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Keonté Beals
vocals

Multi-award-winning R&B powerhouse Keonté Beals controls the pulse of an entire crowd from the moment he takes the stage. With a live energy that can be compared to no other, Beals’ résumé boasts industry nods including: East Coast Music Association's R&B/Soul Recording of the Year Award for his album KING, African Nova Scotian Music Association’s Artist of the Year 2020, and Music Nova Scotia’s African Nova Scotian Artist of the Year 2019 – not to mention multiple ECMA nominations and more. Undoubtedly, the North Preston-based singer, songwriter, producer, and performer embodies a unique potent impulse – and the entire East Coast of Canada knows it.

North Preston has a historic lineage of growing the biggest voices in Nova Scotia through its strong gospel scene and church community. Beals keeps this tradition going with his own powerhouse pipes, which first wowed crowds when, at 16, he gave his solo debut at his home church. Pivoting into an early 2000s-influenced R&B sound as he began to create his own music, Beals’ colourful body of work highlights the range of his talent and musicality. He has a voice that breaks generational boundaries, backed by a sonic palette that draws easy comparison to the work of Usher, Anthony Hamilton, and Elijah Blake.

Beals “is a beautiful singer with key skills to match, and he’s only just out of his teens” (The Coast) and “everything he does revolves around music” (Halifax Magazine). His new album, KING, and its titular lead single – a mental health anthem – shreds toxic masculinity over a red-hot beat. 

Discussing the album, Beals says: “KING embodies my experience of being a young, successful black man in today's society: Having to be solid and strong, despite the pressures of society. Toxic masculinity that is more of a brand rather than a character trait. KING doesn’t describe myself as being king of everything, but rather using the term as a figure of speech to symbolize the rock of a crumbling empire – the rock being myself and the empire being mental health, stigma, police brutality, etc. Black men are pushed into a box, and anything outside of that box is side-eyed and unacceptable. KING is a musical war cry directly targeting the barriers of toxic masculinity and stigma to get to the core. Starting the conversation."

Keonté Beals
vocals

Multi-award-winning R&B powerhouse Keonté Beals controls the pulse of an entire crowd from the moment he takes the stage. With a live energy that can be compared to no other, Beals’ résumé boasts industry nods including: East Coast Music Association's R&B/Soul Recording of the Year Award for his album KING, African Nova Scotian Music Association’s Artist of the Year 2020, and Music Nova Scotia’s African Nova Scotian Artist of the Year 2019 – not to mention multiple ECMA nominations and more. Undoubtedly, the North Preston-based singer, songwriter, producer, and performer embodies a unique potent impulse – and the entire East Coast of Canada knows it.

North Preston has a historic lineage of growing the biggest voices in Nova Scotia through its strong gospel scene and church community. Beals keeps this tradition going with his own powerhouse pipes, which first wowed crowds when, at 16, he gave his solo debut at his home church. Pivoting into an early 2000s-influenced R&B sound as he began to create his own music, Beals’ colourful body of work highlights the range of his talent and musicality. He has a voice that breaks generational boundaries, backed by a sonic palette that draws easy comparison to the work of Usher, Anthony Hamilton, and Elijah Blake.

Beals “is a beautiful singer with key skills to match, and he’s only just out of his teens” (The Coast) and “everything he does revolves around music” (Halifax Magazine). His new album, KING, and its titular lead single – a mental health anthem – shreds toxic masculinity over a red-hot beat. 

Discussing the album, Beals says: “KING embodies my experience of being a young, successful black man in today's society: Having to be solid and strong, despite the pressures of society. Toxic masculinity that is more of a brand rather than a character trait. KING doesn’t describe myself as being king of everything, but rather using the term as a figure of speech to symbolize the rock of a crumbling empire – the rock being myself and the empire being mental health, stigma, police brutality, etc. Black men are pushed into a box, and anything outside of that box is side-eyed and unacceptable. KING is a musical war cry directly targeting the barriers of toxic masculinity and stigma to get to the core. Starting the conversation."