The Journey
Everything associated with Kēvens begins and ends with a simple yet powerful profound statement.
“Positivity is a Necessity”
It wasn’t always so, earlier in his life.
Kēvens: during my senior year in high school, I went to the local US air-force enrollment office trying to fulfill my dream of becoming a pilot but God had other plans for me.
I didn’t meet the strict physical and medical requirements. My vision was not up to par, and my almost 6’5” frame might have also been a problem.
After high school, I had no direction in life, I said to myself, maybe I should try DJing and MCing which I had little knowledge of.
During my youth, I was fascinated with the dub culture. I became a young MC and started to test my lyrical skills and style for Virgin Virgo “Sound system” where I first held the mic in public. After every event, my desire to be on the microphone grew stronger and I began to shape a future in my mind that included music.
Having been a student trombone player in high school, I wanted to try my singing/rapping and musicianship with a band. So I started going to every club I knew of where they played live reggae. Mind you, I was still under 21. Because I was tall and always very well dressed up, most assumed I was older and let me in.
One club stood out “The Musician Exchange” That’s where I met Lee Milo, drummer and singer of the reggae band Tishan.
In between sets one night, outside under the tree where the band would spend their break time with a few fans, I started to freestyle for him and he was impressed, that’s how he invited me to jam on his last set.
The Musician Exchange became my go-to club and home on so many levels. I saw my first Jazz concert there, I met and befriended the great Jaco Pastorius who pushed me to keep getting on stage.
Jaco once told me, don’t ever stop polishing those skills, I love the fire in you kid, keep doing your thing and you’ll be famous one day. Only after his death did I realize who he truly was.
Through a friend who owned a local nightclub and getting out of the business, I purchased several crates of reggae dub records at a superbly gifted price. He saw my passion as a young artist and wanted to help, otherwise, I would not have been able to purchase those records at the price they were worth.
I hustled hard and got my first gig at a progressive club playing ska on Monday nights in addition to my day job.
My hunger for more DJ work kept growing stronger, I decided to invest in a little sound system of my own. Through the club, I would get on that mic every chance I got and advertise my availability for birthday gigs and weddings.
A few years later, I became the resident Reggae DJ at The Village Inn, a renowned club in Coconut Grove Florida at the time, that is where I met Anthony Booker.
Towards the end of the night, as per my routine, I would go on the mic to freestyle a couple of songs with the band.
One night the guest bass player was Anthony. After a groovy jam session, Anthony and I spoke about joining forces, by then I was open to be a part of something serious.
Not long after, he called and told me about this band he is putting together and wanted me to come to rehearsal. When I arrived at the address he gave me, I saw a bunch of Bob Marley and The Wailers tour cases, and Marley memorabilia that belong in a museum. I didn’t say anything, but couldn’t stop wondering where I was. After jamming for a while, his mother, an older Rasta woman opened the door and asked, “Do you gentlemen want something to drink?”
I recognized her right away. It was Cedella Marley Booker, also mother to The Gong, Robert Nesta Marley.
I almost passed out. Anthony was laughing at the situation, knowing that after all of our talks about reggae, he had never once told me who his big brother was. In the second half of that rehearsal, young Julian Marley joined in making it even more surreal. That was the start of the first band I was a part of, “Le Coup.”
Less than a year later, Anthony got shot at Dadeland Mall in Miami, and killed by the Police. I was devastated and lost., feeling the first meaningful project that gave my life purpose just came to a full stop.
After a year of soul searching I had a vision of how to continue the project, Anthony brought me in as the frontman of the group, and felt it was my responsibility to keep the torch lit. With the blessings of both Mother Booker and Brother Richard, I continued with the vision of Le Coup.
When I finally booked my first gig, it was at a club called “Reggae Rockers” on South Beach, the owner made it very clear, no one really knows you, how are you going to bring in an audience? I responded the same way I used to promote my DJ gigs, by calling all my friends and fans, that’s what one did back then, there were no mass emails and putting flyers everywhere they would stick.
