New York, NY (Top40 Charts) KESHO (pronounced 'kay-sho') is 22-year-old Kenyan born/ Southampton based Connor Daniel, an artist whose music knows no boundaries. The name means 'Tomorrow' in Swahili, as KESHO is out to be the sound of the future. Bringing together dance, electronica and R&B, the sound is a vibrant fusion that takes up today's post-genre challenge to create soul-infused, modern pop equally at home on radio or the dancefloor.
"The mix of weird sounds which you can do now in pop really excites me," says Connor (vocalist, songwriter and producer). "Pop production now is the most exciting I've ever heard it." Connor has been making music since his early teens, when he began uploading unofficial Dubstep mixes of Drake and Usher to YouTube. He now describes the tracks as "awful", but they showed impressive studio skills for the then 14 year-old, clocking up 2 million plays, and later, earning him a feature on BBC Introducing!
The Single 'Fire Love' is a commercial Pop track with a gritty edge. The song's concept is simply about wanting someone and the chase that makes it so exciting. Both of Fire Love's lyrics and instrumentation follow a crescendo that leads into the euphoria of Trap-infused synth brass and silky vocal chops in what electronic Pop music fans have come to know, love and move to - the 'Drop'. The single was written rather quickly, within one day in fact, collaborating with Lady V, Paul Whalley and Amber Van Day. It was the first writing session I had with this team… but definitely not the last! Within the first few hours, all four of us had the mutual feeling that we may be onto something here. Once a rough demo was recorded and finally named 'Fire Love - Version 1', we all felt the urge to end a perfect writing session with a round (or 2) of drinks for our efforts. I remember giving my co-writers the release date; to which I received the reply "Fire Love is one of my favourites" - humbling praise coming from Grammy award winning writer Lady V.
With ideas flowing so fast, it's not surprising KESHO is eager to get out on the road and test the songs on live audiences, but for all the stylish sophistication of his new material, Connor says his aim remains the same as when he played student clubs at Uni: to make people dance. "Put me on a stage in front of a crowd," he grins, "and I think I can do the rest." The word is out: KESHO is on a mission to liberate your mind, body and soul.
www.keshomusic.com
