Kevin “Kayo” Roberson

Kevin “Kayo” Roberson, a founding and standing member of musical group “The Deele”. He is a bass player and musician; composer; as well as a musical producer. A Native of Cincinnati Ohio, Kayo’s musical influences include: James Brown, Sly and The Family Stone, Marvin Gaye, and Bootsy Collins. These influences culminated to create a persona and sound that has fans coining him, as an "underscored legend" and “The Bringer of Funk”.

Kayo’s contributions to the music industry has amassed an impressive imprint of nearly 60 million in record sales/streaming, from a career spanning over 40 years. His infusion of Soul and Funk has created a distinctive sound that is undeniable to the ear and touches most genres of music.

Kayo has worked on multiple projects that include 5 Grammy nominations; Boys II Men (End of The Road), Johnny Gill (My. My. My), Bobby Brown (Every Little Step/ Don’t Be Cruel), and Karyn White (Superwoman). As one quarter member of the LaFace Records Production Cartel (Kevin "Kayo" Roberson, Darryl Simmons, "L.A." Reid, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds), Kayo helped to shape the production and sound for notable artist such as Paula Abdul, TLC, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, and Michael Jackson.

The list of Artist whom Kayo has worked with over time is extensive. His credits also extend into the Motion Picture Industry, co-producing, and performing on such soundtracks as Eddie Murphy’s “Boomerang”, and the blockbuster movie “Ghostbusters”.

In his own words, a few highlights in his career include, (that) “After years of preparation and the manifestation of dreams, actually hearing “The Deele on the radio for the first time”. “Having the honor to work with and co-write, “Slave to The Rhythm” released in 2014 for Michael Jackson. And “Reuniting all of our original band members for the celebration and lifetime achievements of my friend and band mate “LA” (Reid), for the 2016 BET Honors”.

Now that you have an overview of this massively talented musical giant, let’s go all the way back to the beginning. At the tender age of 7 Kayo was the youngest of four brothers. Seeing his older brothers (Bobby Alonzo Roberson, and Doug Roberson) play drums, other percussions, and the guitar, (they would eventually be on a record), inspired Kayo in a way that brought him great pride. This was Kayo’s introduction to the path that would become his life. At the age of 8, Kayo, who was banned from touching his brothers equipment, would sneak away to do exactly that in an effort to teach himself. Upon seeing his true dedication and passion for music, Kayo’s parents invested in his very own guitar.

Still 8 years of age, Kevin “Kayo” would later take that same 6 string guitar and remove 2 of the higher-toned strings, subconsciously turning it into an unofficial bass guitar. This would later become the catalyst for one of the most noted bass players in the music industry, and of our time.

At age 10 Kayo began to perform at local community centers, with his cousin “Danny Boy”. Soon after Kayo went on to start a band named “The Bad Habits”, which included his childhood friends, Ronnie Arlington, (guitar) Reggie Griffin (drums).

As Kayo entered junior high school his small band would perform on the porch for the neighbors , and at local parks. They later added current Deele founder/member Stanley” Dee” Bristol from Cutter Jr High School to the band. That school would later become the famed School of Creative and Performing Arts. The band continued performing and winning all of the local talent shows on up to high school, until “The Bad Habits” dis-banded as the transition to high school approached. Kayo had begun performing at nightclubs at the age of 14.

After entering high school around the 10th grade, Kayo would embark upon a time that would shape up to be life changing in ways yet unimagined. With a fresh start at Hughes High School, where the most talented students in the city would attend, he took notice that the band that he constructed was garnering attention, as a fellow schoolmate at the time approached Kayo, and asked if he was indeed a member of “The Bad Habits… that schoolmates name was Antonio “L.A” Reid. That conversation would turn out to become, a friendship for life. Reid who was in a different band and different class, would stand outside of Kayo’s music class to observe.

As their friendship grew, the dynamic pair would get an opportunity to gig outside of school, with their music teacher Terry Brown at concert halls such as Cincinnati Music Hall. This provided an income and even more than that: inspiration. Kayo at this time played with several local groups and bands namely “The Backstabbers” which L.A. himself later joined. This group would also go on to dis-banded after high school.

Kayo and L.A would spend a little while freelancing, before embarking upon their next big venture which was a band called “Pure Essence”, which only performed original material. This lead to their first song to chart entitled “3rd Rock which was later used in a documentary by Q-Tip of tribe called Quest. “Pure Essence” began to travel outside of Cincinnati to Indianapolis as the disco era started to emerge, in an effort to keep performing live, as it had all but dried up at home. They took to the “Chitlin Circuit”, which is in the south. After touring for a while, “Kayo” and “L.A.” moved back to Cincinnati with the feeling that there was a need for change. They believed that they had taken “Pure Essence” as far as it could go. The pair discussed what would later become known as the ‘The Vision’. And “Pure Essence” was dis-banded.

During this time period traveling between Indianapolis and Cincinnati, they recruited Stanley “Dee” Bristol, making the trinity of “Kayo”, “L.A.” and “Dee” as the cornerstone and founders of The Deele. All three of attended Cincinnati’s Hughes High School. This was the turning point for Kayo’s and LA’s original vision once Dee was added as the first piece to the puzzle.

From this point Carlos Greene also of Hughes High School was added. Continuing to toggle between Indianapolis and Cincinnati visiting nightclubs in search of band members, they recruited Stanley “Stick “Burke from Indianapolis, who was at the time playing with “The Ohio Players”.

Although the puzzle was still forming, they began performing to test the previously discussed ‘Vision’, to see how all the elements blended. As the word got out, and venues started to fill up, they knew they were on the right track.

They began writing original songs. Subsequently, they hired a keyboardist to perform studio recordings, that person was a member of the group “Midnight Star”. Word of this new group got back to “Midnight Star”, who completely took notice of “The Deele” and began working together. From this juncture they had an encounter with another fellow musician that they engaged with previously. Then the final piece to the puzzle was laid.

Now with 6 members and a complete band "The Deele" continued to work with Midnight Star creating a demo. This collaboration led to their music being presented to Solar Records, where they were presented a deal without ever being seen.

The year was 1983, and in 1984 The Deele’s first single released, entitled “Body Talk”, which led to their first national tour with “DeBarge”, and Luther Vandross.

“Body Talk” was their first hit single. The Deele would go on to record three albums under Solar Records, along with recording solo project for their band mate Kenny ‘Babyface” Edmonds. Around this time members were also presented with the opportunity to write and produce with label mates “The Whispers’, “Rock Steady”. This contributed to another hit under their belts, which opened the door for many projects to follow.

The projects that were birthed included; Karyn White, Pebbles. The Boyz, Johnny Gill, Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant, Paula Abdul, Sheena Easton, After 7, Boys 2 Men, Damian Dame, Toni Braxton, TLC, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, The Mack Band, Mary Davis of (SOS Band), Jermaine Jackson, and Michael Jackson.