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THE UK CORNER: Introducing Four Kornerz
Four Kornerz is a name to listen out for. It stems from the group's goal 'to give Four Kornerz a global identity-to reach the four corners of the world with the message.'
Hailing from Croydon Surrey in England, they first burst onto the music map in 2003 winning two regional song contests and reaching the London final heats of a national breakfast TV Gospel Challenge.
In 2004 UB1 Music management signed them. The band is made up of four brothers, singer/songwriters/producers in their own right: Deji (27), TJ (25), Vidal (23) and Daniel (21).
"When you think we started off learning to play music as part of the worship band in a small youth church of about 20 kids, in downtown Lagos, Nigeria. Now years later we're performing at venues like The London Jazz Café, the Royal Albert Hall, London Arena and festivals across the UK and Europe to thousands of people and giving hi 5s to the Slovakian Prime Minister! says Deji. "We've been living in London for nearly 15 years now and we started off playing in church, weddings, parties etc," Deji continues.
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Four Kornerz
The debut single Clap Clap gained rave reviews from across the British music press. The single also went on to receive Record of the Week at both UK leading urban stations Choice FM and BBC 1Xtra. The single also received generous rotation in Canada, Germany and Kenya. But this is no surprise as their music has a rich cultural heritage.
"Musically we draw from various influences including our Nigerian culture. You could say our first musical influence was our dad, who instilled a love for jazz and world music in us from a young age, but we grew up in Lagos absorbing the vibrant, expressive, eclectic and colorful culture of our homeland and we just love to showcase that wherever we go, Deji continues. "What we're trying to do is make music that is accessible to all people. The Nigerian sound probably comes through more freely when we're on stage, that's when Vidal (drummer) really gives it that "naija" feel on the drums. You can't run from your roots, it always shows one way or the other," Deji says.
Their gospel roots are often tinged with soul and funk and even Rock. They have shared the stage with British artists including Joss Stone, Lemar, Ms Dynamite, Omar, Jocelyn Brown, Corinne Bailey Rae, London Community Gospel Choir, Shola Ama, Raymond & Co, and American artists like Karen Clark Sheard and Trin-i-tee 5:7.
"As a band, a lot of people compare us to groups like Outkast, 4th Avenue Jones and Black Eyed Peas etc. What we do is undeniably Gospel inspired R&B/Soul, but we also like to let people know that our music style and sound is an amalgamation of our faith with each of our individual musical tastes, Deji says, explaining their love of variety.
"That just makes things more interesting when you can get on stage and you can take the audience and the music in any direction and not feel boxed into a stereotype. We all love different styles of music from Hip Hop to Gospel. I especially love Funk and Rock, TJ is the electro pop guy, Vidal is percussive Jazz and Soul and Daniel is thoroughly Gospel. mf
"So a combination of that is what we try to reflect in our style, image and music and so far its worked very well. You've just got to try to be you and not imitate, no use reinventing the wheel."
Their passion for innovation has proved successful. They won the Gospel Entertainment Music (GEM) Award for Best Newcomer Group 2004. They also won the Urban Music Awards (UMA) award for Best Gospel Act in 2006 after being nominated in 2005.
I wondered whether their gospel roots limited their reach as a band Deji thinks not.
"Except for some rare cases, it hasn't proven to be a hindrance. We're pretty open about our Christian foundation but I guess we don't fit the stereotype of a "gospel" band and that has allowed a lot of people appreciate the music for what it is. We're trying to be the best band we can be and so every event is approached with 100% and I think a lot of people have caught unto that regardless of if it's a gospel/church gig or a club. We put on a good show and we let the music speak for itself."
They appeared at MTV Europe's Base Lounge in 2005. Also in that year they beat 400 other hopeful acts in A regional TV channel sponsored "Battle of the Bands" to win a spot at the 02 Music Wireless Festival which took place in Hyde Park.
In 2005/2006 Four Kornerz were one of the headline acts on the landmark Young Voices tour which travels across key arenas in the UK and Ireland with combined audiences in excess of 100,000. Aside from performing original material, the appealing factor of Young Voices is the memorable artist collaborations where Four Kornerz performed the classic "Lean On Me" with Joss Stone, Lemar and Ms Dynamite.
"In our current project we got to record with some cool people like UK rapper Jahaziel, a good friend and one of the best MCs this side of the pond and Dennis "Bad Bone" Rollins, an accomplished UK Jazz trombonist, Deji says.
"If we could draw up a wish list of people we'd love to work with it would be Kirk Franklin, Tonex, Shirley Ceaser, Ty Tribett, Timbaland, Robert Randolph, The Roots, Jill Scott, Al Jerreu, 4th Avenue Jones…the list is endless. We just love to make great music and connect with people who we can vibe with and learn from."
Four Kornerz have also appeared across Europe (Germany, Holland, Ireland and Slovakia) and additional key festivals like Greenbelt, Creation Fest and Festival of Light.
The boys are defiantly back with a sharper image and an uplifting vibe. The new single "Gonna Make It" featuring Jahaziel is already scoring a hit with the UK underground dance scene. The opening lyrics "I'm an African man Black and proud, I'm golden brown, my nose is round…" grab your attention but the band haven't deviated from their Gospel roots and quickly bring it back to God. The most attractive feature of the song is the message to their young audience to pursue and persist towards their dreams.
"Our debut album is our first full-length project so it's quite a precious baby to us, it's a product of a steep learning curve. God inspired us with a talent and we just wanted to take it to the next level by growing as musicians, songwriters, producers and artists, so we wrote and produced most of the tracks ourselves over time. We've started writing for the next album and we're looking to take it up a notch in everyway," Deji says.
One notch the boys will soon add to their belts is touring America.
"The United States is definitely on the cards, we've been getting a lot of interest and potential bookings from various states, but I think we're taking it one step at a time. We're working closely with UB1 Music to be calculated in how we spread ourselves, but we are most definitely coming soon," Deji says.
According to their myspace page they are a pretty hot act to catch live so don't miss them when they hit a state near you in 2008.
Gonna Make It is available for official chart digital download from May 14 on www.easymusic.com, www.loottunes.com, and www.wippit.com. The forthcoming debut album Soulectric is out in June.
www.fourkornerz.com
www.myspace.com/fourkornerz
The UK Corner will cover the UK/British soul/urban music scene and is written by Fiona McKinson. She is a freelance journalist and creative writer based in London. Contact her at info@thetalentshow.co.uk.
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