DEFENDER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Twenty-three-year-old R&B singer and songwriter Kentrell seems
to be ahead of his time. Singing since he was six years old, the Mississippi
native wants to incorporate his love of old school music into his new sound-a
term he coined "pop soul," which infuses the soul of R&B with the
edginess of the pop genre.
"Nobody's really doing it like I want to do it right now, and
that's bringing back that old school feel," he said. "A lot of people
do sing soul music, but I want to add a popular feel to it. I want it to be
entertaining, like you're ready to enjoy life when you listen to it."
Kentrell got his start singing gospel in his church choir but didn't try to
pursue singing professionally until he moved to Chicago.
"Being from Mississippi, I grew up singing in church,"
Kentrell explained. "My mom was a singer, and she and her sisters had a
gospel group. So they put us in the choir, and we formed our own little group.
But my dad introduced me to music outside of gospel.
He would show me Michael Jackson clips and Prince clips, (and I
decided) this was what I wanted to do. So when I moved to Chicago, I did talent
shows and open mics. People started to gravitate towards (my voice), so I
thought I would go for it."
Kentrell is signed to Jive Records, home to artists like Chris
Brown, Ciara and Justin Timberlake. He said that although the major record
label experience is new to him, he is still excited about opportunities to
come.
"We just started so I'm excited about it," he said.
"Being with Jive will give me more opportunities for people to really find
out who Kentrell is and what I will bring to the music industry. I'm excited to
see what the future holds and to just keep it moving.
Being signed to a major label is dope because you have a lot of
people working on your behalf. We pushed so long on our own and it definitely
was not easy."
Being in an industry where new artists are constantly coming out,
it may be hard to present music with a unique angle, but Kentrell said that he
is prepared to add a new, different component to what is considered popular
music-and to bring back that "feel-good" aspect.
"I think the music will separate itself," he said.
"The sound, my tone, my look. I don't want to be cliché. I want to add a
little edge to it."
Although his debut album U Will Believe has no definite release
date as of yet, his new single, Encore, is already available on iTunes. He said
that the title of his debut is a message to listeners that by the end of the
album, they too will believe in his music and in him.
"The title is kind of like me just proving myself and saying
that at the end of the day after listening to this collection of music, you
will believe in me as an artist."
Kentrell said that in the future, once he has a stable footing in
the music industry, he is open to pursuing any new opportunities-as long as it
is the right one.
"Anything outside of music would have to be the right
opportunity because I don't want to jump into anything," he said.
"I want to take my time with it. But right now, I want to
focus on the music and enjoy the music and whatever comes after that, if it's a
good look for me and it puts me in a good light and I'm good at it, I would
definitely be open to do it."
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