Kaye Styles, born Kwasi Gyasi, is a Belgian singer, songwriter, and TV personality best known for the theme song of the international soundtrack of the hit television series ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...

'' produced in 2006.

Early 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 Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

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 (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

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

What's Another Year "What's Another Year" is a song recorded by Irish singer-songwriter Johnny Logan with music composed and lyrics written by Shay Healy. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 held in The Hague, resulting in his first win at the contest, as wel ...

". 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 before 20,000 people and at the

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

"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, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

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

''. The song " Prison Break Anthem" 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, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

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. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

'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 modernized 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 engin ...

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 due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

. The other contestants were: ex-TV presenter Paul Codde, stand up comedian Vitalski, actress Mieke Bouve, Miss Belgium Joke Vandevelde, model Joyce Van Nimmen, jockey Jaak Pijpen, 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 Vandecaveye won the silver medal in the women's half-middleweight category. Four years later, at ...

, actor Geert Hunaerts, Belgian boxing legend, and later friend,

Freddy De Kerpel Freddie or Freddy may refer to: Entertainment *Freddy (comic strip), a newspaper comic strip which ran from 1955 to 1980 * Freddie (Cromartie), a character from the Japanese manga series'' Cromartie High School'' *Freddie (dance), a short-lived 1 ...

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 Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

and Konvict Music 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. Cogn ...

maker

Hennessy Jas Hennessy & Cie., commonly known simply as Hennessy (), is a French producer of cognac, founded in 1765 by Richard Hennessy which has its headquarters in Cognac, France. It is one of the best-known cognac houses, along with Martell, Courvo ...

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 A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of mu ...

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 D ...

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 (; born 14 January 1978) is a Romanian singer regarded as one of the most celebrated ethnic Romanian vocalists of muzică orientală ( manele), and a musician from Constanța.Margaret H. Beissinger, ''"Muzică Oriental ...

. The videoclip was recorded in 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) *" Don't Cry / I Love to Party" feat " Johnny Logan" (2006) *" Prison Break Anthem" (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 male singer-songwriters Belgian pop singers English-language singers from Belgium Belgian male rappers Rhythm and blues singers Musicians from Leuven Musicians from Accra Ghanaian emigrants to Belgium Living people