EP: Kesington Kross – Audio Justice

Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and L.A. Reid’s First Joint Signee To Epic Records in 25 Years, Future-Soul Singer/Songwriter/Producer Kesington Kross Releases Free 5-Song EP Today

12.4.2013

Critical Praise for Kesington Kross:

“This whole thing’s solid” – The FADER

“He melds contemporary R&B with its ’80s equivalents—think Trey Songz if he were soundtracking a Don Johnson-era episode of Miami Vice.” – Complex.com

The EP:

Born in the City of Dreams, Los Angeles, California, Kesington Kross is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of artist, according to industry legend Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, who discovered him during a songwriting session and promptly introduced him to Epic Records CEO, L.A. Reid. Kesington marks the first joint signing by Babyface and LA Reid to Epic Records in 25 years. Today, Kesington is releasing his first project, a free 5-song EP entitled Audio Justice, which The FADER premiered here: http://www.thefader.com/2013/12/05/stream-kes-audio-justice-ep/

Born in Orange County, Kesington’s family suffered a setback during his teen years, causing his mother to uproot the family to Compton. Kesington quickly adjusted and welcomed the transition but his observance of the wide gap between the haves and have-nots stayed with him and became the backbone for a lot of his songwriting. As a fan of David Bowie’s escapism, Depeche Mode’s industrial feel, Phil Collin’s ethereal melodies, and Prince’s limitless sexual energy and storytelling, Kesington uses these influences to create an futuristic retro sound all his own. From the East Indian influenced, “Arabian Paradise” to the ’80s nostalgia of “Gimmie Your Luv,” all five songs on Audio Justice show an incredible range in both production styles and songwriting techniques rarely seen contained within a single artist.

Audio Justice Tracklist:

Redemption
Horses
Gimme Your Luv
Carry On
Arabian Paradise

Stream/Download here: https://soundcloud.com/kesingtonkross/sets/audio-justice-ep-1

Download here: http://www.audiomack.com/album/kes/audio-justice-ep

Read The FADER’s write-up here: http://www.thefader.com/2013/12/05/stream-kes-audio-justice-ep/

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/16117544″ params=”color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

Kesington Kross’s Background:

“I’ve always been an all or nothing kind of guy,” says Kesington Kross’s “and living in Compton, coming from Orange County was a test of that.” Unable to leave any of his influences out of his music, Kesington worked to combine everything he loved. From David Bowie, he took escapism and Bowie’s ability to create alter egos. When listening to Depeche Mode, he fell in love with the industrial feel of the music, the haunting melodies and the unconventional drum patterns. Phil Collins had ethereal melodies and emotional lyrics, Rick James had an incomparable ghetto groove and vulgarity that explored the psyche of men, and Prince represented the freedom of boundaries within sexuality, image as well as his music and lyrical perspective. Kesington used the contrast of all these iconoclastic enigmas through his well-defined storytelling, his concepts and production and his pushing-the-envelope imagery. For Kesington, being a rogue spirit is in his DNA. Alternating between the rave, rock and hip-hop scenes, he is continuously in search of a sense of familiarity and the ultimate pursuit of feeling closer to real life society and pop culture.