| Kreesha Turner | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kreesha Turner |
| Born | June 10, 1985 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Genres | R&B Pop Dance |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 2003–Present |
| Labels | EMI Music Canada (2006–present) Capitol (2006-present) (US) |
| Website | Official Website |
Kreesha Turner (born June 10, 1985),[1] is a Canadian R&B/Pop recording artist. She cites as her inspirations R&B acts such as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and D'Angelo, hip-hop acts including A Tribe Called Quest, Andre 3000 and Common and rock acts like the Foo Fighters and Our Lady Peace.[2]
Contents |
The oldest of three children born to a Canadian father and a Jamaican mother,[3] Turner was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta.[4] As a young child, Turner danced in her bedroom to music by jazz musician Oscar Peterson.[5] Turner has always mentioned jazz[6] as an inspiration, especially artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday[7] and Peggy Lee.
Turner's musical tastes developed when she discovered the music of Erykah Badu,[7] Jill Scott[7] and D'Angelo, A Tribe Called Quest, Andre 3000, Common, the Foo Fighters and Our Lady Peace. Turner's early musical expression was through modern, tap, jazz, hip-hop and African dance.
In 2000, when Turner was 15, her mother sent her to Jamaica[8] to live for a year to experience Jamaican culture. Turner quickly learned that singing is a big part of everyday life in Jamaica, particularly at the Pentecostal church. Friends convinced her to audition for the youth choir despite her own belief that she could not sing. On the strength of her rendition of Canada's national anthem, Turner was accepted into the choir and began singing gospel songs at the Faith Temple Tabernacle.[9] Turner says this is the time she realized she loved to sing.
In 2003, immediately after graduating from high school, Turner became an active member in the underground urban/hip-hop community. Writing, recording and performing all her own material, she aggressively began pursuing her musical career. Turner quickly gained attention from her peers, developing an underground fan base that had a number of industry insiders excited. Turner performed on any and every stage she could, entering and winning several competitions, but it was not until a couple years later that she was successful.
In 2005, Turner won a talent contest in Edmonton organised by radio station The Bounce (91.7 FM). Winning the contest allowed her to record four tracks in Vancouver with songwriting/production team, Hipjoint Productions,[10] the most important to Kreesha's career being "Bounce with Me".[11] This was noticed by urban and R&B music manager Chris Smith (Nelly Furtado, Fefe Dobson, Tamia) and led to the start of her mainstream career.
After a successful audition with Virgin Records, she signed a record deal with the Capitol Music Group, under which the Virgin imprint operates. Concurrently, EMI Music Canada signed her in order to more effectively tap into the Canadian market.
Before her mainstream success, the singer's song "Bounce With Me" was heard as early as spring 2006 on Vancouver AC stations but was not officially released as a single until 2007. Turner released her first official single, "Simple", to the Canadian iTunes Store on November 13, 2007, but the single was not a success. Her first official video was for her second single, "Bounce With Me", which was released to iTunes on December 4, 2007. This single was eventually used as 'The Free Song of the Week' on iTunes and it became her first song to enter the charts, peaking at number 53 on the Canadian Hot 100. Her third single, "Don't Call Me Baby", was released to radio in April 2008 and on iTunes May 20, 2008. It eventually rose in the Canadian Hot 100 from #41 to #8,[12] making "Don't Call Me Baby" her first Canadian Top 10 single.
On August 5, 2008, Turner's firstt album, Passion, was made available for advanced streaming on MuchMusic.com.[13] On August 12, 2008, Passion was released in Canada.
In late July 2008, Turner was recognized by gossip blogger Perez Hilton as the next big singing sensation, comparing her sound to soulful pop stars such as Duffy.
On November 22, 2008, Turner had her first USn #1 with her single "Don't Call Me Baby" on the US Billboard Dance Charts. [14]
After a year of success, Turner was ranked 16th on MuchMusic's 2008 Sexiest Girls list. Turner performed some of the year’s biggest hits in a live, national broadcast from Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square on New Year's Eve.
On March 13, 2009, Turner received an award for "Best New Group/Solo Artist (Rhythmic/Dance/Urban)" at the Canadian Radio Music Awards in Toronto, Canada - her first award for her musical contribution. Turner was nominated for two Juno Awards: New Artist of the Year and Pop Album of the Year.
Leading up to the 2009 Juno Awards, Turner appeared in a number of heavily aired Nestle Kit Kat Senses commercials, which feature the singer and her hit song "Bounce With Me". The commercials still air to this day.
Turner returned to Hipjoint Productions in Vancouver in spring 2009 to sing on "Dust In Gravity", a song by alt-pop band Delerium which will be included on their greatest hits record to be released in late 2009. "Dust In Gravity" featuring lead vocals by Turner reached #1 on The US Billboard Dance Charts on June 5, 2010, giving Turner her second #1 in the US. [15]
In June 2011, her new single, "Rock Paper Scissors", was put online. The song is from her second album, due to be released later in the year.
| Year | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Juno Award for Best New Artist | Nominated |
| Juno Award Pop Album of The Year | Nominated | |
| Canadian Radio Music Awards Best New Group/Solo Artist | Won | |
| MuchMusic Video Awards for International Video of the Year by a Canadian | Nominated |
| Year | Album details | Peak |
|---|---|---|
| CAN | ||
| 2008 | Passion | 11 |
| 2011 | Tropic Electric | - |
| Year | Title | Chart Positions[16] | Certifications | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | U.S. Dance |
||||
| 2007 | "Simple" | — | — | Passion | |
| "Bounce With Me" | 53 | — | |||
| 2008 | "Don't Call Me Baby" | 8 | 1 | ||
| "Shattered" | — | — | |||
| "Lady Killer" | 54 | — | |||
| 2009 | "Passion" | — | — | ||
| 2010 | "Dust In Gravity" | — | 1 | Non-Album Release | |
| 2011 | "Rock Paper Scissors" | — | — | Tropic Electric | |
| "I Could Stay" | 59 | — | |||