Keith Robinson

Keith Robinson's aspirations as a soul-rooted R&B artist were sidetracked somewhat by an unplanned acting career that began in the early 2000s. The Kentucky native had moved to Los Angeles as a member of a group that had signed to Motown, with no positive result, when he opted to attend an acting class. A fortuitous sequence of events led to a role in the Power Rangers franchise. Music remained a pursuit as he continued to land roles in television series and movies; for instance, he played Bill in Fat Albert (2004) and, under the alias Black Keith, placed the song "I'm in Love" on the film's soundtrack. His exposure was magnified with the award-winning Dreamgirls (2006), for which he was cast as C.C. White, a character modeled after Smokey Robinson; "Patience," a song he performed with Anika Noni Rose and Eddie Murphy, was nominated for an Academy Award. During the next few years, Robinson added roles in This Christmas, Dear John, and 35 and Ticking to his résumé, and he released the occasional independent single, including "The One," "Red Eye," and "Same Rules." A couple singles issued during 2015 led to Love Episodic, Robinson's first album, in early 2016. ~ Andy Kellman