Kaye Styles, born Kwasi Gyasi, is a Belgian

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and TV personality best known for the theme song of the Belgian version of the hit television series ''Prison Break'' produced in 2006.

Life

Kaye Styles, whose birth name is Kwasi Gyasi was born in Ghana on 8 November 1981. He came to Belgium when he was five years old.

Career

First album

In 2004, he released his first single "Gimme the Mic" from his first album ''The True Definition Of Styles''. This became a modest hit in Belgium. Later that year he released "Somebody's Watchin' Me" (a "

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

cover") and "Safe Sex" with Laura Ramaekers.

Eurovision

In 2006 Styles entered the Belgian National selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

with the song "Profile". He finished third in the quarter-finals and second in the semi-finals. Johnny Logan one of the judges, and two-time

winner, was so impressed by Styles' performance that they later recorded a single together, "

Don't Cry / I Love to Party "Don't Cry / I Love to Party" is a double A-side and B-side, A-sided single released by Belgian singer/songwriter Kaye Styles and Australian born Irish singer/songwriter Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan. The songs are re-working of Logan's two ...

" which are a mash up of Logan's " Hold Me Now" and ""

What's Another Year "What's Another Year" was Irish singer and composer Johnny Logan's first Eurovision Song Contest winning song, achieving success in the 1980 edition of the contest, as well as 's second Eurovision victory. Composed by Shay Healy (who also wrot ...

". The songs are featured on Styles' second album ''It Iz What It Iz'' and third album entitled ''Main Event''. The pair also performed together live at the 2006 Belgian MTV/TMF music awards held at the

Antwerp Sport Palace Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

before 20,000 people and at the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

"Tien om te zien" Concerts. With the release of the "Profile" Styles scored his first Belgian top 10 hit.

''Prison Break''

Later in 2006 Styles was asked by

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...

to create the title song for the Belgian version of the successful American television series ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial drama television show, television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purce ...

''. The song "

Prison Break Anthem "Prison Break Anthem" is a single by Belgian rapper Kaye Styles, released in 2006 on the Mostiko label. Styles version was used as the theme song for the television series ''Prison Break'' in Belgium. It peaked at number 3 on the Flanders Fl ...

" became a top 10 hit in Belgium, a number 1 hit on the Flemish National Radio "Radio 2" and was played in Germany, Russia, France, Finland,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

and all over Europe. The song's videoclip was recorded in a real prison and was broadcast on all the major Belgium Networks, "MTV Germany", and "MtV Russia". The same year he was also nominated for two TMF Awards – Best Urban National and Best Male National. In 2006 Styles was also asked to be the opening act for

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

's Benelux Tour.

''Stanley's Route''

In 2006, Styles was also a participant on the Belgian

VT4 The VT-4 (), also known as the MBT-3000, is a Chinese third generation main battle tank built by Norinco for overseas export. Development During the development of Type 90-II/Al-Khalid (also known as MBT-2000) in the 1980s, the gearbox and e ...

television program ''Stanley's Route'' which was a survival program, filmed in Africa, featuring famous Belgian

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. The other contestants were: ex-TV presenter Paul Codde, stand up comedian Vitalski, actress

Mieke Bouve Mieke may refer to: * Mieke (given name), a list of people with the given name * Mieke Telkamp, Dutch singer Maria Telgenkamp (1934–2016) * Mieke (character), a fictional character from comic album series ''Yoko Tsuno'' * Mieke Schmidt, a fiction ...

, Miss Belgium Joke Vandevelde, model Joyce Van Nimmen, jockey

Jaak Pijpen Jaak is a version of the names Jacob and James in the Estonian language. People named Jaak include: *Jaak Aab (born 1960), Estonian politician *Jaak Aaviksoo (born 1954), Estonian politician and physicists *Jaak Allik (born 1946), Estonian poli ...

, world Judo champion

Gella Vandecaveye Gella Vandecaveye (born 5 June 1973 in Kortrijk, Belgium) is a judoka from Belgium who competed at four Olympic Games. At the 1996 Summer Olympics she won the silver medal in the women's half-middleweight category. Four years later, at the 20 ...

