KEVIN ROSS (Fri, 6/5/26)

Kevin Ross had never felt more alive. The singer had gone from
performing once every three months to opening for R&B/Soul legend Maxwell
five times a week, and his nostalgia-flecked, soul-drenched repertoire
resonated with audiences. In demand, he swiftly released an EP (Dialogue in the Grey) boasting features
from Ne-Yo and T.I., produced and performed a song for a national
commercial (Glade) and was tapped for a spot on Ne-Yo's sold-out tour -- all in
the same year. He'd been praying, asking if he should really be an artist, and
the answer seemed to be a resounding "yes."

And then suddenly, Ross found himself in a career desert.

"It felt dark and dismal to have this great peak, then sink again. I didn't
know what was next" the Washington, D.C. native says now. "But
someone told me that to be great, you have to go through great things -- not just
great wins, but great tragedy. It's about getting back into the fight no matter
how dinged up you get."

In the wake of that struggle, Ross has emerged stronger and more determined
than ever. Praised by ABC as having an "expansive, entrancing and
enigmatic modern R&B style," the singer was named "Best New
R&B Artist" of 2014 by AOL and was the ASCAP's 2016 Rhythm and Soul
Award Winner. He's been featured on NBA spots, "Grey's Anatomy" and
called a "one-man quartet" by okayplayer. "Long Song Away,"
a love song that's kissed by Ross' sweet vocals and just begging for a slow
dance, quickly racked up almost half a million views on YouTube, cracked Top 3
on Urban Adult Contemporary radio. And he shows no signs of backing down: To
the delight of his 100,000 followers on Facebook and 71,000 followers on
Instagram, this year he'll head back out on tour with another one of R&B's
most promising ones-to-watch, Ro James.

Growing up, the "hustle mentality" of D.C. was impressed upon him as
his father's side of the family was full of singers. Still, there was plenty of
fun injected into the fray, and Ross' house constantly swayed to the sounds of
Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Prince and Patrice Rushen. "If it felt good,
it was played," he says.

After covering a medley of Stevie Wonder's hits for a Motown Tribute his
sophomore year of high school (Duke Ellington School of the Arts), Ross realized
his destiny. He won a partial scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of
Music, and by age 18 was already trekking into New York City to audition for background
singing slots for Alicia Keys and Usher. He wasn't chosen, but instead of
defeating him, the rejection sharpened him.

"'Man, I must suck!'" he remembers thinking. He chuckles. "But I
learned you have to be able to build your own world, like Steve Jobs said. So I
started to fuse my love for jazz and hip hop and soul and create a nostalgic
feel that moves music forward. I'm a bridge between the old and the new."

Moving to Atlanta, he spent his first year after college pinging back and forth
from studio to studio. It was hard, he says, but it paid off -- within the
year, he scored his first big placement with Jamie Foxx. Signing with Motown
Records, he released his solo debut, 2014's Dialogue
in the Grey EP, and reached the pinnacle of his career -- or so he thought.

With his soulful major label debut, The
Awakening, due in March 2017, Ross is poised to introduce himself not as a
star streaking across the sky, but as an artist making timeless music with
timely appeal. Armed with hard-earned knowledge, he strips away social media
posturing and obsession with material things and speaks to what really matters
in life.

"People get so obsessed with money or the look of it. We forgot about truth.
We forgot people hurt, that they want to feel something." he explains.

"It's my audacity to say, I will make it. I made it past step one. So now
I can't stop," he continues. "If you're given a gift from God, you gotta
use it."