Ro James
Kevin Ross
Candice RNB
Major Myjah
Friday March 3rd | Baltimore Soundstage
Tickets: http://ticketf.ly/2kvkmjN
ALL AGES
Ro’s funky, individual style radiated wherever he ended up, so when he got back to New York City, where individualism for many is more of a lofty goal than an actual character trait, Ro found himself fitting back into the NYC party scene very easily. Within a year after moving in with his grandmother in Queens, the young singer was out doing shows around NYC. “I can’t say the beginning was a struggle,” says Ro. “It became a struggle when I knew the music I wanted to do didn’t sound like popular music.”
The music Ro wanted to do is the music you can hear on his EP series Coke, Jack & Cadillac’s. On it, you can hear the unique sound created by his concoction of influences, which range from Lenny Kravitz to D’Angelo to Johnny Cash to Prince and the gospel music he grew up singing in his dad’s churches. But just as important as Ro’s sound is his story, which can be traced in the series title.
The first installment, COKE, contains the patriotic love song “Pledge Allegiance” which shows the elasticity in Ro’s voice, as he easily moves between a confident falsetto and an aggressive tenor to declare his devotion to the woman he loves.
On, JACK, there’s the gut-wrenching ballad “Indiana Jones,” a song about his aforementioned first love in Indiana. Don’t be fooled by the sultry slithery guitar strums and synths. Ro pours his heart out here, confessing his frustrations with a love he just can’t get right.
CADILLACS has songs like the soulful, gospeldelic cut, “XIX.” Here Ro is reminiscing on the shenanigans he’d get into while driving the El Dorado Cadillac his father gave him. His voice is confident, but a vulnerability skims the surface as he exposes his naivete during his younger years.
With the Coke Jack, & Cadillacs collection, Ro’s sound is sure to become the next industry standard. Already it’s caught the attention of influential publications like VIBE and the tastemaker blog, Complex. He has also received cosigns from those in his peer group, known as ‘The Jackets’, which is comprised of Luke James, Miguel, Leah Labelle and Bridget Kelly among others. But one listen and the various comparisons Ro has been receiving amongst his cult-like following will make sense. As he likes to say, all he has to do is get people’s attention and keeping it will be easy.
“With my story and the places I’ve been, my work is completely different from everything else that’s out there,” says Ro. “We’re all inspired by the same things, things like love, but Coke, Jack, & Cadillac is going to be a different experience, an original experience.”