The first show was a smash, and that’s when Kēvens the promoter was born.
During those early days, gigs didn’t pay much, I was dating a young lady who was a model and an actress, and I would tag along when she went to castings. On several occasions, the casting directors would ask me, why don’t you join in? l had an interesting look both still and film cameras would love they kept telling me.
One day, I got cast for a tv commercial and got the first refusal, almost got it but didn’t. I decided to start taking acting classes and get into modeling. I pushed really hard, kept in touch regularly with the casting directors, and was represented non-exclusively by a few agents.
I became an actor, played a few minor movie roles here and there then finally got my sag card. Soon after I landed several major television commercials nationally and internationally.
Le Coup had success on a local level but I was exhausted after seven-plus years and wanted more out of life, especially after a failed relationship with the love of my life that sent me spurring in a world of confusion.
I told my friend John Salley who played for the Miami Heat at the time of my state of mind, and he directed me toward grand master Richard Behrens of the art Torishimaru Aiki Jutsu, also a man of God.
This Mysticman opened my eyes to the true meaning of life and my reason for being here in the world of man. I was seeking to know God, he reminded me of the nature of The Almighty and my place in the world as a servant.
I began to meditate as per the master’s guidance and learn how to quiet my lower mind. Around the time I studied with the grand master, the seeds of transformation were planted, all I had to do is trust the process, and slowly did.
I kept the band a little bit longer after meeting the grand master then decided to dissolve it and went solo. My last show with Le Coup was at the Florida Zen Music Festival where I met the EDM group Rabbit in The Moon.
That same divine manifest destiny found Kēvens onstage at that Zen Music Festival with Rabbit, confronted by an ocean of ravers facing their first taste of media scrutiny and police presence, he rose to the occasion like a champion.
Kēvens: back then, at most raves, it was DJ’s and a few MC’s but there was no voice bringing spirituality to the audience. The 1997 Florida Zen Music Festival, occurred not long after a major TV show did a story on the growing rave scene, exposing it to mainstream America as something bad, so the police presence was very heavy. The underground audience was defiant because they weren’t used to rave festivals being shut down and they were determined to fight the authorities. It was a pressure cooker. However, I realized that it was the perfect time for me to intervene. So I simply picked up the mic while DJ Monk was spinning and spoke with the intention of cooling off the vibes and got everyone to chant “Positivity is a Necessity”. It created a positive and peaceful atmosphere and calmed the crowd down. There was no trouble and the party was a success. That was a very powerful and moving moment for me. I had found my voice.”
That same night, after this new experience MCing for a non-reggae group at a rave gave me renewed purpose.
It wasn’t long after I decided to start anew. used my first name as my artist’s name with a new understanding and attitude.
Always thinking out of the box, Kēvens was inspired to move away from traditional reggae and into something unique, so he took the words of Bob Marley personally: “Reggae will continue to get bigger and bigger”.
Kēvens the artist has come to life and he has fused his reggae roots into a panorama of unexpected rhythms and ideas, which has resulted in a truly unique sound. His live performances are a mixture of deep dub grooves, hardcore crunch, and a plethora of radical reggae re-workings which make them a unique musical statement that has to be seen.
That first wave of creativity was captivated by the recordings of “We Are One”.
Kēvens: “When I met grammy winning producer and engineer Bob Rosa, I knew I had found the perfect collaborator. He took my first album to the next level and brought out the best in me artistically at the time. I had to trust the process, and I’m so glad I did”.
“ In these dark times we’re living in, people need conscious substance, they crave it, they demand it” he stresses emphatically. “There is so much negativity whenever you turn on your television or radio, we have become desensitized, empty, and void of empathy. I am a member of the positive singers/rappers of the world who are providing the masses with a positive and spiritual option and The Almighty is guiding me to deliver it through this musical path. We have to break old habits and make new self-discoveries. Expand our visions, pound through our animal state, and unite.
This, without any apology, is an absolute necessity, I promise you.”
