Two-time Grammy Award-nominated Motown artist KEM leads all nominees for the 44th NAACP Image Awards with four (4) nominations for his songs: "Glorify The King," "Be Mine For Christmas," "You're On My Mind" and for his "You're On My Mind" video. "Glorify The King," "Be Mine For Christmas" and "You're On My Mind" are nominated in the 'Outstanding Song' category and the "You're On My Mind" video is nominated in the 'Outstanding Music Video' category.
The 44th NAACP Image Awards will air live at 8:00pm ET on February 1, 2013 on NBC. The NAACP Image Awards are recognized as the preeminent multi-cultural awards show. The event celebrates the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts (television, recording, literature, motion picture and writing & directing), as well as those individuals or groups who promote
Social Justice through their creative endeavors.
"I've watched the NAACP Image Awards show since I was young, and I've admired the organization for continuing to bring our cultural and
Social issues and leaders to the forefront. It's such a great honor and a blessing to be part of that." - KEM
Two of KEM's nominations are for songs from his first holiday album, WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS, the fourth Motown release by the lifelong Detroiter. The 10-song album consists of five original Christmas compositions and five traditional holiday classics.
"Glorify the King," the first track from WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS, is a
Testament to KEM's faith. KEM also finds special joy in this song, because his musically-inclined daughter, Troi Owens, joined him as a co-writer. Featuring Detroit's Dr. E. LaQuint Weaver and the Hallelujah Singers, the song resonates deeply with Gospel fans. KEM recorded a second version of the song without the word "Christmas" so that Gospel stations are able to play the song year-round.
"Be Mine for Christmas" (ft. Ledisi) is a
Testament to the intimacy of WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS, and is one of the album's highlights - a duet with Verve recording artist, Ledisi. The song is co-written by KEM and new collaborator Melanie Rutherford, who helped pen all five original songs on the album. The song also features elements of the 1970's hit, "Me and
Mrs. Jones," and is definitely a fan favorite.
"You're On My Mind" is the fourth hit single from KEM's 2010 album, INTIMACY. The song reached the top five on UAC Radio charts, and continues to receive airplay.
In his "You're On My Mind" video, directed by Erica D. Hayes, KEM stars as a man who has suffered a recent relationship breakup. After being alone in his house for some time reflecting on the relationship, his
Friends come over to take him out for a night on the town to get his mind off things. Fortunately...or unfortunately for KEM, his
Friends are played by actor/comedians,
Anthony Anderson and Bruce Bruce, who give a unique, comedic response to the reflective love story. KEM's love interest in the video is played by singer Goapele.
With the "You're On My Mind" video, we wanted to produce a storyline that showed a different side of KEM," said Toya Hankins, KEM's manager and "You're On My Mind" video producer. "He has a great sense of humor that most people haven't yet gotten to see, mostly because of the deep love themes that most of his music depicts. We intentionally cast the video with well-known comedians so it would resonate with a wider audience and to give it even more of a comedic edge."
Fans can watch the video for "You're On My Mind" and other KEM Videos at
www.vevo.com/artist/KEM and at www.youtube.com/kemvevo.
About KEM:
KEM will make his first trip to Japan to perform at the
House Of Blues in January 2013. Japan is one of KEM's strongest international markets.
On October 16, 2012, KEM released WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS, his fourth Motown release. The 10-song album consists of new original Christmas compositions co-written by KEM and Melanie Rutherford, with traditional holiday classics. Following the release of WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS, KEM launched an eight (8)-city "Holiday Moments with KEM" promotional & media tour that included conversations with KEM and acoustic performances to support the album. "A Christmas Song For You" and "Be Mine For Christmas" were added as singles on UAC Radio during the holiday season.
INTIMACY: ALBUM III, which debuted at #2 Soundscan in August 2010, went on to garner national critical and commercial acclaim, including two Grammy Award nominations, a Soul Train award nomination, and a BET Centric Award nomination. KEM played his sold-out headlining 'Intimacy Tour' of the U.S. after the release of INTIMACY with special guests
Musiq Soulchild and Ledisi.
In 2012, KEM made his second trip to South Africa, his biggest international territory outside the U.S., for a pair of sold-out concerts at Standard Bank Arena in Johannesburg. While visiting, he was presented with gold record plaques by Universal Music South Africa for his first two Motown albums, KEMISTRY (released 2002) and ALBUM II (2005). In August of 2012, KEM made his big-screen debut in the movie, SPARKLE,
Starring Jordin Sparks and the late
Whitney Houston.
Also in 2012, In 2012, KEM found
Ed Mack & Third, Inc., a Michigan domestic non-profit corporation that assists organizations that support the homeless community, including shelters and organizations which supported KEM throughout his
Journey from homelessness & addiction to sobriety & success. KEM's annual 'Mack & Third' event is an all-day free concert to benefit and recognize Detroit's homeless citizens. KEM presented his third 'Mack & Third' event in Detroit on August 26, 2012, which was headlined by Maze feat. Frankie Beverly. The event was attended by 55,000 fans and collected in excess of 130,000 canned goods.
After KEM's indie debut album, KEMISTRY, sold nearly 15,000 copies, he was signed to Universal Motown, who re-released the album and saw it rise to #14 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart in 2003. In 2005, KEM previewed music from ALBUM II on a 20-city
Underground tour, and the album hit RIAA gold sales within two weeks of its release. ALBUM II peaked at #1 R&B/ #5 pop, and one of its tracks, KEM's original "I Can't Stop Loving You," won the 2005 Billboard Music Award for Top Adult R&B Single of the Year.
KEMISTRY, ALBUM II, and INTIMACY: ALBUM III have each been certified RIAA gold, and
Worldwide sales are in excess of 2.2 million copies.
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