Kēvens

Kēvens (Kēvens Bendix Celestine) is an American singer/songwriter, residing in Miami, Florida. He has appeared at festivals worldwide, including the Ultra Music Festival in Miami and South Korea, the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia and the One Love Fest in Takamatsu, Japan. He has guested with acts Stephen Marley, Rabbit in the Moon, Heavyweight Dub Champion and Liberation Movement,[1] and describes his style as "theatrical rock reggae".[2][3]

Kēvens
Kēvens performing at Seoul Olympic Stadium in South Korea, June 10, 2018
Background information
Birth nameKēvens Bendix Celestine
OriginUnited States
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
InstrumentsVocalist, Trombone
Years active1997-present
LabelsKTF Music
Associated actsStephen Marley
Rabbit In The Moon
Heavyweight Dub Champion
Liberation Movement
Websitewww.kevens.com

History

After a career as a commercial actor, Kēvens started in the music business in Miami as a DJ and MC.[3] He was part of the Miami based group Le Coup founded by Bob Marley's half brothers Richard and Anthony Booker. Kēvens said of this early period of his career,

I had a privilege of meeting influential people in the industry, one of them being Bob Marley’s mother (Cedella Marley Booker) who told me that when you are writing a song write it like you are writing a letter, with emotions, feelings and experiences in it. Every song I write I pray first for guidance.[2]

Le Coup disbanded in 1997 and Kēvens continued a relationship with the Marley family occasionally performing with Stephen Marley, Damian Marley and Julian Marley.

Kēvens with Cedella Booker

After his time with Le Coup ended, Kēvens moved his career towards genre-crossing explorations of rock, trip-hop, drum and bass and EDM, while maintaining his reggae foundation. He created a variety of live acts to be a feature at different festivals throughout the world.

Kēvens has released one full studio album called We Are One (in 2010) and a variety of singles since 2000. In 2018, he released the single, Sweet Lady Liberty of which FSHN Magazine said "Timing couldn’t be more perfect for a new anthem that everyone can relate to and breaks down barriers in an era where hatred and divide seems more prominent then ever."[4]

I’m going to make sure whatever I sing or write is timeless

— Kēvens [2]

Live performances

Kēvens has emphasized his live performance throughout his career stating "What keeps me alive... is the show" [2] He was the first live act to play EDM's seminal Ultra Music Festival and has performed at the Miami version 11 times and in June 2018 performed at a newer extension of the festival in Seoul, South Korea.[5] In 2013, Kēvens, alongside the Jacksons and others, participated in the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. The festival is broadcast throughout Russia and the Russian territories to an estimated audience of 50 million on Channel One Russia.[6]

Kēvens performing with Stephen Marley and Damian Marley

According to Miami.com, Kēvens is "one of the first to blend a live band with electronic dance music" and they name his particular style of fusion "an exceptional unique sound."[5] In 2008 Kēvens headlined North America's largest Pow-wow the Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Indian Country News calls his live show "powerfully profound".[3]

Ideology

An ideological foundation plays a strong role in Kēvens' artistic presentation. He explains his perspective:

We all have to go through experiences that we know, love is the glue that holds us all together... let's forget about power and judgement.

Through his music he "works to spread a message of peace and brotherhood that transcends all cultures".[1] In an interview with the Sunday News in Zimbabwe he declares “I don’t talk about religion, age and nationality because that is meant to separate and divide us." [7] In another interview, with MIA Magazine, he states "Reggae to me is the sound of truth".[1] He has become synonymous with the mantra "Positivity is a Necessity". The Indian Country News explains that although "his elaborate stage costumes and theatrical concerts are pure 21st-century, his goal is timeless: to bring all races, cultures and backgrounds together." [3]