, actor

Geert Hunaerts Geert is a Dutch given name of Germanic origin, equivalent to the German Gerd and the English Gerry. The name is a condensed form of Gerard, itself a combination of the Germanic words ''ger'' (spear) and ''hard'' (strong or brave) meaning "stro ...

, Belgian boxing legend, and later friend, Freddy De Kerpel and politician Damienne Anciaux.

''Silence – Death''

As godfather for the project "EQUAL" Styles went to South Africa together with eight Belgian teenagers to shoot a documentary about aids ''Silence – Death'' in 2006. This documentary was broadcast on the Belgian teenage television channel "JIM"

''First Born''

In 2008 Styles released his fourth album ''First Born''. This album contains a song featuring American superstars

Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P) ...

and

Konvict Music Konvict Muzik is a record label founded by R&B singer Akon.Melvin Brown: Konvict Business ...

producer Tariq-L called "Shawty". The album itself was produced by German and American Producers like Dvo De Silva. The president of the French

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cog ...

maker

Hennessy Jas Hennessy & Co., commonly known simply as Hennessy (), is a French producer of cognac, which has its headquarters in Cognac, France. It is one of the "big four" cognac houses, along with Martell, Courvoisier, and Rémy Martin, who together ma ...

specially flew to be present at the release party for ''First Born''.

"Freedom"

In 2009 Styles recorded a single with Frank Ti-Aya or DJ F.R.A.N.K. one of the producers of the world hits "Summerjam", "Candy on the Dancefloor", and "Freedom". The

videoclip Video clips refer to mostly short videos, most of the time called memes, which are short videos of silly jokes and funny clips, most of the time coming from movies or any entertainment videos such as YouTube. The term is also used more loosely to ...

was recorded in Marbella, Spain "Freedom" became a number 1 hit in Belgium.

"Ching Choing"

In 2011 Styles recorded a single with Michael Calfan and

Bob Sinclar Christophe Le Friant (; born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar (), is a French record producer, DJ and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions. Musical career A native of Paris, Le Friant began DJ ...

called "Ching Choing", this was released by Bob Sinclar's record label Bob Sinclar Digital & Yellow Productions. The single was distributed in France and Italy.

"Is It Love"

In 2011, also Styles recorded a song with Romanian singer Celia, "Is It Love", produced by the Romanian producer

Costi Ioniță Constantin "Costi" Ioniță (), known as Costi (born 14 January 1978) is a Romanian singer regarded as one of the most celebrated ethnic Romanian vocalists of ''muzică orientală'' (manele).Margaret H. Beissinger, ''"Muzică Orientală": Identit ...

. The videoclip was recorded in the Ukraine by Alan Badoev and, at a cost of €100,000, it would be the most expensive videoclip to come out of Eastern Europe. The song became a modest hit in Romania and Bulgaria.

Discography

Albums

*''True Definition of Styles'' (2004) *''It Iz What It Iz''(2006) *''Main Event'' (2006) *''First Born'' (2008)

Singles

*"Gimme The Mic" (2004) *"Somebody's Watchin Me" (2004) *"Safe Sex" (2005) *"Maria Bonita" feat Ali Tcheelab (2005) *"Profile" (2006) *"

" feat " Johnny Logan" (2006) *"

" (2006) *"Cheat on You" feat Black Cherry (2006) *"Survivor" (2006) *"Shawty" feat Akon and Tariq L (2008) *"Freedom" feat Frank Ti-Aya (2009) *"Ching Choing" Feat Michael Calfan and Bob Sinclar *"Is It Love" feat Celia (2011)

Filmography

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Styles, Kaye 1981 births 21st-century Belgian male singers 21st-century Belgian singers Belgian singer-songwriters Belgian pop singers English-language singers from Belgium Belgian rappers Rhythm and blues singers Musicians from Leuven People from Accra Ghanaian emigrants to Belgium Living people