Afro-Blue Reaches Final Four, Talks Hollywood Success

As NBC's "The Sing-Off" approaches its 10th episode, the competition has become very heated. Last week, the five remaining groups took on both contemporary and classic R&B hits. The show opened with a medley of popular tunes such as "ABC" by The Jackson 5 and Beyonce's "Crazy in Love."

Howard University's Afro-Blue chose Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" as their contemporary tune, and they chose "Best of My Love" by The Emotions for their second song. Each of the three judges agreed that, overall, the group had a great performance.

"You're not just a jazz group when you do this, you're a group that has jazz at your disposal," Ben Folds said.

"You're a group full of total powerhouses," said Sara Bareilles.

Judge Sean Stockman added his comments saying, "To think that you guys started out as a class at Howard, now you look at you. You're in LA, on "The Sing-Off," on national television displaying just a wonderful gift that all of you have."

Despite the judges' positive comments, Afro Blue landed in the bottom two along with Vocal Point.

"Afro-Blue, all season you've delivered sophisticated and captivating vocals. The first performance was an emotional ride that proved to the judges that you're not just a jazz group anymore," Nick Lachey, the show's host, said. "But the second performance seemed to be missing the Afro-Blue style."

However, Afro-Blue will remain in the competition with Pentatonix, Urban Method, and Dartmouth Aires.

The Hilltop spoke with Afro-Blue member John Kenniebrew about the groups' television experience and the origin of the ensemble:

Hilltop: What is the meaning behind the name Afro-Blue?

JK: Afro Blue is the name of a famous jazz tune, written by Mongo Santamaria and made famous by John Coltrane. The name seems to fit us well since "Afro-" has long been a prefix used to describe anything relating to people of African heritage and "blue" seems to be the color most associated with jazz (the blues, blue notes, Kind Of Blue, etc.). So, in essence, our name speaks to the fact that we are a jazz group (blue) at an HBCU (Afro).

Hilltop: How did the group come about?

JK: Afro Blue was formed in 2002 by the head of the jazz vocal department at Howard, Ms. Connaitre Miller. She had just recently come to work at Howard and wanted to find ways to introduce students to the intricacies of jazz through choral singing. Afro-Blue started just as a class. As years have gone by, Ms. Miller has shaped the sound and stylistic flavor that we all know and love today. In the last few years, Afro-Blue has been gigging around D.C. and performing internationally. We've been a part of some amazing things such as concert performances with the likes of Carmen Lundy, John Hendricks, Geri Allen, and Bobby McFerrin. It's great to add The Sing Off to that list of wonderful opportunities.

Hilltop: What organization or activities were you involved in here on Howard's campus?

JK: Aside from participating in Afro-Blue, I have also sung with the Howard University Choir, traveling with them to Jamaica last spring and singing before President Obama the spring before that. I'm also the president of ReJoyce In Jesus Campus Fellowship here. It's an organization that has regular Bible studies and prayer sessions for Christian students on campus.

Hilltop: What has been your favorite part about being on The Sing-Off?

JK: As a music major, my favorite part about this whole performance is that I've been able to see how important it is that, after you've studied and practiced all of the technical things, you have to remember that giving a good performances means connecting (emotionally, mentally, and spiritually) to your music and it's message. It's the only way it will seem sincere enough to touch the audience. We have a way of getting very uppity and proper when we study music on the collegiate level but all of the education in the world means nothing if you can't relate to your listeners.

Hilltop: What has been your least favorite part about being on The Sing-Off?

JK: I'd have to say that my least favorite part was all of the stressing we did each week while preparing our songs. Sometimes it was just hard to agree on what song to perform, let alone how we were going to arrange it. There were lots of late nights and early mornings for us, and our schedules were made for us. Many people got sick and others just had a lot to deal with in their personal lives (school trouble, deaths in families, etc.) It was just hard to manage all of that and stay positive sometimes. But every time we taped an episode, our hard work for that week really paid off!