Blog post 7 - REVISED!!!

Kevin Ross’ biography is one of the most entertaining of any artist I have come across. Growing up, the “hustle mentality” of D.C. was impressed upon him as his father’s side of the family was full of singers. Still, there was plenty of fun injected into the fray, and Ross’ house constantly swayed to the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Prince and Patrice Rushen. “If it felt good, it was played,” he says. After covering a medley of Stevie Wonder’s hits for a Motown Tribute his sophomore year of high school (Duke Ellington School of the Arts), Ross realized his destiny. He won a partial scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and by age 18 was already trekking into New York City to audition for background singing slots for Alicia Keys and Usher. He wasn’t chosen, but instead of defeating him, the rejection sharpened him. To start off, his alma mater is Berklee College of Music, one of the best music schools in the nation. The campus is about an hour from me right outside of Boston. I had no clue he graduated from there. 

I had never heard of Kevin Ross before hearing his hit "A Long Song Away". Actually, I did, but I didn’t know his name. Remember that Glade commercial that aired every 5 minutes during holiday season? That was him. A couple months later, here’s a new album that I am dissecting. I liked this album the very first time I heard it and I was very interested in his voice and wanted to hear what his other songs sounded like. I am very pleased with this Album. There are 16 songs on it and there's not a song on there I don't like. I especially like his more up tempo songs and wish there were more of those on there but I'm in no way disappointed.

Traditional soul, modern elements of R&B and fringes of hip-hop, wrapped in equal measures of sensuality, spiritual edges and being ‘woke’ successfully conveying one aspect is challenging enough, but Kevin Ross has managed to implement them all. Education and collaborating behind the scenes can certainly help, but it takes genuine talent to build a buzz with an EP (2014’s Dialogue of the Grey) and release a fresh, yet familiar debut like The Awakening. His ambitions aren’t to reinvent R&B, but to expand its range and relevance, a goal Ross has certainly met.

One of the hardest things in life is patience. We hear the phrase “timing is everything” all the

time, but no one knows what that means until something actually happens. That seemed like the case for R&B singer Kevin Ross when he signed with Motown in 2014. He had written hits for Trey Songz and had a successful partnership with Glade for their Christmas campaign, but launching his solo career seemed to be a much bigger challenge.

Before the runaway radio smash, “Long Song Away,” Kevin Ross was the tenor who paired up with Chaz French for the feel-good mantra, “Be Great.” His ambition to “shift the culture and move the focus/Rise above and lose vultures” was a lofty idea, but it’s certainly not his last: “Look Up,” with gospel singer Lecrae, creates a rhythm with a percussive base and summarizes the disillusion felt by his Millennial peers while encouraging them to reach within and above: “Preacher preacher preacher, how you gon’ dare to judge me/You see the world is short of leaders, and the easy way out is just by following.”  Inventive beat-boxing propels “Pick You Up,” an ode to those who know the struggle is real, but still they screw around to make their dreams come true. Kevin’s good looks and supple love songs will always keep the young ladies on-deck, but those tracks, combined with the veteran sound stylings of Ezekiel Lewis and Troy

Taylor, help to secure a wider appeal.

First let me say this, Kevin’s album was the first R&B album that I was impressed by in a very long time. Other than old timers like Maxwell, Joe, and the likes…there really hasn’t been a good solid R&B project to come out in a while. I am so glad that I am able to truly say that Kevin’s album does not disappoint! The album isn’t feature heavy, which I appreciate. A lot of times R&B singers fill their album with a ton of rap features and that to me takes away from the essence of what a great R&B album is supposed to be. Kevin only has rap features from Lecrae & Chaz French with a non rap feature from BJ The Chicago Kid.

The Awakening is an idealist’s album. That’s the feeling I got from Kevin Ross himself, that he’s an idealist. References to God and the bible are weaved throughout this project, though it never comes off as a gospel album, just the writing of someone who has an inextricable relationship with a higher power. There’s talk of love, social issues (everything from race to class to gender), and the common theme woven throughout the album is the idea of being “great.” From the Be Great intro to the remix with one of our favorites, BJ The Chicago Kid, it seems as though the artist is not just trying to reach his own level of greatness, but admonishing his listeners to reach their own levels.

If “Long Song” positioned Kevin as a love-man, other selections won’t dissuade otherwise: “New Man” is a bluesy, tear-stained oath to a heartbroken ex, “Her Hymn” is downright gospel-esque, likens his lady to a grace-filled gift from on high, and “O.I.L.” swears that life is just existing if he must endure a future without her. Tracks like the acoustic “Easier,” “Don’t Go” and “In The Name of Your Love” will surely recall another old-soul-in-a-young-body Motown legend Michael Jackson but Kevin’s artistry will distinguish a legacy soon enough.

Let’s face it, how is the general public supposed to accept a young R&B singer who went to Berklee to study music when his peers are making turn up songs with their vocals drowned in autotune? The process of waiting is no easy feat and only the strong prevail. It’s during those challenging times that we look ourselves in the mirror and ask if we really want it. We ask ourselves if we want to be great.

The Motown singer asks himself that exact same question in the intro of his debut album “The Awakening”. If the opening track isn’t an indication that Kevin Ross is serious about his craft, the next song “Don’t Forget About Me” certainly proves it. The third song on the track “O.I.L. (One I Love)” is an early standout on the album. The guitar-driven production goes well with Kevin’s vocals and the hard-knocking drums in the chorus creates an interesting dynamic that surprisingly works better than it should.

