On Sunday, July 26, The Tangiers in Minneapolis will mark the spot for an electrifying evening of entertainment, as J. MOST Music LLC and World Class Events & Promo present The Tangerine Ball. The evening, hosted by international recording artist Timotha Lanae, will feature live performances from K’Jon and J. MOST, plus R&B dancing, stepping, and plenty of colorful shades of orange!
The MSR was able to catch up with K’Jon, best known as “the Ocean Man” coined from his hit R&B song “On the Ocean.” The soulful Detroit crooner expressed excitement in visiting the Twin Cities for the first time, and gave some insight into the man behind the sunshades.
From working with artists like Ludacris and Lyfe Jennings to having a number-one record on the Billboard charts and an NAACP Awards nomination — K’Jon explained how it all comes from hard work.
“[Coming from a] family of six, and single mother, we didn’t really have time to pursue dreams,” said K’Jon. “It was always work first.” He explained how he passed up opportunities to sing professionally as a child and how music was put on the back burner for most of his life until he was laid off from his job. “If I was going to do it, I was going to do it then,” he reflected.
K’Jon was a fan of music pioneers like P. Diddy and Master P, who worked and mastered the business while being artists. Consequently, when he was afforded the opportunity to work with Ludacris and get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the music industry, he relied on his instincts to learn about what was going on around him and how to maneuver.
“To give a sports analogy, I wasn’t comfortable riding the bench,” he said with a grin. Believing in his own talents, he jokingly told the MSR that he “took his talents back” to his hometown. Since returning to Detroit, he’s taken the knowledge he’s obtained to create and manage Up & Up Records, and drive his career in the direction towards prosperity, which permeates his soulful tunes.
Next Sunday you can definitely expect to hear his number-one hit single “On the Ocean,” Top 100 hit “This Time,” and his new single “A Beautiful Thing.”
You can also look forward to hearing from J. MOST who is sure to sing local favorites from his album Big Boy, including “Oh So Blessed” and “Big Boy.”
The MSR was able to catch up with J. MOST, who stressed the lack of opportunity in the Twin Cities for the “40 and up” crowd to go out and commune. “[With] World Class Events and Promo, that’s our aim as long as we [are] here based in the Twin Cities,” said J. MOST, of the void his production company hopes to fill. “To bring the 40 and up genre together through [various] community outreach events in very, very nice venues.”
Be sure to dress in your best orange attire, and get acclimated to the tunes of K’Jon and J. MOST so you’re ready to sing-along. We’ll see you there.
Visit www.tangerineball.eventbrite.com for Tangerine Ball ticket information or call World Class Events and Promo at 651-647-9650.
Khymyle Mims welcomes reader responses to khymylewrites@gmail.com or on Twitter at @kdmims.
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