Cody Chesnutt is an American R&B and neo soul musician from Atlanta, Georgia.

Chesnutt’s music blends elements of rock, funk, soul, hip hop, and blues. After relocating to Los Angeles, Chesnutt found work with Death Row records, writing and producing five songs for the male R&B group Six Feet Deep. Chesnutt and his former band, The Crosswalk with James O’Connell, John Maggio and Jay Gordon, had a brief stint with Hollywood Records, but they were later released from the label. The band subsequently broke up and Chesnutt released a double LP in 2002 entitled The Headphone Masterpiece, which was recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder in his bedroom recording studio, which he calls “The Sonic Promiseland”.

In 2002, the hip hop group The Roots remade a song from his album, “The Seed”, for their album Phrenology, as “The Seed (2.0)”. Chesnutt plays guitar and sings vocals on the track and appears in its music video, which received heavy airplay on MTV and BET. At the height of his popularity, Chesnutt’s backing band consisted of drummer Craig Waters, now with the band The Bellrays, and bassist Aaron Ebensperger. In October 2003, Cody Chesnutt was nominated for the prestigious Shortlist Music Prize and performed in the ceremony for the prize at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.