“Pick You Up” is the perfect song for any college student going through the struggle of, well… college. Music students in particular should listen up for this one when it comes around on the album. The hook promises:

So don’t forget when life brings you down/

It won’t last forever it’s just for now/

Everything will turn back around/

So you don’t have to stay on the ground/

I’ll pick you up

For some of his fellow songwriting majors, these lyrics may seem overly simplistic, but paired with the uncluttered production and background vocals reminiscent of the awesome social media videos he’s been posting of himself singing, you’ll definitely respect the tune, if not become inspired by it.

In a recent interview with Billboard, Kevin Ross revealed that superstardom isn’t his only goal and he wanted listeners to come away from Awakening with a realization of “how necessary they really are to their culture, to their community and to themselves…understanding our greatness can change the world.” And after years of us being bombarded with messages about ‘situationships’ and ratchedness, waking up with Ross is just what music lovers need. Highly Recommended.

Blog Post 5 - REVISED

Blog Post 5 – Culture

Today I will be examining upcoming artist “Khalid” and his debut album “American Teen.” This album is now number 11 on Billboard top 100 hip hop/r&b albums. I was listening to some of this album and I noticed that he talks about his past a lot. I dug deeper and found that he actually came from a military background.

Once I saw that, I knew I had to discuss this album and Khalid culturally. Since this is his only Album, I think it's fair to include it in the conversation. He has almost 9 million unique listeners per month on Spotify, good for 134^th in the world. He is being dubbed as “a voice for young people.” Khalid is creating a new culture that revolves around not giving a fuck about anything. The Georgia-born artist’s background has helped make him a sort of de facto expert on the struggles of young people: As a military child, he spent his formative years bouncing all over the South before stints in Germany, New York, and Texas. Khalid is trying to be that voice. His debut album, American Teen, covers everything from spacey soul to synth-pop, but his textured voice and boyish ennui tie it all together. “A lot of my songs are about loneliness and losing relationships,” he says. “Even the ones that are happy, there’s a lonely undertone to them.” Khalid tries to connect to all millennials. After all, he is only 19.

 “I feel like growing up with my mom was the foundation of my (interest in music),” Khalid said. “In my home, we listened to music all the time. I was raised through music, and I’ve been interested in it since I was three. I’ve been singing since I could talk correctly.” By spring, and with “prom right around the corner,” Khalid said he was eager to get a new song out. It was then that Khalid traveled to Atlanta to work on the song that would eventually become his breakthrough. Tunji Balogun, vice president of A&R for RCA Records, said he began following Khalid after several of his early Soundcloud uploads caught his ear. “When he put out Location, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this kid knows how to make a hit,’ in addition to being a talented vocalist and being ahead of his age,” Balogun said. He wasn’t alone. Soon after it was released, Kylie Jenner posted a video of herself and friends listening to the song on Snapchat. The co-sign from the reality TV star helped propel the song, with its catchy refrain and lyrics that delve into love in the smartphone era, to more than 12.5 million streams on Soundcloud. All this from a song Khalid says he almost didn’t finish after trying to write and record with the song’s producers in Atlanta. Tired, but unfazed, Khalid retreated to El Paso, where he wrote and recorded the song while his mom and friends hung out in the studio.

The track that best sums up the album is the title track, which opens the album. The song begins with a beeping alarm and drum-machine slaps, then turns into a story of light youthful irresponsibility: “I’m high up, off what?/I don’t even remember/But my friend passed out in the Uber ride.”

The tone of these few lines is completely casual; Khalid sings without judgment or emphasis. He does get more intense in the second verse: “I’ve been waiting all year/To get the hell up out of here/And throw away my fears.” The singer completely nails the feeling of knowing the bright options the future might hold while still being stuck at home, at school, with people who are telling you what to do and feel.

This is a universally known issue among teens, and this is something that Khalid addresses throughout the album with his use of “we” and “our” (“We don’t always say what we mean,” “This is our year”).  He’s drawing a picture of his generation and makes his final point when the digital flair of the music falls away and we’re left with an acoustic guitar and a group of young men speak-singing the chorus. It’s brings the nostalgia and atmosphere of a campfire singalong, combining the new technology with the older, and sometimes more simple times.

That’s why the lighter songs on “American Teen” work best.  For example, “Saved” is a fun and catchy story about saving a girl’s number just in case she will call him: “I’ll keep your number saved/’Cause I hope one day you’ll get the sense to call me,” which later changes to “I’ll keep your number saved/’Cause I hope one day I’ll get the pride to call you.” Meanwhile, “Coaster” does a good job comparing a breakup to a roller coaster.  The whole album is an effective mix of art-soul and 1980s new-wave pop excess with the lonely-boy feeling of looking in the mirror, looking for a larger purpose.  It most closely brings about the spirit of John Hughes’ fan-favorite movies.

Overall, Khalid finds a good balance between nostalgia and current topics, particularly love and technology, and this seems to be working for him really well.  Through his lyrics, production and lyrics, he has become a part of R&B’s reinvention, channeling the Weeknd’s earlier mixtape, Bryson Tiller’s first album but allowing us to experience it through the genres progressives, Frank Ocean in particular.

Commitment, the anthem of youth is presented as a central theme when it comes to love and relationships. In his lyrics, Khalid attempts to strike a balance between the embrace of freedom and the innate search for love. He excels at making songs that strike the soul of young people, and although he’s still learning how to write songs, Khalid has been around music all his life. He’s a classically trained vocalist and his mother sings in the U.S. Army Band, the reason he has lived everywhere from Germany to upstate Watertown. And that may be why songs like “Let’s Go” work so well, even though they are definitely informal. Khalid is a natural and it shows all through “American Teen.”