Exklusive
Born in Maywood, Ill and raised in the Chicagoland area, Soul/R&B Artist Exklusive was exposed to and introduced to great music his entire life…from the Motown legends of Gaye and Wonder, performers like James Brown and Michael Jackson to soulful balladeers such as Donny Hathaway.
Like so many other singer/songwriters with roots, sound and influences deep in good Soul music… he started in the church back home in Chicago. By the age of 4, he began working in church choirs, school and honor competition choirs and competed in talent showcases all through college.
Shortly after graduating from Colorado State University he began working with local R&B/Hip-Hop Artists; Baltimore, MD based Couture Firm and with Grammy Award Winner Aaron Neville for his live Feed The Children television recording.
Exklusive recorded his first rough copy/unmastered independent studio album in October 2007, “True Stories”, with the help of drummer/keyboardist James Roberson and premiered the album live at the Doubletree Hotel Grand Ballroom on Jan 1, 2008. Through philanthropic/community service efforts he has worked with Denver East High School and the Denver, CO Barack Obama Campaign Headquarters to promote Civic/Political Awareness and Voter Registration and with women’s shelter Hope House Colorado, Inc.
He is currently working on a second album entitled “Perception and Reality”. The current project is a more up to date and professional album, taking a trip into the current music and songwriting of Exklusive. A much more adventurous album also, “Perception & Reality” documents growth from the artist, with new styles, live recordings and collaborations (s.m.o.k.e., one of the collaborations, is featured on this album as well as a mixtape from Baltimore based The Couture Firm).
“I love music, I love to sing, write, listen, everything about it…and it has been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. Now I have taken the gift that God has given me and I’m trying to use it to help make things a little better around here, while having something nice to listen to in the process….” -Exklusive
