Kevin Ross (musician)

Kevin Ross
Kevin Ross
Birth name	Kevin Ross
Born	December 8, 1987 (age 36); Washington, D.C., United States
Genres	R&B; Soul;
Occupations	Singer-Songwriter; Producer;
Instruments	Vocals; Piano; Keyboards; Guitar;
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Motown; Art Society Music Group; EMPIRE;
Website	kevinrossmusic.com

Kevin Ross^[1] (born December 8, 1987) is an American singer, songwriter and producer. He previously was signed to Motown Records and he released his debut album The Awakening in March 2017. Ross is also an award-winning songwriter, having written songs for artists such as Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj, Jamie Foxx, SWV, Johnny Gill and Toni Braxton. He began to become well known in 2014 after being featured in a Glade holiday campaign^[2] that year, charting with his version of the song "This Is My Wish".

Early life

Born and raised in the DMV area, Ross came from a family full of musicians. As a child, he was heavily influenced by his father's side of the family, who all sang and played musical instruments. He attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, a performing arts high school in Washington, D.C. After covering songs from Stevie Wonder in a Motown tribute during his second year,^[3] Ross knew he wanted to pursue a career as a musician. Following high school, he accepted a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music^[4] in Boston, where he studied contemporary writing and production.

Career

While attending Berklee, Ross appeared on BET's 106 and Park's as part of the shows Wild Out Wednesday competition.^[5] Ross ended up winning the competition and through his win, caught the attention of executive producer and music industry veteran Troy Taylor. After graduating from Berklee College, Ross moved to Atlanta where he began his songwriting career. After successfully landing several songwriting placements^[6] with Trey Songz, Jamie Foxx, and other platinum artists, Kevin signed a recording deal with Motown Records.

2014–2017: Motown and The Awakening

Kevin's first solo release on Motown, Dialogue in the Grey, was released in 2014. The 4-track EP, which featured appearances by Ne-Yo and T.I, allowed Kevin the opportunity to tour nationally as the opening act for Maxwell's Summer Soulstice tour^[7] and Ne-Yo's One Night With Ne-Yo tour. That same year, Ross became the face of Glade's "This Is My Wish" holiday campaign. After having a breakout year, AOL named Kevin Ross their "Best New Artist" for 2014. In 2015, Kevin announced the release of his long-awaited debut album on Motown, The Awakening however, the project would not be released until 2017. During that time, Kevin held his audience over by creating his 1990s R&B mash up series. The mash-up series ended up becoming popular on social media and introduced Kevin to a whole new audience. In 2016, Ross released his first official single from this debut album entitled "Long Song Away".^[8] The single peaked at No.1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Song chart^[9] and radio's Urban Adult Contemporary chart, making him the first debut Motown recording artist since 2010 to accomplish that feat.^[10] Kevin's debut album, The Awakening, was officially released on March 24, 2017 on the Motown/Verve record label and it features appearances from Chaz French, BJ the Chicago Kid, Lecrae and production from Babyface. On September 17, 2017, Ross announced the release of his third EP, Drive.

2018–present: Motown Exit and Audacity

After the release of Drive, Ross took a brief hiatus from the music industry. In January 2019, he reemerge and announced his exit from his recording label Motown and the creation of his own label, Art Society Music Group. When asked his reason for leaving Motown, Ross says "I wanted to have the freedom to decide who I am doing co-ventures with. It’s just like in any kind of business, when you have too many cooks that’s within the kitchen, sometimes you don’t get the best result, especially when everyone doesn’t have the same end goal in mind. Everyone can have great intentions, but if you’re not on the same page, good intentions are kind of pointless."^[11] In addition to the new label, Ross announced that a new single, Thing Called Love, and a new album, Audacity, will be released in the spring of 2019, but the release was postponed. In December 2019, Ross announced the release of the 7-track EP Audacity, Vol. 1 on January 31, 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
Title	Album details	US	US Heat ^[12]
The Awakening	Released: March 24, 2017 Label: Motown Formats: Digital download, CD	—	16
Drive 2	Released: October 29, 2021 Label: Art Society Music Group (AMG) / EMPIRE
"—" denotes an album that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

