New Music Monday: Kelvin Dukes

Dukes’s cover of “Who’s Loving You” by The Jackson 5 as his Celebration of Music contest submission, contributed by Celebration of Music

Student by day, budding superstar by night. With a personality and talent that is out of this world, freshman Kelvin Dukes works every day to perfect his craft, still getting his homework done while he’s at it. 

Dukes has been in the game since before he could remember. Singing since he was three, he first performed at eight for the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. At 12, he performed at the local Moco’s Got Talent and won first place in the vocalist category. His best show was at the 19th Actso Awards in Detroit where he sang β€œR-E-S-P-E-C-T” by the late Aretha Franklin. 

Before a performance, Dukes takes time to let out bad vibes and ease his nerves. He prays and talks to his family but when it’s time to go on, Dukes says, β€œI get on stage and I just do what I gotta do.”

His parents fulfill a significant role in his success. Although Dukes has the talent, his mom and dad are extremely active in booking him gigs and getting him known in the professional world. Dukes, on the other hand, manages his social exposure on Instagram and other platforms. 

Dukes’ talents have not gone unnoticed. Many celebrities such as Rihanna, Joe Budden, John Legend and more have taken a liking to him on social media. Popstar Beyonce’s mother, Tina Lawson, has posted Dukes numerous times on her Instagram. Dukes has also been posted on the famous Instagram account, The Shade Room. Dukes currently has 84.9k Instagram followers and his community still continues to grow every day. 

Not only does Dukes sing covers on Instagram, but he has loads of music, being both released and unreleased songs. His most recent song β€œCha Cha Slide” dropped in August and he is in the works of releasing new music soon.

If his dreams of being a musician fail, Dukes wants to go to college, get his degree, and possibly become a dentist. He is also contemplating studying Psychology.

Recently, Dukes won β€œCelebration of Music,” a competition in Baltimore where whoever gets the most votes wins the contest. 

Go check out Dukes’Instagram at β€œKelvin.sings”