Kevin Ross (musical artist)

Kevin Ross [1] is an American singer, songwriter and producer. He previously was signed to Motown Records and he released his debut album The Awakening in March 2017. Ross is also an award-winning songwriter, having written songs for artists such as Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj, Jamie Foxx, SWV, Johnny Gill and Toni Braxton. He began to become well known in 2014 after being featured in a Glade holiday campaign [2] that year, charting with his version of the song "This Is My Wish".

Kevin Ross
Ross performing live in Detroit on The Awakening Tour
Background information
Birth nameKevin Ross
BornDecember 8
Washington, D.C., United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instruments
Years active2009–present
Labels
  • Motown
  • Art Society Music Group
Associated acts
Websitekevinrossmusic.com

Early life

Born and raised in the DMV area, Ross comes from a family full of musicians. As a child, he was heavily influenced by his father's side of the family who all sung and played musical instruments. He attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, a performing arts high school in Washington, D.C. After covering songs from Stevie Wonder in a Motown tribute during his sophomore year,[3] Ross knew he wanted to pursue a career as a musician. Following high school, he accepted a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music [4] in Boston, where he studied contemporary writing and production.

Career

While attending Berklee, Ross appeared on BET's 106 and Park's as part of the shows Wild Out Wednesday competition.[5] Ross ended up winning the competition and through his win, caught the attention of executive producer and music industry veteran Troy Taylor. After graduating from Berklee College, Ross moved to Atlanta where he began his songwriting career. After successfully landing several songwriting placements [6] with Trey Songz, Jamie Foxx, and other platinum artists, Kevin signed a recording deal with Motown Records.

2014–2017: Motown and The Awakening

Kevin's first solo release on Motown, Dialogue in the Grey, was released in 2014. The 4-track EP, which featured appearances by Ne-Yo and T.I, allowed Kevin the opportunity to tour nationally as the opening act for Maxwell's Summer Soulstice tour [7] and Ne-Yo's One Night With Ne-Yo tour. That same year, Ross became the face of Glade's "This Is My Wish" holiday campaign. After having a breakout year, AOL named Kevin Ross their "Best New Artist" for 2014. In 2015, Kevin announced the release of his long-awaited debut album on Motown, The Awakening however, the project would not be released until 2017. During that time, Kevin held his audience over by creating his 1990s R&B mash up series. The mash-up series ended up becoming popular on social media and introduced Kevin to a whole new audience. In 2016, Ross released his first official single from this debut album entitled "Long Song Away".[8] The single peaked at No.1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Song chart [9] and radio's Urban Adult Contemporary chart, making him the first debut Motown recording artist since 2010 to accomplish that feat.[10] Kevin's debut album, The Awakening, was officially released on March 24, 2017 on the Motown/Verve record label and it features appearances from Chaz French, BJ the Chicago Kid, Lecrae and production from Babyface. On September 17, 2017, Ross announced the release of his third EP, Drive.

2018–present: Motown Exit and Audacity

After the release of Drive, Ross took a brief hiatus from the music industry. In January 2019, he reemerge and announced his exit from his recording label Motown and the creation of his own label, Art Society Music Group. When asked his reason for leaving Motown, Ross says "I wanted to have the freedom to decide who I am doing co-ventures with. It’s just like in any kind of business, when you have too many cooks that’s within the kitchen, sometimes you don’t get the best result, especially when everyone doesn’t have the same end goal in mind. Everyone can have great intentions, but if you’re not on the same page, good intentions are kind of pointless." [11] In addition to the new label, Ross announced that a new single, Thing Called Love, and a new album, Audacity, will be released in the spring of 2019, but the release was postponed. In December 2019, Ross announced the release of the 7-track EP Audacity, Vol. 1 on January 31, 2020.

