FIRST TIME HEARING - Kevin Olusola Down (Marian Hill KOver)

[@mikeparker6821]

We all know how talented the members are. They took to Kevin immediately and asked him to join the group. He cautioned them about his religious beliefs, explaining that he couldn't work on his church's Sabbath. The others met and decided that if Kevin was willing to commit to them they would commit to him; no concerts between 8PM Fri to 8PM Sat. Says a lot about character all around.

[@im2yz4u17]

So Kevin can play a mean saxophone as well as speak fluent Mandarin Chinese. Who is the most talented? You got it--Kevin!

[@larubia-se5800]

Kevin is so underrated! He's an amazing true musican that plays multiple instruments, amazing vocal range, writer, composer & alien like beat boxer! He deserves every musical award in the industry bc he is the the embodiment of music! This man is a true Treasure to Humanity . We should nominate him for a Nobel Peace prize for his life long contributions to music way b4 Pentatonix his classical career was poppin. Do a deep dive on his life...u won't be disappointed. More ppl need to know he's more than a beat boxer; which is insane as it is! Thanks again for doing this video. U were K.O'd!💕🎶✌🏼🙏🏻

[@vidsorama2]

Great reaction. Thank you. Kevin is a genius. A hardworking, focused, genius. I hope that you will react to more of his music and to the music of Pentatonix. This one was a cover.

[@GlassesKingdom]

I realised it was a cover after

[@lauriedaiken4426]

Kevin is pure genius - and as someone else mentioned, he is incredibly hard- working, always learning and practicing. I heard him mention in an interview that he approaches life by not just being curious, but acting on his curiosity.

[@LisaMT1218]

Kevin is a BEAST so talented.

[@terib470]

He is very talented not only musically but with languages and he was starting his studies to becomes doctor when The Trio ( Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi and Kirsten Maldanoldo) the first 3 that sang in order ask for him to join them. They had tried out for a program called The Sing Off and we're told they needed 5 people to compete. They found Kevin Olusola on a KZbin video where he was beat boxing while playing the cello. Their original bass was Avi Kaplan up until the end of 2017. Their bass now is Matt Salle who became a member in 2018. He also has played Carnegie Hall at the age of 17 playing a saxophone. He puts over achievers to shame. He has also written and produced music with a group called Tripyq.

[@sfrose3258]

Omg 😱 the second he started to sing I think my expression was exact to yours 🤣...not many drummers can sing and not many beat boxers can sing well and this guy is a multiple threat...I’m very impressed with him and his array of talent...Wow Wow Wow this is really good....OMG 😱😱😱this takes the meaning of the word brilliant to a whole different level 🙌🙌🙌🙌thank u for this another great one 💯💯😉😉

[@avionterria7855]

He played Carnegie Hall twice...once with the cello and once with the sax.

[@bonnieflynn4798]

PTX. Where the beat boxer has a 4 octave range and is a master cellist ! They are all insanely talented

[@GlassesKingdom]

Wow 😳

[@gothicdreamsgdosh]

You forgot he also plays saxophone and played Carnegie Hall with sax and another time with cello. And he speaks fluent Mandarin and many other languages and he also was pre-med but switched majors and graduated from Yale ( he was accepted to all the major colleges as well but decided to go to yale)

[@GlassesKingdom]

@@gothicdreamsgdosh forget? I didn’t know lol 😂 thank you for telling me

[@gothicdreamsgdosh]

Kevin is hands down my favorite PTX member. Not many people have that much talent. I think when God was handing out talent he stood there and just took it all. 😆🤣lol

[@owatahfuhlaiyem4776]

AND and top of all his talent, he's married and a father.

[@margaretkichenama2040]

You are an amazing musical analytical genius ❤️from🇹🇹

[@jessegirlb]

This is such an amazing performance. I'm so glad you found this! Kevin is just an immensely talented, skilled, and accomplished person. Kevin's such an asset to PTX. He's got a amazing falsetto, which they put to great use in "Run to You," and in "Imagine," in particular. All the PTX members have huge vocal ranges and can double multiple parts.

[@pamscarr8696]

Kevin was the youngest young man to perform in Carnegie Hall at age 17. He is a Yale graduate and was headed to Medical School then to China to be a Medical Dr. when Scott Hoying found him on youtube. Within about the same time period, a young Avi Kaplan was headed was headed to the LA Opera house as their Basso Profundo after his classical vocal training and Scott found him through a mutual acquaintance. The trio who had been in high school together wanted to be in the first A Capella sing off on American tv. They needed a beatboxer and a bass. And Kevin and Avi were swept into the PTX world of music. These two men were always hotel room mate when the group was traveling abroad and shared an apartment in LA when they were not on the road. Avi gave Kevin voice lessons and they remained best friends during the six years Avi was with the group. Avi burned out physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and had to walk away. Shortly after that, Kevin married but has remained with the group. Avi retreated to his log cabin deep in the forests of Tennessee and has become a solo artist. When Avi made his first EP, he had written a song and had Kevin play his acoustic cello in the song titled Fields and Pier. Kevin is not seen in the video but he had to do some string adjusting to make his cello go as low as Avi's voice. Here is that video if you would like to listen to Kevin's cello and Avi's voice together. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpKQeqajp9ysl7M

[@r0kus]

Thank you for the background info and link. I hadn't heard _Fields and Pier_ before, and as expected, it was brilliant.

