Featured on npr music's All songs considered
"In Ki5's entry video for "Honey," the Michigan-based performer sings about his stress fading as he returns home to the familiarity of a lover. Like honey, Kyler Wilkins' falsetto is sweet; the layers of loops are sticky and soothing, building to a celebratory bridge, then melting back down to calming waves."
—Elle Mannion, Read full article on NPR
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Ki5 Bio
Vocalist, songwriter, and producer Kyler Wilkins from Ann Arbor, Michigan has been performing as Ki5 using nothing but a loop station and a simple effects unit since 2017. Having opened for Erykah Badu, Reggie Watts, and CeCe Peniston and performed as a Sofar Sounds artist, Ki5 represents himself as a seasoned Michigan artist who continuously to spreads his unique style of vocal-driven music to the masses.
His vibrant, harmonic composition style - influenced by his time in a cappella groups - explores the human voice meshed with beatboxing and delivers familiar genres such as R&B, pop, and soul. His honest, empathetic, and freeing style has been influenced by Reggie Watts, and Bon Iver.
In August 2022, Ki5 released his first full-length album "Spirit" in partnership with The Amplify Fellowship of Washtenaw County - a program that supports Black musicians in exchange for service to the local community. The album puts on display his love of both simple and complex vocal arrangements and allowed him to play with far more instrumentation than previous work.
NPR's All Songs Considered says this about Ki5's 2019 live-looping performance of "Honey" off his first EP "Looking for the Sun": "Like honey, [his] falsetto is sweet; the layers of loops are sticky and soothing, building to a celebratory bridge, then melting back down to calming waves."
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