Discography

Studio albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions
US US
Heat
[12]
The Awakening
  • Released: March 24, 2017
  • Label: Motown
  • Formats: Digital download, CD
 —16
"—" denotes an album that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

EPs
List of EPs with selected album details
Title Details
Dialogue in the Grey
  • Released: September 16, 2014
  • Label: Motown
  • Formats: Digital download
Long Song Away
  • Released: December 9, 2016
  • Label: Motown
  • Formats: Digital download
Drive
  • Released: September 29, 2017
  • Label: Motown
  • Formats: Digital download
Audacity, Vol. 1
  • Released: January 31, 2020
  • Label: Art Society Music Group
  • Formats: Digital download

Singles
List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US US
Adult
R&B
[13]		 US
R&B
[14]
"This is My Wish" 2014 ——16 Dialogue in the Grey
"Long Song Away" 2016 —123 The Awakening
"Don't Go" 2017 —15—
"Thing Called Love" 2019 —20— Audacity, Vol. 1
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Tours

Headlining

  • The Awakening Tour (2017)

Supporting

  • Summer Soulstice Tour w/ Maxwell (2014)
  • One Night with Ne-Yo Tour w/ Ne-Yo (2014)
  • BET Music Matters Tour (2015)
  • XIX Tour w/ Ro James (2017)
  • NYLA Tour w/ Marsha Ambrosius (2019)

Writing and Production Discography

This is a list of the songs known to have been written/co-written and produced by Kevin Ross.

Title Album Performer Year Credits
2nd Place Still Winnging Johnny Gill 2011 Writer
Time to Go I Missed Us SWV 2012 Co-Writer
Use Me I Missed Us SWV 2012 Co-Writer
Favorite Thing Original Soundtrack: Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas Album Kevin Ross 2013 Co-Writer
Sleigh Ride Original Soundtrack: Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas Album MPrynt 2013 Co-Writer
Touchin, Lovin Trigga Trey Songz 2013 Co-Writer
What's Best For You Trigga Trey Songz 2014 Co-Writer
Dead Wrong Trigga Trey Songz 2014 Co-Writer
I Know (Can't Get Back) Trigga Trey Songz 2014 Co-Writer
Blast Off Heaven's Door Case 2015 Co-Writer
What Happened To Kevin Hart: What Now? (The Mixtape Presents Chocolate Droppa) [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Kevin Hart 2016 Co-Writer
Way Out True Colors Chaz French 2017 Co-Writer
Young World True Colors Chaz French 2017 Co-Writer
You Don't Know Me Star on Fox Star Cast 2017 Co-Writer
Sex & Cigarettes Sex & Cigarettes Toni Braxton 2018 Writer

Awards and Nominations
Year Awards Category Work Result
2016 ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards Top R&B Song Trey Songz ft. Nicki Minaj - Touchin', Lovin Won [15]
2017 Soul Train Music Awards Best New Artist Nominated [16]
2017 NAACP Image Awards Outstanding New Artist The Awakening Nominated
2017 iHeart Radio Music Awards New R&B Artist Nominated
gollark: The perils of the infinite money tree...
gollark: They could be stunned.
gollark: Well, if I get a big enough pile, I can trade random copper-level stuff -> silvers -> golds.
gollark: Well, CB green coppers are more common than golds. If someone can't get a green copper for (roughly) the stuff I have, it'll be quite hard to add enough to get a gold.
gollark: That might be problematic, then.

References
  1. "Biography". allmusic.com. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  2. "GLADE® PARTNERS WITH MOTOWN ARTIST KEVIN ROSS TO GIVE THE GIFT OF FREE MUSIC THIS HOLIDAY SEASON". SCJohnson.com. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  3. "Kevin Ross discusses his musical background, portraying Stevie Wonder, and touring with Ne-Yo". rollingout.com. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  4. "Alumni Beat". Berklee.edu. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  5. "Ladies! Meet the next R&B Great Kevin Ross". Hothiphopdetroit.com. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  6. "Kevin Ross Credits". Allmusic.com. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  7. "Motown Recording Artist Kevin Ross Confirmed To Join Maxwell On His "Summer Soulstice" Tour". PRNewswire.com. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  8. "10 New Artists You Need to Know: April 2017". RollingStone.com. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  9. "Kevin Ross Says First Billboard No. 1 is a 'Gift From God,' as Singer Tops Adult R&B Songs Chart". Billboard.com. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  10. "Kevin Ross Reaches No. 1 On Urban Adult Radio Charts". Singersroom.com. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  11. "R&B Star Kevin Ross Exits Motown and Announces Plans for New Music". Millbuzz.com. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  12. "Kevin Ross - Chart History - Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  13. "Kevin Ross - Chart History - Adult R&B Songs". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  14. "Kevin Ross - Chart History - Hot R&B Songs". Billboard. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  15. "2016 ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards". ascap.com. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  16. "Solange, Bruno Mars Lead BET Soul Train Award Nominees". Variety.com. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
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