J. Bingo
Named Bingo at birth by his father and named Juice by his homies J. Bingo was born on January 18, in Oakland, CA. J. Bingo is the son of world renound christian artist Dr. Ron Kenoly. J. Bingo started singing at the age of 16. His father, Ron Kenoly, was an R&B singer under the name of Ron Keith. Later, his father turned to church music and became a platinum-selling praise and worship artist. Before his dad's success, there were many lean times. "Those times taught us to be strong and not to depend on anybody to get the things we wanted to get in life," J. Bingo says.
"I was sixteen when I started singing," he continues. "I was watching a Jodeci concert on TV and Ki-Ci and JoJo were moving everybody in the audience and they moved me. I thought about how good they made me feel and I decided I wanted to make people feel like that too. I practiced everyday. I listened to all the groups out there. My style came from listening to groups like Silk, Guy, Boyz II Men, Mint Condition, & R. Kelly. I like all those ballads."
After graduating from Silver Creek High School in San Jose, CA, J. Bingo sang R&B with a variety of local groups. He and a buddy named Sidney formed a duo that didn't last long enough for them to name it. Then, he rapped with his brother, Sam, for a year before he decided that he wanted to focus on singing. I knew these Filipino cats that put in a word for me with this group called Ontilt and I was with them for two years. Through out that time I was still trying to find myself. We did that heavy pop stuff like All-4-0ne. I respect what All-4-0ne does, but after finding myself I realize that what they do isn't the route I wanted to take."
Perhaps, the big break was when Ron Kenoly asked Bingo and his brother Sam, to record a song called "I Love to Love You Lord" for his Welcome Home CD in 1996. The song hit 1 in Fiji and New Zealand. Soon, Papa Kenoly was financing his sons' first CD Who's There? God's There in 1997. The CD sold 10,000 units without distribution. From the start, their music sounded like pure R&B soul, but the lyrics dealt with God, inspiration and every day life. They launched their own independant record label and released their first nationally distributed CD All the Way in 1999. The All The Way project sold 50,000 units with a minimal marketing and promotional budget. The CD received mad love in the press and won them fans such as opera tenor Jose Carreras. Their 2002 CD No Distance won them praise from Ebony magazine and featured more aggressive lyrics.They touched on subjects highly sensitive to the church such as sexual temptation and the overcoming and surcoming to it. Despite the collapse of their distributor and having little to no marketing dollars for the project the No Distance CD sold 20,000 units.
In 2005 J. Bingo released his first solo-debut entitled Hog Life. The CD consisted of him performing R&B songs like My Pleasure & What Are We Gonna Do and also Hip Hop bangers such as H.O.G., Move Ya Bod, & Get It Crackin. The project was one of a kind because there has never been a male artist that was ever released who could legitimately sing and rap. J. Bingo was the first to do both.
J. Bingo's main focus is to represent Christ in everything that he does and also to dispell any and all myths and misunderstandings that the church and the people outside of church previously got twisted. "I want to change the mindset of people who think you have to be weak or to be a punk to be saved," he explains. "It's a mindset that's been established by those who went before us. There's nothing greater, nothing more significant than serving Christ. Bottom line is we all serve something whether its drugs, sex, power, money, or whatever and a lot of people don't realize it. Whatever you have an issue with or you don't have control over, you are a slave to it. I just want people to know this ain't no game. Living, as a Christian is the hardest choice anybody could make for his or her life. In the world, whatever you deem to be law, that's the rule you live by. But, when you submit yourself to Christ, it's His rule and you've got no choice but to follow that."
J. Bingo Quick Facts:
Favorite color: Red.
Favorite food: Soul food.
Favorite movie: "The Matrix", "The Terminator."
Favorite vocal group: Jodeci.
Favorite album: Jodeci's "Diary of a Mad Band", Tupac Shakur's "All Eyes on Me" and Mint Condition's "Definition of a Band."
Favorite book: "He Came to Set the Captives Free" by Rebecca Brown.
Favorite television show: "Law & Order: SVU" "The Sheild" (NBC)
Favorite sports: UFC, football.
Height: 5 feet, 10 1/2 inches.
