell he was he was a musical savant, and he’s a very serious person. He had three-and-a-half months to learn how to play. When I met him in New Orleans, the week before shoot and saw him play, I was blown away.”
So was everyone else. Caton’s performance as Preacher Boy earned him a Critics Choice Award for Best Young Actor/Actress and a SAG Actor Award as part of the film’s ensemble, among several other awards and nominations.
Growing up, Caton told Gold Derby that he acted in school productions and church plays along with his sister, but always imagined more seriously pursuing showbiz down the road. He went viral as a kid with a preternaturally soulful voice singing Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” inches from a camera in the back of a moving car and then landed a gig opening for H.E.R. He had found a way to make music his life’s focus. Sinners took to his profile to a wildly different level.
Caton is currently recording additional tracks for his debut album and will kick off his first U.S. tour later this year.