[@livus3787]

Oooh, yes pleeease 👀

[@ClaireBarn]

He had just graduated from pre-meetingd Yale. He has performed twice at Carnegie Hall - once for piano and once for alto-sax. - and was chosen by Quincy Jones to represent him in concert at the 2012 Montreux Jazz Festival.

[@stonemansteveiii3135]

Kevin has played both the cello and the saxophone at Carnegie Hall, he's fluent in 5 languages, and was pre-med before joining Pentatonix!!!

[@vickyyoung8535]

KO the 'human 808'

[@Green-eyedGirl19]

Yes, he shredds a Cello. Kevin did not sing until he met Avi. Avi gave him some singing and breathing lessons when they were roommates. He has perfect pitch!

[@katiejones9106]

Along with all of the impressive points my fellow commenters have made I would like to add that Kevin is the only one in Pentatonix that has perfect pitch. No wonder we adore him.

[@catherineharger8069]

He is a master cellist. Scott Hoying found him through a KZbin video he did of himself beatboxing with the cello. You should watch their Say Anything video.

[@jessegirlb]

So, if you're interested in older solo stuff, you should do Scott Hoying's "I Should Tell Ya Momma on You."

[@jwhite17]

Ooh yes I vote for this as well.

[@SilverFlame819]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

[@colleenstapleton2120]

Try Kevin Olusola's cover of Sign of the Times. He is such a multi-talented artist and more Pentatonix. Suggest Can you feel the love tonight, Havana, Blinding Lights to name a few

[@robynnegraham1986]

Ooh you should check out KO's Renegade. Another of his cello-boxing. Classical pop? rendition!

[@cherylwilliams9360]

Many sides to his talents.. one being that Kevin dropped his medical career (had just graduated Yale with a pre-med degree) when he joined PENTATONIX at their beginning in 2011. He had tagged the term "cello-boxing" and had a youtube video that PTX saw and brought him in because they had to have 5 members to compete in the Sing Off competition. A friend also recommended Avi (studied in opera) as bass as well so the group performed together for the first time only days before the competition.. they won.. history made and no looking back!!

[@dejns6945]

This video is the reason PTX wanted Kevin in their group. Known as KO. Beat Boxer Extraordinar

[@SilverFlame819]

I find loop pedals SO impressive. If you can use one well, I'm floored. EVERY TIME.

[@zakiausa]

Wow you doing great work brother God bless you 🇺🇲🙋‍♀️

[@Dan-B]

Basically Kevin puts anyone to shame when it comes to talent; Highly intelligent, Sings, Beatboxes, Plays multiple instruments, Speaks fluent Mandarin and Spanish.

[@danielsernajr4079]

If that isn't talent then I don't know what is!!

[@ishort0967]

Yes...as you may have guessed he’s classically trained..he also has video of cello boxing with the acoustic cello

[@shirleyfisher8313]

A video of him at Carnegie hall, he a!so played with Ya!e orchestra. And took 2nd in a Yoyo ma cngestt!

[@tasia2174]

Down is actually a cover. That's why he labels it a "KOver". :) Fun fact, Kevin's electric cello's name is Mr. Carter and his regular cello's name is Beyonce. You should also check out his Renegade, Sign of the Times, Don't Dream It's Over, and Human Nature. I don't know if you plan to check out other members of PTX solo stuff, but I hope so. For Avi, I recommend Change on the Rise; for Kirstin I recommend Naked; for Scott I recommend Lost on You (a collab with Mario Jose); for Mitch I recommend When Angels Pray; for Superfruit (Scott and Mitch's side project), I recommend Rise (which is also a collab with three other artists). Matt doesn't have solo stuff out yet as far as I've seen, unfortunately, but hopefully soon. Also, more PTX please! I believe you said your Hallelujah video was blocked for them in a comment. Try using a filter over the video as that might help (I hope so at least as I'd love to see your reaction to it). Try Imagine, Gold, Daft Punk (1st Grammy), Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (2nd Grammy), Amazing Grace, and Coffee in Bed (an original from their latest ablum).

[@jessegirlb]

LOL! His cellos have their own personalities!

[@GlassesKingdom]

@@jessegirlb lol 😂 I can imagine

[@jayholland2632]

@@GlassesKingdom Not only their own personalities, he can make Beyonce sing. Check out his covers of 'All of Me' and 'Stay With Me'.

[@susanstein6604]

That’s Kevin playing the cello. It’s his recording of his own cello playing.

[@elainecourteau6231]

Isn’t he amazing?!! Lol... He makes everybody look bad. So glad you enjoyed it. 🤗

[@gordon9995]

KO!!!!

[@joebarnhart4460]

In the last part, he brought ALL of the previous elements into the song, instead of only cello and percussion. "Down" was written by Marian Hill, and I encourage you to listen to the original for context on Kevin's creation. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqGwl4NsprqGeNE

[@milissaleatherwood6837]

Lol he also speaks a bunch of languages and was pre-med 😂 they are 100% aliens.

[@danielsernajr4079]

Bro what do you mean?? Just look at all of their music!!

[@jonibudiharjo3790]

Brother request power metal penguasa or timur tragedy

[@jcs1025]

His last name is pronounced Oh-loosh-a-la. Emphasis on the ‘loosh’. :)

[@GlassesKingdom]

Thank you 🙏

[@flex97]

How many times have you been told that you look like Ice Cube?

[@GlassesKingdom]

Numerous / numberless