Three years ago, 17- year old Kelontae Gavin was in his high school cafeteria singing and shouting the gospel classic “I Won’t Complain” with all of the emotion and theatrics of a singer three-times his age. Someone caught it all on tape and posted it online and now Gavin’ s various YouTube videos have earned him thousands of fans and over a million YouTube views. It led to his management deal with Marquis Boone (who steers the careers of No. 1 artists Casey J and Briana Babineaux) and his signing to the historic Tyscot Records label that introduced Deitrick Haddon and VaShawn Mitchell to the world.
While most high school seniors are pre-occupied with applying for colleges or planning for life after graduation, Gavin is focused on recording his first album. In the meantime, he’ll release his “Higher” digital single bundle on Friday, November 11th to digital platforms everywhere. Grammy® Award winner Myron Butler produced the inspiring, mid-tempo title song that Gavin co-wrote with his mother. The single features four versions of the song plus a fresh arrangement of “I Won’t Complain” that was written by the Memphis’ singing pastor Don H. Johnson in 1975 and popularized in black churches by Rev. Paul Jones in the 1980s. Gavin will make his first national TV appearance with a dynamic performance of “I Won’t Complain” on Black Entertainment Television’s (BET) “Joyful Noise” program that airs Sunday, November 13th at 9:00 AM EST.
