Kevin Michael

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Kevin Michael
File:Kevin+Michael+Image10.png
Background information
Birth name Kevin Michael Seward
Born (1985-10-22) October 22, 1985 (age 38)
Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres Pop, R&B
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Years active 2004–present
Labels Independent
Website www.kevinmichael.com

Kevin Michael (born Kevin Michael Seward, October 22, 1985 in Chester, Pennsylvania) is an American pop artist that was signed to Downtown Records in 2007, the same year he released his self-titled debut album.

Early life

Born in Chester, Kevin grew up in a mixed-race family. His father is African-American and his mother is also bi-racial. This had quite an effect on him as a child growing up and would serve as one of his main messages in later musical work. He is a self-taught vocalist with a five octave range. Kevin cites artists like Prince, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder as some of his biggest musical influences. At the age of 16 he wrote his first song, and has continued writing his own material throughout the years. Kevin says he loves writing music just as much as singing it.

2006–2009

Michael received attention from Virgin Records and Columbia Records while still a teenager, but ultimately signed with Atlantic Records and their Downtown Records imprint.[1]

His first EP Ya Dig? was featured only on iTunes and the buzz single "We All Want The Same Thing" was highlighted on iTunes Store as the Single of the Week for May 8, 2007.[citation needed] "We All Want The Same Thing" featured rapper Lupe Fiasco and was featured in a Verizon Wireless V Cast Song ID commercial.[2]

Kevin Michael's first official single from his full length LP was "It Don't Make Any Difference", both produced by and featuring Wyclef Jean. In the song Kevin talks about interracial relationships and the product of being a bi-racial adult himself. A video for the song was shot in Brooklyn, NY in May 2007 directed by video collective Syndrome (James Larese). The video and song was received well by both MTV and VH1 Soul.

Michael's performance was favorably reviewed on day two of the August 2007 Lollapalooza concert in Chicago, describing Kevin as a "young singer with the towering afro and a voice that mixes the soulful side of Michael Jackson with a hip-hop edge."[3] He has also performed at MTV's 2007 Video Music Awards at The Palms Casino Pool in Las Vegas.[4]

The debut album Kevin Michael was released on October 2, 2007. He was on separate tours with Lily Allen, and then Maroon 5 in 2007.[2] In 2008, he toured with John Legend on the Pepsi Smash Tour.

He appeared in the 2009 romantic-comedy (500) Days of Summer as the wedding singer. His cover of Etta James' "At Last" was included on the movie's soundtrack.

2010 to present

On June 10, 2010, Michael resurfaced under the alias KofTHEY (K being the initial for his name, and THEY being a group acronym standing for THE Youth) and released THEY’s first single, "Areola" on their YouTube channel, KofTHEY.

On March 14, 2011, Michael opened Twitter and Facebook accounts as KofTHEY.[5]

On March 16, 2011, he released the follow-up album International for a limited release in Japan.

On April 5, 2011, he launched the TeamTHEY website and released two new songs under KofTHEY.[6]

On July 1, 2011, Michael released Covers For You, a nine song cover album. The album also includes one track from his International album.

Use in popular culture

Song Title Details
We All Want The Same Thing

Step Up 2: The Streets
We All Want The Same Thing

Prom Night (2008 film)
We All Want The Same Thing

Lincoln Heights (TV series) Season 2: Episode 4
Weekend Jumpoff

Entourage (TV series) Season 3: Episode 16
Philadelphia

Dance! Online
Stone Cold Killa

Dance! Online
It Don't Make Any Difference

EA Sports: NBA Live 08
Weekend Jumpoff

Just Wright
At Last (Etta James Cover)

(500) Days Of Summer

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Sales
US
[7]		 US R&B
[7]		 US Heat
[7]		 FRA
[8]		 SWI
[8]
2007 Kevin Michael — 90 24 81 81
2011 International — — — — —
2011 Covers For You — — — — —
2012 LISA — — — — —
2013 b r a i n w a $ h — — — — —

EPs

Year Album details
2007 Ya Dig?

Singles

Single Year Peak chart positions Album
US
[7]		 US R&B
[7]		 AUT
[9]		 FIN
[10]		 GER
[11]		 SWE
[10]		 SWI
[9]
"We All Want The Same Thing"
(featuring Lupe Fiasco)		 2007 — — — — — — — Kevin Michael
"It Don't Make Any Difference To Me (1 Love)" (featuring Wyclef Jean) — — — 17 — 19 —
"Ain't Got You" 2008 — — 64 — 43 — 74
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Soundtrack appearances

Song Year Other performer(s) Film
"We All Want The Same Thing" 2008 Lupe Fiasco Step Up 2: The Streets
"At Last" 2009 N/A (500) Days of Summer
"Weekend Jumpoff" 2010 N/A Just Wright

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Modern Guitars article[dead link]
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ KofTHEY Twitter[dead link]
  6. ↑ TeamTHEY Official Site[dead link]
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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