Kaye Styles Featured Article

Belgium is not just a good place for chocolate. Although many women would find newcomer Kaye Styles to be quite a delicious offering. Kaye Styles, born in Ghana on November 8, 1981 as Kwasi Gyasi, emigrated with her parents from West Africa to Belgium at the age of five. After her parents were deported, Kaye was forced to live in hiding for three years with a Belgian couple without official government documents. This was not easy for him, but after these years his parents were allowed to live in Belgium and returned, but Kaye officially remained with his adoptive parents until he was 18 years old.

It was a positive attitude combined with his passion for music that kept young Kwasi going, music was his way of escaping the world, his way of communicating and reaching out to other people. In her teens, Kaye (short for Kwasi) started hanging out at parties and clubs and noticed that some DJs were bringing an MC with them.

When Kaye paired her MC skills with the music she surrounded herself with, she realized what she wanted to do too. Kaye combined music, rap and singing with her silky voice and people couldn’t believe what they were hearing, was that young man really doing all this besides the DJ? People who frequently visited the clubs where Kaye performed began asking her how it was possible that she was combining different types of ‘STYLES’ while giving it her unique touch.

Kaye Styles’ reputation began to build rapidly and strongly in the underground scene. After performing at a friend’s club (her future manager), Kaye began to realize that she could be more than just an MC and could achieve more by showing her own written and composed songs. At the age of 22, Kaye recorded her first demo song Crazy. Kaye soon joined Mostiko Records and was offered a five-album deal. He started recording “his” own songs now with professional producers and engineers.

Three months later, in the summer of 2004, Kaye flew to Los Angeles to record the first video for her single Gimme the Mic. The song became one of the top 20 hits on the European chart and people wanted to hear more. Kaye’s first album, True Definition of Styles, was released in October 2004. The record company released two more singles from the album, both of which reached the top 50 on Billboard. Kaye Styles began touring Belgium, Holland, Germany, France and Morocco, reaching out and touching fans in places she never dreamed of reaching as a youngster. He was first nominated at the MTV Belgian Music Awards for Best R&B Act in 2004.

January 2005 Kaye made her first cut for her second album, Profile, and after performing it live at the Belgian Euro Vision Competition in front of a million viewers, everyone knew she would gain momentum. Profile entered the Billboard charts at number three and stayed there for 10 weeks. Kaye Styles then released her second album It iz what it iz. Maria Bonita and Safe Sex, a song she made to raise awareness about AIDS, became another smash hit.

He was nominated again at the MTV Belgian Music Awards for Best Urban Breakthrough Artist in 2005. But the best was yet to come. In 2006, her manager received a phone call from the American television group Fox asking if Kaye Styles would be interested in producing the soundtrack for the Prison Break series in Belgium, a show that was a huge hit in the states at the time. Kaye accepted and made Prison Break Anthem. The track hit stores and entered the sales charts at number 40, jumped to 11 and peaked at 3. It remained in the top 10 for 14 weeks and became the second-biggest broadcast hit in Belgium on 2006.

Kaye Styles recorded her third album Main Event and the singles Hold Me Now and Don’t Cry became the top 10 songs. He was nominated for the third time at the MTV Belgian Music Awards (Best R&B, Best Video, Best National Artist 2006). Styles’ last single released for the Main Event was Cheat on you, also this song reached the top 20 on the Billboard charts.

After a tour of Europe in early 2007, Kaye Styles and his management decided that the countries of the United States and the Caribbean should be the new musical adventure they should aspire to. His management bought Kaye’s contract from the record company and they started their own company ‘On Lock Entertainment’.

Kaye Styles records her fourth album First Born (released April 25, 2008) and works with producers from New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and teams up for her new single Shawty with Tariq L and Akon. Kaye will also be touring the United States in June and July 2008 on the Hennessy Artistry Tour to return and conquer Europe again in the summer.