EPs

List of EPs with selected album details
Title	Details
Dialogue in the Grey	Released: September 16, 2014 Label: Motown Formats: Digital download
Long Song Away	Released: December 9, 2016 Label: Motown Formats: Digital download
Drive	Released: September 29, 2017 Label: Motown Formats: Digital download
Audacity, Vol. 1	Released: January 31, 2020 Label: Art Society Music Group Formats: Digital download
Audacity, Vol. 2	Released: August 14, 2020 Label: Art Society Music Group Formats: Digital download
Midnight Microdose, Vol. 1	Released: May 26, 2023 Label: Art Society Music Group / EMPIRE Formats: Digital download
Midnight Microdose, Vol. 1	Released: September 15, 2023 Label: Art Society Music Group / EMPIRE Formats: Digital download

Singles

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions
Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
Title	Year	US	US Adult R&B ^[13]	US R&B ^[14]	Album
"This is My Wish"	2014	—	—	16	Dialogue in the Grey
"Long Song Away"	2016	—	1	23	The Awakening
"Don't Go"	2017	—	15	—	The Awakening
"Thing Called Love"	2019	—	20	—	Audacity, Vol. 1
"God Is A Genius"	2020	—	—	—	Audacity, Vol. 2
"Looking For Love"	2021	—	9	—	Drive 2
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Tours

Headlining

The Awakening Tour (2017)

Supporting

Summer Soulstice Tour w/ Maxwell (2014)
One Night with Ne-Yo Tour w/ Ne-Yo (2014)
BET Music Matters Tour (2015)
XIX Tour w/ Ro James (2017)
NYLA Tour w/ Marsha Ambrosius (2019)
Full Circle Tour w/ Babyface & KEM (2022)

Writing and Production Discography

This is a list of the songs known to have been written/co-written and produced by Kevin Ross.

Title	Album	Performer	Year	Credits
2nd place	Still Winning	Johnny Gill	2011	Writer
Time to Go	I Missed Us	SWV	2012	Co-Writer
Use Me	I Missed Us	SWV	2012	Co-Writer
Favorite Thing	Original Soundtrack: Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas Album	Kevin Ross	2013	Co-Writer
Sleigh Ride	Original Soundtrack: Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas Album	MPrynt	2013	Co-Writer
Touchin, Lovin	Trigga	Trey Songz	2013	Co-Writer
What's Best For You	Trigga	Trey Songz	2014	Co-Writer
Dead Wrong	Trigga	Trey Songz	2014	Co-Writer
I Know (Can't Get Back)	Trigga	Trey Songz	2014	Co-Writer
Blast Off	Heaven's Door	Case	2015	Co-Writer
What Happened To	Kevin Hart: What Now? (The Mixtape Presents Chocolate Droppa) [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]	Kevin Hart	2016	Co-Writer
Way Out	True Colors	Chaz French	2017	Co-Writer
Young World	True Colors	Chaz French	2017	Co-Writer
You Don't Know Me	Star on Fox	Star Cast	2017	Co-Writer
Sex & Cigarettes	Sex & Cigarettes	Toni Braxton	2018	Writer
Tru Shit	Tru Shit	Trevor Jackson & Jacob Latimore	2018	Writer
I Promise	Elevation	Tank	2019	Writer
Happy Without Me	Spell My Name	Toni Braxton	2020	Writer
Signs	Leo Season	Jacob Latimore	2020	Writer
Black & White	Zulu Man With Some Power	Nasty C ft. Ari Lennox	2021	Producer
Lessons (Remix)	Lessons	Eric Roberson ft. Anthony Hamilton, Raheem Devaughn and Kevin Ross	2021	Co-Writer/Performer

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Work	Result
2016	ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards	Top R&B Song	Trey Songz ft. Nicki Minaj – Touchin', Lovin	Won	^[15]
2017	Soul Train Music Awards	Best New Artist		Nominated	^[16]
2017	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding New Artist	The Awakening	Nominated
2017	iHeart Radio Music Awards	New R&B Artist		Nominated