There are people who need to define themselves because it gives them identity and then there are people, like Kenna, who allow themselves to be undefinable and lead others onto a journey that we could never have reached ourselves.
Being that unclassifiable, in Kenna's case, can end up nabbing you stage time with Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, a gig opening Live Earth at Giants Stadium and probably a spot on more album-of-the-year lists than you’d ever imagined.
The long and winding road from the release of his critically acclaimed 2003 debut album New Sacred Cow to the late-2007 release of Make Sure They See My Face showed the Ethiopian-born, Virginia-raised artist the dark side of record industry politics after he was passed around from label to label before finally landing on the Neptunes’ Star Trak imprint (high school friend Chad Hugo co-produced both of Kenna’s albums). New Sacred Cow saw some mainstream love: “Freetime” nabbed a MTV VMA Breakthrough Video nomination, and Timberlake, Furtado, Mark Ronson, N.E.R.D and Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan added Kenna, who’d previously opened for No Doubt to their tours. Even pop-author, Malcolm Gladwell, famously devoted an entire chapter to the genre-defying artist in his 2005 best-seller BLINK, summarizing “Kenna’s Dilemma” and the irony behind why Kenna couldn’t maintain a major-label deal at the time: the guy’s basically too inspired to pin down and too multi-talented to tie up in a neat, happy little marketing package.
The self-described chameleon elaborated on his inability to be easily pigeonholed when he told VIBE MAGAZINE, “I was never a clique kid, I never fit into one crew in elementary (or) high school, I was never THAT WAY in college, I pretty much rolled with whoever I felt comfortable with in my life. I’m a foreign kid, an inner city kid, a suburban kid — I’ve done and been in all those worlds, so now who am I to you? Who am I to the world when I represent so many aspects of it?” But the multifaceted Kenna, who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (slacker!), used his enigmatic appeal to claim his place as the king of esoteric dance-pop with his Follow-up album, Make Sure They See My Face.
The hard-hitting sophomore album is a funked-out musical stew that highlights his categorically encyclopedic knowledge of contemporary music and ability to create meaningful synth-funk tracks which, tinged with that interplanetary Neptunes touch, seem to come from another universe. In fact, it the Neptunes produced "Say Goodbye To Love" garnered a Grammy nomination off of that album.
In addition to his musical endeavors, Kenna stepped out of his comfort zone to attack a global issue with the help of some of his friends and with extreme civic risk on the brain. He created SUMMIT ON THE SUMMIT: Kilimanjaro.
SUMMIT ON THE SUMMIT is an ascent to raise awareness of the global clean water crisis. Kenna masterminded the expedition in which his friends, including Jessica Biel,Emile Hirsch, Lupe Fiasco, Santigold, Isabel Lucas, as well as many of the world’s brightest minds and major cultural influencers, climbed Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro. The climb not only raised awareness of the global clean water crisis, but also raised funds for The Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and Water For People International. All funds raised by SUMMIT ON THE SUMMIT: Kilimanjaro 2010 were managed and distributed through the United Nations Foundation, the project’s charitable advisors.
For Kenna, the vision behind SUMMIT ON THE SUMMIT: Kilimanjaro stems from his drive to create a greater good for youth and has personal meaning as his father was deeply affected by water-borne illness as a child in Ethiopia and his uncle had passed away from a related illness’ as well. Kenna inspired his influential friends to join the climb and discussed the issue of water alongside educators who are leaders at the forefront of global issues. As a team they learned of solutions to the problem, discussed how to improve social awareness and embraced the idea that they are now the example for showing ways to take action and give back to those with little or nothing. The expedition was also documented and produced by Radical Media, Procter & Gamble Productions and Kenna's strategy company GODEL Inc.
Whether or not Kenna IS a household name, the man will still remain a mountain moving and life ascent-ing, philanthropic, genre-busting musical ambassador.