New Video: Kesington Kross – “Gimme Your Love”

Everything you need to know about Kesington Kross is in his music.

Born in the city of dreams, Los Angeles, California, Kesington Kross is a singer, songwriter, and musician, whose family circumstances have given him an interesting perspective on life. The result is a fresh sound that breaks traditional genres molds and encompasses a melodically inventive, synth-driven amalgam of pop, R&B, electro-funk, soul, and New Wave that manages to be both retro-inspired and futuristic. From the East Indian influenced “Arabian Paradise” to the 80’s nostalgia of “Gimme Your Love,” the 5 songs on his introductory EP, Audio Justice, cover a mélange of musical territory. It’s a testament that Kesington Kross is a brave artist with something to say.

Spending the first half of his life in Orange County, Kesington Kross’ family suffered a setback, causing his mother to uproot and relocate the family to Compton. Kesington Kross had to quickly adjust to the culture shock of going from one extreme to the next and soon came to welcome the transition, taking it as an opportunity to experience a new culture. “I like to reflect on real life not just what is politically correct.” The wide disparity in haves and have-nots, in race, and in culture, fueled Kesington Kross’ imagination and became the context to his music. “I began to create a fantasy life to get through my reality. I was always artsy. There wasn’t a time when I wasn’t singing. I also liked to paint and sculpt. Maybe it was a defense mechanism, but I started to interpret life as art. It helped me cope during that time.”

Unable to leave any of his influences out of his music, Kesington Kross worked to combine everything he loved. “I’ve always been an all or nothing kind of guy,” he says. From David Bowie, Kesington Kross took escapism and Bowie’s ability to create alter egos. When listening to Depeche Mode, Kesington Kross fell in love with the industrial feel of the music, the haunting melodies and the unconventional drum patterns. Phil Collins had ethereal melodies and emotional lyrics, Rick James had an incomparable ghetto groove and vulgarity that explored the psyche of men, and Prince represented the freedom of boundaries within sexuality, image as well as his music and lyrical perspective. Kesington Kross used the contrast of all these iconoclastic enigmas through his well-defined storytelling, his concepts and production and his pushing-the-envelope imagery.

For Kesington Kross, being a rogue spirit is in his DNA. Alternating between the rave, rock and hip-hop scenes, he is continuously in search of a sense of familiarity and the ultimate pursuit of feeling closer to real life society and pop culture.