Gospel artiste Kereen Gregory aka KG

by DRW
(Jamaica)

From as early as she can recall, Kereen had a passion for singing and she knew that her footsteps would ultimately lead her to the international stage. But she also knew that the stage would not be a secular one, because, from the outset, she had totally dedicated herself to the Lord.

Hailing from Central Village in the old capital, Kereen grew up in the church where her talent was recognised at an early age and she was given much encouragement from her church family, her parents and siblings. Her father, too, had been blessed with the gift of song and it was often felt that Kereen would be the one to take over from him and fly the musical banner high for her family.

With this background it was inevitable that young Kereen, who now uses the moniker KG, would eagerly embrace every opportunity to let her voice be heard. Kereen had a special talent for turning even the most mundane sentence into a song and, somehow, that song would end up being quite infectious. During her teens, she became involved in singing groups and, while attending Tarrant High, Kereen was quite a popular choice to sing at school functions.

In 2008, Kereen, with much encouragement from family and friends, made a dramatic step from the church pew on to the stage of the highly competitive JCDC Gospel Song Contest, as a solo act. As expected, this vocal powerhouse proved a strong contender and her song, God Is, exposed her to a much wider audience which started to take keen interest in this compelling gospel singer.

Although KG did not win the competition, this signalled the start of her music ministry on the world stage. The doors were flung wide open and soon KG was travelling overseas for shows, and was also featured on major gospel events in Jamaica, including Fun in the Son, Heal the Nation, Freedom Fest and events for evangelist Jim Whittingham. She has also performed back-up duties for international gospel artiste Carlene Davis.

Currently under the management of Butterfly Muzik Limited, KG is preparing for yet another milestone event in her gospel career - the launch of her debut album in the first half of 2012. For this offering, she has worked with producers Gifton Smith, Alex Blanken and Radikal Yaad.

The talented singer/songwriter has also formed an alliance with dancehall's favourite gospel singer, Prodigal Son, for whose Radikal Yaad label she has done two out-of-the-box singles. With these songs, Lord Do Me Again and Who Me U Mad, Kereen stepped out of her usual comfort zone of traditional gospel songs and entered the realm of dancehall gospel, with much success and a bit of controversy.

That situation, however, has only served to spike the popularity of this gospel singer who names Shirley Caesar, Carlene Davis and Chevelle Franklyn as her favourite artistes.