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Artist Spotlight:
Kreesha Turner...
YOU WANTED TO KNOW
"Today it's 103, your daddy ain’t home and your mama's asleep. Lets go, it's a full moon night…ain’t comin’ back till the morning light,” Kreesha Turner croons on her bubbly, infectious dance track, “Bounce With Me.” You may not be familiar with the name, but you’ve probably heard the song before. Featured on “Moonlight,” “The Hills,” “Entourage,” “Gossip Girl,” and promos for “Lipstick Jungle,” “Desperate Housewives,” and Breakfast At Tiffany’s, “Bounce With Me” has been making waves with the networks partly because of its fun, pop-infused R&B beat, and partly because of Turner’s peculiar soprano vocals: sharp and melodious like today’s contemporary divas while reminiscent of a retro ‘50s and ‘60s vibe channeling the likes of Diana Ross and The Supremes.
She may not be a household name yet, but Turner’s talent and hard work is paying off in big ways. The native Canadian is set to release her first full-length album, Passion, on August 12, 2008 (it drops on October 14 in the U.S.), and she’s already mined two hits, “Bounce With Me” and “Don’t Call Me Baby.” The former is a club-ready track produced by Canada’s answer to The Neptunes, Hipjoint Productions; the latter emits an old-school Supremes vibe with honey vocals and assertive lyrics. “Don’t Call Me Baby” is catchy from the get-go – it’s hard not to sing along, and even harder yet to get the chorus out of your head – and proves that Turner is no one-hit wonder.
Born with a beauty only previously heard of in fairytales and a talent for dancing and singing that would make any “X Factor” contestant seethe with jealousy, Turner first discovered her knack for singing when she took a year sojourn to Jamaica to revisit her roots and forge a spiritual connection with her mother’s native land. At fifteen, the songstress learned that singing was a big part of the community, and through a church choir in Portmore found her inner voice. When she returned to her native city of Edmonton, she began performing the Canadian national anthem at numerous sporting events and opening ceremonies – so much so that her classmates nicknamed her “the girl who sings the national anthem.”
After high school, she decided to give performing a full-time try. With the blessing of her parents, Turner gave herself five years to pursue a singing career. Between stints working in retail, she threw herself into shows, recording EPs, and promoting herself. She became well known in the underground Edmonton hip-hop scene, but it wasn’t until 2005 that she caught her big break.
Now, we all know that talent competitions are becoming so commonplace that your neighbour might be hosting one next week, but in Turner’s case, entering and winning a local radio contest was what she needed to get her career jump-started. In June 2005, she teamed up with producers Troy Samson and Mike James of Hipjoint Productions as part of her four-song recording contract prize. She later caught the eye of Chris Smith (Nelly Furtado’s manager), and in less than a year inked a deal with EMI/Virgin. The culmination of this collaboration is Passion, a true labour of love where five of the thirteen tracks have been co-written by the twenty-two-year-old Turner.
Her official first single became “Simple,” released via Canadian iTunes. It failed to cause a splash, but by the time “Bounce With Me” rolled around, it peaked at number 15 on the Hot Canadian 100, cementing Turner’s status as a Canadian to watch. “Don’t Call Me Baby,” a song about a woman affirming her independence from an ex-lover (I adore the track, but I especially love when Turner sings, “Walking away now, walking away now baby”), peaked at number eight on the charts, marking the first of what will surely be one of Turner’s many top ten.
In lieu of her album release, an eclectic mix of soul, jazz, R&B and pop, Turner has also started thepassionmovement.org, where she invites people to share what their passions are via videos uploaded to YouTube. In her introductory video, Turner states that she is “black, white, asian, a lady,” but insists that no one call her “baby.” And with this much talent and ambition, there will be little chance of that. ¤ C.Ho.