Johnta (pronounced John-tay) Austin was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Austin found musical inspiration from listening obsessively to the albums of the late, great Marvin Gaye, who, like Austin, wrote, sang and produced as a kind of "triple threat" entertainer. One can also hear hints of musical infuse in Johnta Austin from other R&B and pop artists like Michael Jackson and Babyface, especially in the songs he has written for other recording artists.

Austin's fist experience in the entertainment industry was as the host of a TBS news show for children, a gig that allowed Johnta to meet many different sports stars and celebrities and served as the impetus for an appearance on the popular talk show The Arsenio Hall Show. Johnta earned a spot in the show's band, his first step into the world of music. A big wig at RCA noticed Johnta Austin while on The Arsenio Hall Show and signed him to a contract in 1994, when the artist was just 13 years old. While no hit recordings with Johnta as a vocalist came of the stint with a real record label at first, Johnta Austin stayed afloat by penning songs, the first of which was "Sweet Lady," which turned out to be a major Tyrese Gibson hit. "Sweet Lady" peaked within the top ten of the U.S. R&B chart and acted as a catalyst for Johnta Austin's prolific songwriting career. In the late 1990s and on into the mid 2000s Austin wrote songs for countless R&B, rap and pop stars, including Janet Jackson Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Monica and Chris Brown.

More recently Johnta Austin has been writing songs for himself, rather than lending his creativity to other artists. Austin worked on a solo career under the So So Def Recordings label started by Jermaine Dubri, who has been one of his closest associates over the years. In 2006 he recorded Ocean Drive, his first solo album.