Discography

Singles
  • We Play Music - Felli & Buddy vs Bassbin Twins featuring MC Kēvens. (2000).
  • Sunshine (Feat. Kēvens)- Milissa. (2011). Milissa.
  • My Baby Boo (Radio Mix). (2012). KTF Publishing.
  • My Baby Boo (Club Mix). (2012). KTF Publishing.
  • We’re Alive - Electrik Dread feat. Kēvens. (2014). Nine Mile Entertainment, Inc.
  • We're Alive (Riddler Remix) - Electrik Dread feat. Kēvens. (2014). Nine Mile Entertainment.
  • Find Your Light. (2014). KTF Music
  • Bright & Beautiful (EKTO1 Remix). (2016). KTF Music
  • Positivity (Feat. Kēvens & JLB) - DJ Short-E & LP. (2016). SoulPro Music.
  • Bright & Beautiful (feat. Kaukuta). 2016. KTF Publishing
  • All in Love (feat. Kēvens) - Hook Shop & Sly & Robbie. (2017). Michael Henry.
  • Sweet Lady Liberty (2018). KTF Music
  • Sweet Lady Liberty (Tech House Remix). (2018). KTF Music.

Albums
  • We Are One. (2010). Rum Bum Music.

Video Games
gollark: Yes, that is what I have been saying.
gollark: ```Features:- Fortunes/Dwarf Fortress output/Chuck Norris jokes on boot (wait, IS this a feature?)- (other) viruses (how do you get them in the first place? running random files like this?) cannot do anything particularly awful to your computer - uninterceptable (except by crashing the keyboard shortcut daemon, I guess) keyboard shortcuts allow easy wiping of the non-potatOS data so you can get back to whatever nonsense you do fast- Skynet (rednet-ish stuff over websocket to my server) and Lolcrypt (encoding data as lols and punctuation) built in for easy access!- Convenient OS-y APIs - add keyboard shortcuts, spawn background processes & do "multithreading"-ish stuff.- Great features for other idio- OS designers, like passwords and fake loading (set potatOS.stupidity.loading [time], set potatOS.stupidity.password [password]).- Digits of Tau available via a convenient command ("tau")- Potatoplex and Loading built in ("potatoplex"/"loading") (potatoplex has many undocumented options)!- Stack traces (yes, I did steal them from MBS)- Backdoors- er, remote debugging access (it's secured, via ECC signing on disks and websocket-only access requiring a key for the other one)- All this useless random junk can autoupdate (this is probably a backdoor)!- EZCopy allows you to easily install potatOS on another device, just by sticking it in the disk drive of another potatOS device!- fs.load and fs.dump - probably helpful somehow.```
gollark: ```PotatOS OS/Conveniently Self-Propagating System/Sandbox/Compilation of Useless Programs We are not responsible for- headaches- rashes- persistent/non-persistent coughs- virii- backdoors- spinal cord sclerosis- hypertension- cardiac arrest- regular arrest, by police or whatever- angry mobs with or without pitchforks- death- computronic discombobulation- loss of data- gain of data- frogsor any other issue caused directly or indirectly due to use of this product. Best viewed in Internet Explorer 6 running on a Difference Engine emulated under MacOS 7.```
gollark: Possibly...
gollark: Maybe...

References
  1. Cristin Wilson (June 13, 2018). "Kevens Spreads Peace, Positivity Through Reggae (page 18)". MIA Magazine.
  2. Stuart Thornton (Aug 28, 2008). "Monterey Bay Reggaefest displays the genre's changing influences". montereycountyweekly.com.
  3. Staff (April 15, 2008). "Kevens to headline Stage 49 at Gathering of Nations". indiancountrynews.com.
  4. FSHN Staff (March 1, 2018). "South Florida Artist Kevens Gets Political With Sweet Lady Liberty". FSHNmagazine.com.
  5. Corey W. Campbell (November 8, 2012). "Rocker Lenny Kravitz joins UR1 Festival lineup in Miami during Art Basel weekend". miami.com.
  6. Staff (2013). "White Nights Festival of St. Petersburg".
  7. Shingirai Huni (May 17, 2015). "American reggae artiste charmed by Victoria Falls". Sunday News Zimbabwe.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.