Kenna Zemedkun is an Ethiopian-born American musician.

The eldest son of an immigrant family relocated to Virginia Beach (and later raised in Cincinnati, Ohio), Kenna began to express an interest in music upon receiving a copy of U2’s The Joshua Tree. More records by influential artists such as The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, The Cure and The Cars followed, and remain as inspiration and influence of Kenna’s music today. With the release of his first single, “Hell Bent”, Kenna gained moderate popularity and an underground following of fans who eager... (+) expand

Kenna Zemedkun is an Ethiopian-born American musician.

The eldest son of an immigrant family relocated to Virginia Beach (and later raised in Cincinnati, Ohio), Kenna began to express an interest in music upon receiving a copy of U2’s The Joshua Tree. More records by influential artists such as The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, The Cure and The Cars followed, and remain as inspiration and influence of Kenna’s music today. With the release of his first single, “Hell Bent”, Kenna gained moderate popularity and an underground following of fans who eagerly awaited the release of his debut album, New Sacred Cow. After many delays and swapping of record labels, the album was finally released under Columbia Records in 2003. A subsequent North American tour was launched in the Summer of 2003 with Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan.

The album, which was co-produced by Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, is difficult to place in a single genre, containing elements of Electronica, Synth pop, Post rock, and House music. Two singles, “Sunday After You” and “Freetime” followed the release of the album; the music video of the latter, along with “Hell Bent”, appear sporadically on MTV2.

A second album, titled “Make Sure They See My Face,” was released in October 2007.

Kenna has also contributed to many other tracks by bands associated with Chad Hugo or The Neptunes, including but not limited to “Spiral” from William Orbit’s album Hello Waveforms and “Red to Black” and “The Hard Way” off of The Rising Tied, the first album from Mike Shinoda’s Fort Minor (although the second cut is only available as a bonus track, on the limited edition version of the album). (-) collapse