Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendyle Paige.
Kendyle Paige was born with music inside of her. As a child, she took every opportunity to perform, sharing her first original songs with her family. Among them, Grammy-winning uncle Dave Valentin. Dave inspired Kendyle to pursue a life of music. By age twelve, her heart was set. As a teenager, Kendyle’s desire to perform live was insatiable. She started every week by sending two-hundred emails. At the end of her teens, she graduated from small local stages to legendary New York venues, among them, her personal favorites “The Bitter End” and “SOB’s”. After high school, Kendyle began working with producer Brandon Lee Richardson on her vision for an EP. Together they developed Kendyle’s formative sound. After six months of collaboration, they released Kendyle’s debut single “Flower.” Kendyle considers this song her perfect introduction. “This song solidified everything for me. Seeing what this song does for other people shows this is what I’m supposed to be doing.” says the twenty-three-year-old.
At the start of 2018, she caught the attention of producers for Fox’s breakout hit reality television show “The Four: Battle For Stardom”, where she dethroned the show’s longest-running member and caught the attention of two industry giants: record producer/songwriter Sean “Diddy” Combs, and record-producer DJ Khaled. Kendyle moved to LA in 2019 to pursue her career. She released her first album “Keep in Mind, It May Be Behind You,” which was streamed more than 150,000 times on Spotify alone. This project opened new feature opportunities for Kendyle, such as the track Cravin’ that collectively has more than 2 million streams. Kendyle’s newest EP “Before We Had Time, We Had Fire” is made of funky beats, ethereal vocals and bouncing keyboards. This project is only a tease of what is to come from this new artist, whose next project is said to introduce live instruments to her sound.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I believe my first single ‘Flower’ really describes my struggles growing up. I definitely had it better than most, but I do believe everyone has their own struggles that ultimately help us grow into better people. My parents are entrepreneurs. Both started their own business right out of high school. My dad, carpeting and flooring. My mom, her own Nail Salon in the basement of our house, with my littlest sister on her hip. We weren’t wealthy, but they always made it work. My mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer twice in my lifetime. Watching the matriarch of my family go through this horrible treatment twice now hasn’t been easy, but she’s definitely the inspiration that keeps me creating. You could just be the cable guy or the person stopping by to fix our dishwasher, and my mom makes sure to make them a cup of coffee and play my album for them. She knows every word to every song and simply keeps me going. She’s the strongest women I know.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a singer/songwriter from a small town in upstate New York who moved to LA in 2019 to continue pursuing music. I consider my genre very fluid. Very retro neo soul pop is the best way I can explain it. I’m currently known as the “Villain” from the 2018 TV show “The Four” where I dethroned the show’s longest-running member. I gained a lot of hate, but more importantly a lot of love and a solid following. I’m most proud of my sound, I don’t use any auto-tune on any of my music, and I believe that sets me apart from most artists in the pop world. I’ve been offered a handful of opportunities from the ‘label’ side of my industry and don’t believe in selling myself or my music for a quick deal. I want to make the most out of the independent space as an independent artist. I would love to show the listeners what I’m truly about and the people from my small town that being an artist is possible.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
When I was twelve, my mother would play the movie Dream Girls in my living room. She would have me sing every song over and over. I don’t believe I was good at the time, but there she was every day after school with the movie cued up. I was so shy at the time I’d have to face the wall, but it meant so much to me that she just wanted to hear me and make me better.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.kendylepaige.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/kendylepaige
- Facebook: facebook.com/kendylepaige
- Twitter: twitter.com/kendylepaige
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/KendylePaige
Image Credits:
Adam Susskind, Marlon Parungao, Richard Valentin
