A pioneer of electronic dance music (EDM), Kevens made his name on the South Florida music scene in the late 1980s jamming with the region’s reggae artistes and musicians.

The American singer/songwriter’s influences play out on Call To Balance, his second album, which was released in October by KTF Music.

It contains the previously released Sweet Lady Liberty and Sonadores Legales, a Spanish version of Legal Dreamers, the 2023 song that marked his return to the music business.

Kevens told the Jamaica Observer’s Splash that Call To Balance “is my musical evolution as an artiste and human being”.

The Florida-based singer added that: “The sound is an amalgamation of drum and bass jungle with a deep reggae presence. It’s my own particular musical recipe and I call it ReggaeEDM. It is a project that is born from something very deep, not only because of the challenges generated by the [COVID-19] pandemic, but also because of the impact of transcendental events in my personal life.”

On Sonadores Legales, Kevens empathises with undocumented immigrants in the United States, most of whom attempted to enter that country through the southern border in Texas. Their plight inspired him to write and record Legal Dreamers..

The self-produced Call To Balance was released 14 years after We Are One, Kevens’ first album. It was recorded during trying times.

“I almost lost a loved one and felt the stalking of loneliness. I questioned my abilities and purpose as an artiste, but found my strength and reason to live in the midst of a melting pot of doubts and emotions. Through this gruelling process, I was inspired, and produced an album that seeks to harmonise chaos and invites us to reflect and reconnect with ourselves,” he stated.

Born Kevens Celestine, Kevens was raised in Miami, where he discovered Jamaican pop culture. He listened to Bob Marley, Yellowman, Brigadier Jerry, Sugar Minott, Dennis Brown, as well as the Kilamanjaro sound system.

While working as a sound system selector in Miami, he met Anthony Booker, Marley’s brother. They became members of a band named Le Coup, which included Booker’s brother Richard.

In the 1990s Kevens released songs like We Play Music and Freedom For Unity, which are considered forerunners to the EDM sound that exploded 10 years ago through acts like Major Lazer.

— Howard Campbell