Kevin Michael is poised to burst on to the music scene with his new single 'It Don't Make A Difference To Me' after making a name for himself in America.And big things are expected of this young man who, not wanting to put the pressure on obviously, has been labelled as Justin Timberlake's competition.Kevin, who is about to go on tour with Maroon5, is currently promoting his debut single throughout Europe and I caught up with his to discuss his career thus far and just what success means to him.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in music?
No no no no I didn't choose music, music chose me, I didn't have a say in the matter. I don't know if it sounds weird or scary but it is the God's honest truth I was a five year old who knew what they put on this earth to do I saw my life before I was a teenager, I envisioned God sent me these thought and these future glances of what my life would be. That's why I do it it's my passion because it's my love because it is the only thing that I have in life, outside of my friends and family it's music, that is all I've got.How were you introduced to RnB music?
I think that subconsciously it was playing around me my entire life and I didn't know about it. My mother, that's her favourite genre of music, my father was always playing RnB and soul and funk and old school stuff, he was a musician as well, so it was all around me so it's just who I am you know what? I don't even think about, that's crazy. You know what firstly I think that any music can be soulful if it comes from your soul and your passionate about it, I think country music is soulful, but RnB I guess or I don't know black you know what I'm saying? I don't think about it it's just who I am. When I describe my music I describe maybe funk elements, or rock elements, or pop elements, hip hop elements but I never talk about RnB or soul because it's just innate to me I don't even think about it.Your new single 'It Don't Make A Difference To Me' is about a romantic relationship between a white woman and a black man is this about personal experience?
Yes my grandmother. The first verse goes 'all you have got to do is look at me three generations of my family'. The first generation is my grandmother and my grandfather, my grandmother is Italian my grandfather is black, and they got together in the sixties when it was taboo for them to be together. So I am a product of that, I am bi-racial, I'm not either or and I don't have to pick or choose, I'm not white when it's convenient to be white or black when it's convenient to be black, I just am who I am and I don't make any apologies for that. If people have a problem with that then sorry! And that is why I wanted it to be the first single because in a polite way people ask me 'What are you?' I wanted the whole world to know what are you?
The song is produced by Wyclef Jean what was it like working with him and how did it come about?
I have known Wyclef for years, and my manager used to manage one of his groups, we had the song written and somebody suggested that Wyclef produce it and I said 'that makes perfect sense I know him we have chemistry'. So we went into the studio lat December, he is the last producer that I worked with, and it was fun getting back up with an old friend that you haven't seen in a while.
And what does he bring to the record?
He definitely brings that reggae, Caribbean flavour it's such a big part of the song, it kind of made it what it is, it was sort of like the finishing touch the cherry on top.
Your self entitled debut album is released here in the UK on 29 October what can we expect from it?
I tell people to expect the unexpected from the album. We talked about how many different influences that I have and love of music so I don't want people to think that Kevin Michael is just one thing so that's why I say that. Every song honestly, and I'm not just saying that because it's me taking myself out of Kevin Michael and looking at it from an average customers view, the album is really all over the place there are so many different genres of music: RnB, hip hop, funk, soul, pop and you even hear a little bit of rock here and there it's old school it's new school it's everything I want to say on a first album.
Who are your musical influences?
I think for me personally, outside of the tastes that my mother and my father had, Prince, Michael and Stevie are my big inspirations.
You wrote your first song at the age of sixteen what inspired you to write so young and what inspires you now?
I wanted to write earlier than that I was actually writing poetry, I don't think it was good poetry, but it was just my thoughts at that time. And I used to ask my mum and my dad 'do you think I will ever be able to write a song? I can write poetry and lyrics so why can't I write a song? So it kind of happened organically at sixteen I was sleeping and I woke up in the studio and the music was playing and I had an idea for a song. And I was like wow I've got his idea I should write this down, and I did, and it was my first song, it wasn't very good, but it was my first song.
You are about to go on tour you looking forward to that?
I'm so excited I can't wait! This is like my first major tour, I'm doing arenas with Maroon Five, it's amazing, I can't believe I just said that, so I can't wait to do it we start 15th October and it's gonna be awesome.
Big things are expected for you, you have even been called Justin Timberlake's competition, but what expectations do you have for yourself and what is success for you?
Success for me is being true to who I am and not changing the person that I am intrinsically, and I'm not talking about just music, I'm talking about a personal level. Growing every year and becoming the better me I'm never happy and I'm never satisfied, and some people take that and misconstrue that as ungratefulness, but it's not that it's just I want to to be better I want to do the next thing. I don't like being in one place for too long I don't like to be stagnant I'm always trying to change and grow and learn something new and do something that I didn't do the day before and that is success to Kevin Michael.
Kevin's new single 'It Don't Make A Difference To Me' is out now.
Femalefirst Helen Earnshaw