While the ratings for music awards shows have dwindled in recent years, for Tori Kelly, they have been a gold mine.
Thanks to her huge voice, the singer and guitarist with diva hair managed to breakthrough following captivating performances at this year’s Billboard Music Awards and last month’s BET Awards.
Kelly’s acoustic performance at the Billboard Awards in May even caught the attention of BET executive Stephen Hill, who was sitting next to Kelly’s manager, Scooter Braun.
Hill asked Kelly to be a part of the Smokey Robinson tribute for the BET Awards, where she sang a rousing version of Who's Lovin' You and gained new fans.
“This is the debut I was hoping for,” says Braun, who also manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. “They are hearing her sing once and they are buying the entire album because they want a lot of her.”
Kelly's debut album, Unbreakable Smile, landed at No 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart last month.
“I am just throwing myself out there and people are just into it. It’s really cool to be able to do what I love,” she says.
Listing Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill and gospel singer Crystal Lewis as inspirations, the 22-year-old spent years getting to this moment: She won America's Most Talented Kids at 11, performed on Star Search and auditioned for American Idol.
Kelly says since she was successful on YouTube, put out her own EP, and was organising her own tour, she was not looking for help.
But she says she took a chance with Braun because he was not interested in tainting her artistry.
“[He said]: ‘I just want to take what you are doing and make it grow and expand it,”’ Kelly says.
Unbreakable Smile is executive produced by Max Martin, the hitmaker who has crafted pop anthems for Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys.
Kelly says she was initially reluctant to work with Martin because she feared her creative input would not be appreciated.
She admits she was wrong.
“He is very one with the artist and right away he sat me down and he was like: ‘I just want to make the songs that you want to make’,” she says.
Kelly says a lot of her music comes from her own experiences. Braun says she wrote the album’s title track, about not succumbing to the pressures of the industry, after he used tough love to encourage her to create the gritty song.
“You are boring. People think you are boring,” Braun says, recounting his talk with Kelly. “I don’t understand why you are not showing who you really are ... you are so guarded in your music.”
Kelly says she hopes her raw lyrics and passion connects with fans, and that her friends, family and faith will shield her from losing herself to fame.
“There are not a lot of ‘yes’ people around me, which I really like,” she says. “I want people to just be honest around me and just treat me like regular Tori.”
Steve Barnett, the chairman and chief executive of Capitol Music Group, says Kelly’s commitment to her craft and her values made the decision to sign her easy.
“She is completely authentic and from the outset she had a very clear vision of what she wanted to be, and what she wanted to stand for, and the kind of music that she wanted to make,” Barnett says.
artslife@thenational.ae
