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kele le roc
Freed from a major label deal, Kele Le
Roc comes out swinging.
Words: tomas palermo photo: Mitch
24
Born in 1978 in London’s East End, UK singer Kelly Biggs walked home with
two MOBOs (British Grammy) for best newcomer and single (the garage burner
“My Love”) by her 21st birthday. Known by her stage name Kele Le Roc,
Biggs is used to the fast pace of success and the tribulations that come with it. “I
wanna be successful for myself,” she says, “because I’m an ambitious person.”
Ambitious is hardly an exaggeration for a singer whose multi-stylistic
approach to music has thoroughly impacted both Britain’s underground and
mainstream charts. Following her hugely successful Polydor album (Everybody’s
Somebody) in 1999, Biggs collaborated with a host of underground heavies,
including soul man Omar, drum & bass producers Shy FX and T-Power, jazz
musician Courtney Pine, and Basement Jaxx (on hit track “Romeo” off Rooty).
In June, Biggs went back to her family’s Jamaican roots and dropped the lovers
rock reggae 7” bomb “Even Though You’re Gone” (Curtis Lynch Music). “I
enjoy singing, and I don’t think it’s fair for people to pigeonhole
me,” Biggs explains.
Vocally, Biggs incorporates the power of Chaka Khan with
the grace of Patti Labelle. You can hear it on the wobbly
Sticky-produced 2-step track “Things We Do” and on her latest
funky house single with Fanatix, “Lesson Learned” (Osirus
Records). The latter proves she can belt out vocal house as
good as Martha Wash or any of the major divas. “I tend to
write about love a lot,” she explains, “’cause I think its something
that everyone can understand. I don’t think there’s
enough love in the world. [The songs] are my way of subliminally
touching people.”
Biggs took time while getting out her record contract to
launch a clothing label called Funkin Bitch (“My mum’s a
designer, so I’ve always made my clothes from quite young”)
and to assemble her next album, which spans rock, soul, funk,
and electronic genres. “Out here in the UK, [the varied styles]
are causing me a problem ‘cause people are like, ‘Well, you
know, it doesn’t have a theme.’ Why does it need a theme I
like to sing, and these are songs,” she says tersely.
The first track, “Naked,” from the unreleased album
(working title: Kelepy) is making the rounds on white label.
Produced by Denmark’s Maximum Risk, the song blends her
explosive soul vox with organic elements–banjo, live flute, and
bongos. “The problem in this country is that it doesn’t sound
like anything they’ve heard from America, whereas when
I went to America [and played it for labels] they were like,
‘Yeah, we love it.’”
Maybe Biggs, a huge fan of eclectic Americans Andre 3000
and Gwen Stefani, will soon find a home for her music on
these fair shores. The talent is there, along with the drive
she’s shown time and again. “I’ve achieved so much,” she
muses, “but I’ll never be satisfied because I’ll always want to
take it to the next level.”
www.keleleroc.com
2333 Telegraph Avenue
Berkeley CA 94704
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