Risky Business

posted in: Artist Features

A life as an investment banker has its perks, like big paychecks and bigger bonuses. But sometimes a man just wants a mic, a stage and the roar of the crowd. Hip hop artist Kenton Dunson traded his career in finance to take a chance on music, and so far his gamble has paid off. Beautiful Fight takes a pitch-shifted vocal stutter, loops it with piano, guitar and beaten percussion for a killer hook, and then adds a story about redemption. I never was dirt poor / But I came a long way from the church chorus to the workhorse, Dunson spits. Dude is dope. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been burned. On Firestarter, he confesses I never should have messed with a devil in a dress, as swaths of digital textures and piano provide the beat. Maybe he’s been unlucky in love, maybe he’s not making a Wall Street salary, but Dunson’s decision to get into music looks like it could pay off in dividends.