Diddy may have declared R&B dead, but Luh Kel has a different take on it. The R&B and hip-hop star is ready to wake up the genre at just 21 years old. He says, “Someone needs to bring the genre back to life.” Either way, he’s doing a great job at resuscitating it.
Hailing from St Louis, the singer looks up to the big R&B stars including Michael Jackson. His prowess lays in R&B though. “I really enjoy R&B the most. I came up listening to a lot of R&B. In this business you have to be versatile though. You have to do the rap, the pop songs, and different kind of songs to catch the eye. I mainly enjoy singing and showing my vocal skills,” says the singer.
Luh Kel has quite a few songs out most notably one with Trippie Redd called “Feen”, one with Queen Naija called “Want You”, and his latest called “MHM”. I sat down with the artist via zoom to talk where hip hop is going, what we can expect from him in the future, and his biggest influences.
The Knockturnal: How did you hook up with Trippie Redd and Queen Naija?
Luh Kel: I met Trippie Red at a college show and I saw the way he moved the crowd. He has a big impact on crowds. We worked it out through the label. I wanted a female vocalist on “Want You” and Queen Naija was the first person to come to mind.
The Knockturnal: Coming from St Louis, do you think you have big shoes to fill with Nelly coming from there?
Luh Kel: I wouldn’t say big shoes to fill. We definitely have legends coming from St. Louis. I just ride my own wave and think about the shoes I am wearing. I just move forward and take it one step at a time and maximize it as far as I can. There’s a lot of talent coming from St. Louis: 5ive, NUSKI2SQUAD, etc.
The Knockturnal: Who are your influences?
Luh Kel: I definitely listen to Usher, Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Anthony Hamilton. I didn’t really listen to a lot of rap coming up. I listened to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, or Beyoncé. When I became older, I listened to a lot of PnB Rock. He is really what influenced a lot of my sound.”
The Knockturnal: Do you think “MHM”, your current single, is too risqué?
Luh Kel: I feel with the music industry nothing is risqué. It’s really just all art. You can have a painter that paints something that someone doesn’t like and there’s someone who will buy his whole wall. I can come up with an R&B song tomorrow. If someone doesn’t like it, then that’s on them.
The Knockturnal: Where do you see the hip hop genre going?
Luh Kel: With music, things change every day. You really don’t know what to expect.
The Knockturnal: What’s next for you?
Luh Kel: I have a lot of songs done. So you should expect a project coming very soon.
