Keke Wyatt | Who Knew? (Coming Feb 23rd, 2010)
KEKE WYATT
WHO KNEW?
At age eighteen it seemed as though Keke Wyatt, a singing prodigy from the age of two, was poised to achieve her dream of stardom. Her duet with Avant, “My First Love,” from Avant’s My Thoughts album, was a Top Five R B hit. A follow-up hit duet with Avant, “Nothing In This World,” helped propel Keke’s debut album to Gold status. Critics and fans alike were lauding Keke as a true singer in a time when very few real singers were emerging on the R&B scene. She seemed destined to be a major force. And then suddenly a series of personal challenges and unforeseen circumstances with record companies derailed her rise to fame,prompting the question “what happened to Keke Wyatt?” “I was very frustrated…was even broken-hearted… by what happened,” Keke admits. “At the same time I believe God has a plan.” This plan has now come full circle. On February 23, 2010 Keke Wyatt will release her Shanachie Entertainment debut, Who Knew? The stunning and dynamic songbird is destined to take the R&B world by storm once again as she sounds and looks better then ever.
Ketara Shavon Wyatt, better known as, Keke Wyatt was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 10, 1982, to Lorna Wyatt, a Caucasian vocalist, and Keever Wyatt II, an African American organist/vocalist. Her parents were very involved in their church. In front of everyone her family played the role of a happy Christian family, but behind closed doors she found herself dealing with a lot of adversity because she was multiracial.
“It was very difficult growing up being bi-racial. I often chose not to speak about it because my words were twisted around and it was very hurtful. It was rough being in school because the white girls didn’t want to play with me because I wasn’t white enough and the black girls didn’t want to play with me because I wasn’t black enough. I found myself really close to my siblings and hanging around with the kids that were like me because they understood. It was awful to see our mother cry from the criticism of other people because she loved someone who was a different color.”
Keke started singing at the age of two along with her siblings and they made their first performance in front of a live audience when she was five. At the tender age of ten she recorded the gospel song “What If.” As a teen she performed with various girl groups. She even auditioned for and was invited to join The Dollz, which featured a young Beyoncé, and later evolved into Destiny’s Child. Still in her teens, she became a protégé of producer Steve Huff and often recorded demos for gospel labels and began developing her songwriting.
Keke Wyatt’s critically acclaimed duets with Avant and her own Gold-selling recording debut, Soul Sista, marked the arrival of one of R&B’s brightest stars. At the height of her career, Keke’s private struggle with domestic violence became the main focus of the media instead of her recently released album. In 2001, she was arrested for stabbing her husband; the charges were later dropped but her career suffered from the lack of media focus on her music career.
In 2004 the songstress signed to Cash Money Records.&nbs
p; The single, Put Your Hands on Me, became the #1 most added urban track on the radio in April 2005. However, the single failed to gain radio airplay and her album was subsequently shelved. After being released from Cash Money, Keke signed with TVT Records in 2006 and recorded Ghetto Rose. The title track was released as a single and began picking up urban airplay when TVT declared bankruptcy. Keke used the time off to write, act, and devote time to family.
After facing many hardships and delays with her albums, Keke Wyatt has now signed with Shanachie Entertainment,hence the February 23rd release of Who Knew?, the follow-up to her acclaimed debut album.
“Who Knew? is just simply saying who knew I would be in love; who knew that life would hand me this basket of apples; who knew that I would be back and not just a one-hit wonder?,”shares Keke. The album presents a full-spectrum of Keke’s experiences in life and love, confusion to inspiration, and guilt to celebration. It is a soul-stirring release that will re-store Keke to her rightful place as one of the great R & B voices of her generation as well as making a strong statement of one person’s triumph over adversity.
Who Knew? delivers a strong set of outstanding songs produced by A-list producers including The Underdogs (Beyonce, Joe, Whitney Houston), Troy Oliver, L. Young and more. The first single, named after the album, was produced by the Underdogs. Album highlights include the soulful ballad “Without You,” the lilting “Daydreaming”and the intimate, acoustic rendition of “Peace on Earth,” a Rachelle Ferrell remake.
“I believe that R&B is a way of telling a story. If I’ve been through something and tell my story through song then I can help somebody dealing with a similar situation. I love to give people something in my music that will affect their lives. This album is to let the world know that I’m back and I thank God that I still have the gift of song that he gave me… If you want to cry to the album, do that; if it makes you want to dance, do that; if you want to clean house to it, do that! I just want to make people happy and bring back the true meaning of R&B.”
Monifa Brown
Shanachie Entertainment