Charleston singer-songwriter Kuntry last fall released an EP called Heat Of The Night, a strong, six-song salvo that mixed R&B, hip-hop and pop.
The EP was an impressive collection of songs that could all be radio hits right now. In fact, pretty much every song on Heat Of The Night was released as a single in addition to being on the EP. In April, Kuntry will release a single and music video “Another Love Story.”
The blend of styles that Kuntry mixes on the EP has a name: trap disco. It moves beyond R&B and hip-hop into its own soulful world, reminding one of the Silk Sonic project that featured Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak. It’s part throwback, part future funk and all catchy as hell.
“We tapped into a frequency of that era, the late ’80s, and just that feel-good era of music,” Kuntry said. “A lot of folks didn’t get to experience disco, but they knew about trap, so we tried to combine the two and that’s what we came up with.”
The EP is a startlingly mature work, well-produced and lush. The synthesized pulse, shimmering keyboards and soaring vocal melodies on Kuntry’s work are the result of a lifelong love of music.
“I was always around music,” he said. “My grandparents always played a lot of old school music, and coming up my parents listened to a lot of Anita Baker, James Brown, a lot of Bob Marley, Luther Vandross. They all played an instrumental role. Also I listened to a lot of music like
Jay Z, DMX — then when the South came up — Outkast and Goodie Mob.”
As important as music is to him, Kuntry has more than one iron in the fire. He has his own production company, TBMM Productions, that provides video services for corporate clients, entertainment companies and agencies as well as weddings and other personal and family events.
“Something had to pay for the music,” he said, laughing. “A lot of folks will go out and spend thousands of dollars on equipment, but I thought, well, let’s turn this hobby into a business. We’ve dedicated the hours, more than 10,000 or so, let’s try to bring value to the situation to where we can reap the benefit financially.”
Whether he’s behind the camera or in front of a microphone, Kuntry said he has the will to succeed.
“You’ve got to have that burning desire to keep going,” he said, “to execute your plan no matter what the obstacles.”
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