On the Double: Spotlighting Genre-Blending Brothers Keenan x Keanu and Their Journey As a Musical Duo
Hailing all the way from Ravensmead in Cape Town, genre-blurring musical duo Keenan x Keanu have, over the past several years, presented themselves as an exhibit of what would happen if the residuals of past and modern-day pop and R&B greats were gathered up and extruded into the mould of two Zoomers. In an industry as eclectic as the one in Mzansi, where different sounds take turns to dominate the overall space, the pair have made it a mission to not limit themselves, to fan out and diversify their style by braiding it with elements of pop, afropop, amapiano, R&B, and hip-hop, among other sounds. And with releases such as “All I Want” and “The Way”, the brothers have carved out a niche to make a unique place themselves.
Linking up with one half of the brothers, Keenan, he spoke about their upbringing and how their passion for music was seeded owing to growing up in the church and being hands-on when it came to handling matters of the choir and the church’s worship team. Keenan also credited their parents.
Keenan x Keanu | SUPPLIED
“My brother and I grew up in a very musical family. From a young age all we knew was music, because our parents paved the way for us and gospel was our staple. We grew up in the church as well, and we were always involved in the choir and the worship team. So, our childhood did direct us to pursue this path we are on,” Keenan said, about himself and on behalf of his brother.
The Adams brothers released their club-oriented single “The Way” ahead of the holidays, dropping their amapiano offering early December. A simmering and slow-flowing jam painting pictures of the nightlife, Keenan and Keanu bottled the youthful spirit of club culture with their latest song, packing it with energy and spunk. Keenan spoke about the inspiration behind the making of the tune.
“When we made “The Way”, we just wanted to make a song that had that festive vibe to it. A nice feeling that you can attach to the song. Going out, you always hear these nice amapiano sounds on songs, so we decided to fuse amapiano with how we approach out music. And during the making of the song, when the sound was coming together, I felt that we should throw a bit of vernac in there. That’s how we needed up bringing in my brother Kinetic Torch into the song itself because he was the one who even made the beat, so he understood what needed to be done on the song.
“As for the song, we wanted it to have the atmosphere of going out and infuse the festive feeling in it. Think of yourself going out and seeing all the girls dancing, enjoying the festivities and the holidays. That’s the mood we were aiming for when it came to making this song,” he said.
Listen to “The Way”:
With EPs and more music already on the way, the brothers have not been resting on their laurels. When not releasing new music, they were plotting their next moves to strengthen their foothold in the industry. Having recently inked a deal with recording company Sleek Productions, Keenan spoke about how he and his brother were moving with caution, learning new things along the way, and treating their time within the industry as a practical assessment in the university of life and professional work.
“Everything is pretty new to us at this stage. We just got signed to Sleek Productions, and we are still getting used to the whole industry and how the whole thing works. Because between my brother and me, we just wanna make music. But there are a lot of things we have to learn, especially about the business side of things and how to approach that as well as when and how to drop music. We are very much still learning. But I like a challenge and everything is exciting. I am prepared for this year, to learn more and for us to become the best artists that we can be,” he said.
Keenan x Keanu | SUPPLIED
Keenan elaborated on the subtle art of blending an array of sounds when it came to him and his brother making music. Refusing to be pigeonholed as an act limited to one genre in particular, he spoke about the thinking behind making their music a box of sonic choice assorted treats able to satisfy a wide range of audiences, from the young to the old.
“We like to create music that will cater for everyone. So, if we can make music for elderly people, we can make music for young people. We don’t want to be put in a box and labelled as this and that. We don’t just listen to one kind of music; we listen to a lot of different genres. For example, we started listening to gospel music – that was our foundation, basically. Eventually, we ventured to other sounds and started listening to bands and how they arranged songs, and everything evolved from there. Using the same formula we go picked up from gospel, with regards to singing tenor and soprano and alto, we applied the same techniques to R&B to make it sound more soulful. That’s how we end up not sticking to one genre,” he said.