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 clichΘ. 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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