Kevin Cossom Orlando

by Danielle Young

Photography by Chad Griffith

TThere was a time when R&B was referred to as soul, an era where music was saturated in melodies that could stand the test of time and then some. Soul was paired with lyrics that made women beg, plead and even toss their unmentionables on stages. But in this day and age, that quality of music is almost nonexistent in soul’s descendant. Luckily, singer/songwriter Kevin Cossom has plans to breathe life back into R&B. “We’re lacking [potent] subject matter and content,” he says of contemporary R&B. “Our focus is the club, and it’s hard to be in the club and be meaningful.”

Cossom’s roots can be traced back to his childhood. The Philadelphia-born, Orlando-raised singer had a supportive mother who founded a performing arts school and encouraged her son’s vocal talents. “She got me into singing and doing things in church,” he says. “My first solo was when I was three years old in a play. By the time I was 14, I wanted to do it professionally.”

A few years later, Kevin met his manager and, within a year of that meeting, landed his first placement on Lloyd Banks’ “Karma.” Unfortunately, Kevin saw firsthand how finicky the music business can be. “They eventually did a remix and put Avant on it, but [it was] whatever,” he says. “I realized it was not just music, it’s a business. There were reasons why they did that.” After that experience, Kevin turned to songwriting and began his current journey as a singer/songwriter.

The 25-year-old began penning hit after hit for artists like Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, R. Kelly, Trey Songz and Keri Hilson under Danja’s fresh label N.A.R.S. (New Age Rock Stars). Working with Danja as a writer, Kevin expressed interest in singing and the Grammy-winning musician brought him into the lab to see what he could do. “We went in the studio and came up with three or four crazy joints,” he says. “The connection and the chemistry were automatically there.”

With inspiration spanning from church to melodies to conversations, Kevin delivers a raw perspective to popular R&B. His pre-album mixtape Hook vs. Bridge (on which he wrote all 14 songs) is just a tease of what we’ll be getting with his debut, L.O.V.E. (Longing Over Various Emotions). “The album is if you’ve ever been in a relationship, liked somebody, searched for love. There’s something in there for you,” he explains. “From the feeling when you first meet somebody to when you’re tired of them. It’s all of those emotions put together in the album, in song form.”

When it comes to his music, Kevin’s got high hopes that it will “affect people in a good way,” whether it’s with recent collabs with artists like Mary J. Blige and Usher or, of course, his solo joints. “The things that I talk about – love and all that – I hope I can help somebody through a certain situation or let them know that somebody else feels the way they do.”