Baltimore, MD--

PM: Good evening KEM. On behalf of Pointed Magazine I want to thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to sit down and speak with us.

KEM: Not a problem, the pleasure’s all mine.

PM: Why did you title your new CD “KEM” Album II

KEM: I just like to keep things simple.

PM: You perform at various venues, but would you say you prefer smaller venue when you’re up close and personal with your audience.

KEM: I enjoy all sizes of venues, but I do find the smaller venues are better suited for the kind of music that I’m doing. I want to be able to have the effect of having a conversation with the audience and being up close. I prefer the smaller ones but we’ve done the Essence Music Festival and other different venues that were larger audiences. Although those events were cool and special for me I still prefer smaller venues. I rather be in front of a few people and be effective than have all the nuances of the show missed because your in such a big space.

PM: Through your music and your first CD “Keministry” you are definitely ministering to the audience. There is a spiritual meeting of the minds even though it’s in a musical way, the audience responds to you so well, you don’t come off preachy or with that in your face attitude, you gently and calmly pull your audience in with a jazzy melodic energy. Will that continue to be the style of “KEM”?

KEM: Absolutely, yeah it’s easier and I think it’s more effective to get people to hear you and drawn that in so they can listen to what it is your trying to say. So yeah I drawn people in gently and it’s definitely a spiritual exercise.
PM: As a female I can appreciate what you’re saying. You talk to the women in the audience with your sexy vocals, but somehow you know how not to cross that sexual line. You treat us with respect. You pay homage to women but at the same time the message is there for women to stay strong but also to respect our men and support them. So here again through your music you are ministering about relationships and you make it easy to follow what you are saying regarding nurturing relationships.

KEM: Yes, and I think about all those things in trying to be a spiritual person to the best of my ability and also in my role of being a father. As a man when you have a daughter it makes you think about how you treat women because it’s been said your daughters model for her mate is going to be model from her dad so I try to be mindful of that.

PM: How old is your daughter now?

KEM: She is ten years old.

PM: I had the pleasure of speaking with Al Jarreau and I asked him what did he think about your musical style and would he ever consider doing a concert with you. Al Jarreau’s response was he thinks you are a great artist and you’re a young brother doing his own thing and he would be willing to do a concert with you. It would be called AlKeministry. How do you feel about that?

KEM: Al Jarreau is a very sweet man and we talked on a couple of occasions about doing something together. It would be the bomb to do a concert with Al.

PM: How do you spiritually prepare yourself prior to a concert when your not necessary in front of an audience that is part of that atmosphere. How do you keep yourself spiritually grounded and not cross the line.

KEM: Prayer and meditation is my routine and it’s definitely a spiritual exercise knowing that we are all put here for a purpose and there is a point in time for all of us to be doing what were doing, any talent that you have that is God given, and if it’s God given than can’t nothing be wrong with it so, there cannot be anything wrong with you just being who you are, that’s all we ever have to be just who we are. So when I’m in front of an audience I just present who I am and it’s difficult sometimes if your in front of a hip-hop audience or your in front of an audience that’s not your core audience, but you still have to go out there and just be yourself and represent your craft regardless of what people think because at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, what really matters is that you do the best job that you possibly can.

PM: At your concerts you always talk about the trials and tribulations you have had in life. Why is it important for you to make this public and how did you survive it all?
KEM: His grace. It was through God’s grace and willingness to try and cooperate with what I believe is his will for me. I still struggle in some areas of my life you know, but we all do which is really not an excuse but my faith is the foundation I stand on and I make it public and I talk about it because what we say and what we talk about manifest things in our live so anytime I have the opportunity to contribute something positive to make my own case I will speak about it and also to inspire people to overcome what they struggle with. My whole career is based on that. That’s what it’s based on, it’s not about money it’s not about bling –bling it’s not about all that stuff, there’s a place for those things and I embrace those things and I try to do it in the proper way but the real thing is about me getting on stage and talking about how good God has been to me and hopefully uplifting somebody else, witnessing it’s a ministry you know, my music is a ministry, my career is a ministry and I minister to people who are not going to, well I’m sure a lot of people go to church but I’m ministering in a industry where you know people may not go to see T.D. Jakes or they may not go to church you know I may be the only witness that somebody may get to hear. I’m in an arena because our society is built on the celebrity you know whatever the celebrity says we consider that to be the most important thing so why not use that for God’s glory and be able to affect people and touch lives on his behalf. So I do it through my concerts, when I’m at the club I do it, wherever I am I talk about God because people who are going to church and who already have an understanding and a relationship with God, those are not the people that need to hear about it, we need to be out here in this place in the world like Jesus in Symria so yes my music would be consider to be secular and that’s