Nigerian American artiste B’Kem released a new EP titled ‘Take’ on Sunday, August 15, 2021. The EP features eight-track and a video that is now available on all digital streaming and video platforms.
B’Kem was born to Nigerian parents who lived in South Central, Los Angeles. Despite a turbulent childhood filled with trauma, family crisis and heartache.
He grew up in a home with so much tension and strife from watching his parents fight. He never felt like he was loved and accepted. Certain events in his childhood caused him to feel that way,
“There was a time I was stabbed in the arm with a pencil in Middle School by a girl who just got her period. She cried to the teacher telling her how she couldn’t understand why boys couldn’t get periods.
“The teacher told both of us to go to the dean’s office and he suspended me for a week. The dean told me that I was a delinquent and that it was my fault and told the girl to come back to school the next day.
“I was confused and was afraid to tell my parents, but parents found out and my mom beat me. My dad asked me what had happened but my mom was mercilessly swearing that she knew it was my fault.
“The next day, I watched my mom and the dean talking about how it was at fault and my dad was asking to talk to the teacher. When they got to the teacher, she told them everything, yet my mother was not convinced and argued with everyone in the meeting that I was at fault.”
Watching his mom act like that hurt him.
On his path to a future career, he received no help or support from his parents. “The counselor called my mom into the office and told her I would be able to graduate from High School or apply to college and their was no point in taking my S.A.T’s.
“They said my grades were too low. This hit me hard but when the time came, they found out the school’s computer data was incorrect and I would graduate from High School.
“Yet it was too late. The University submissions due dates had pasted, the S.A.T’s test dates as well. So I wanted to go to community college as my last hope, but my parent didn’t pay for it. I had to with the money I was making as a drummer. Which wasn’t much.”
Much later, B’kem went to The Los Angeles Recording School and Graduated with a Sound Engineering Degree.
Despite criticism and betrayal, he fought hard to have a music career, “Even my sibling told me I couldn’t sing or rap. I broke up with an ex girlfriend because she yelled at two people when they asked about my music. she told them they shouldn’t encourage me that I wasn’t good.
“but It didn’t deter me, it just made me believe that you cannot please everyone and that I had a tribe out there, those two men asking, were part of it.”
This is why in the song Patience he said, “Before they said I couldn’t sing, they said I couldn’t rap. I had to break up with an ex that wouldn’t take it back. I took a stroll into my future after leaving that. Doing what they said I couldn’t, you can check the fact.”
He has since forgiven all those who had hurt him deeply including the same ex-girlfriend who cheated on him with his best friend.
Since the release of his debut single years ago, B’Kem has not looked back on his decision to be a musician. He has understood his self-taught songwriting ability better and combined it with his natural talent.
He creates a unique style of music by combining multiple contemporary music genres, and he has worked on numerous collaborative projects but with the help of God, things began to shift.
Since changing his message in his songs, B’ Kem has received numerous awards and performed in different concerts and shows. B’kem is the winner of The Best International Headlining Performing Artist Award AMTW(Africa Meets The World) by Seems Africa.
He is the first African American male to perform at the Colors of Love platform. He was nominated for best male artist 2020 by Afrifamu, Best Inspirational Worship Leader 2020 By Maranatha Awards USA. The same organization also Nominated his songs “Take” and “Black lives matter”.
B’Kem has performed at AfroCity, Afro-fusion, 626-night market, different African charity events (one of the most notable charity events was “Farafina Banquet and Fundraiser” by Bilenge Bwanya Ya Congo which was raising funds for elementary schools in Congo with unstable building structures) and countless others.
His most recent song “Black Lives Matter”, has been raking numbers in streams due to its powerful message.
After listening to his latest single, “Take”, your head will be brimming with words and messages just waiting to be tied together by the power of your faith. Faith and self-belief are two things B’kem has lived with, or rather, has been fueled by.
Despite the many heart breaks, some he’s not ready to share yet, B’Kem is now engaged to his supermodel fiancee Nini Amerlise. He asked her to marry him on the same day he released his EP.
To download, stream and listen to ‘Take’ and other hit tracks by B’Kem, use the links below:
