Kenyon Dixon is leaving an indelible imprint on the R&B music scene. The immensely talented singer/ songwriter from Watts, LA was destined to be an innovator in the game.

Since landing his first major placement on Tyrese's Open Invitation album, co-writing the song "What Took You So Long”, he has worked with some of the top artists in music. Dixon has written and produced for Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Tank,  Kirk Franklin, Coco Jones (ICU Remix), and Justin Timberlake  co-writing “Everything I Thought It Was."

Releasing his solo albums independently, Dixon has garnered critical acclaim for numerous projects such as his trilogy The R&B You Love (2023), The R&B You Love: Soul of the '70s (2024), and The R&B You Love: For the '99 & the 00s (2024).

A multiple Grammy nominee, he received nominations for “Bring It On Home To Me” with BJ The Chicago Kid, PJ Morton, and Charlie B. Real (64th Grammy Awards), “Lucky” (66th Grammy Awards), and “Can I Have This Groove” (67th Grammy Awards).

Amazingly, Dixon was set on not getting into music, that is, until he got into drama in his late teens.

“I got serious about music when I was a senior in high school. But my first introduction to music was in church and my household because all my family were musicians,” Dixon told BET.com. “Growing up in church, I started playing drums and then I moved to the keys.  During my senior year in high school, I purposely was trying not to sing. One day, my advisor  found out that I could sing and dance and she put me in the arts program. She said, ‘There's no way you're this talented, and I'm just going to let you sit on it for the rest of the year’.”

Eventually, being surrounded by artists outside of the church and his family reignited his passion for music.

“She put me in drama. I was singing and dancing at the assemblies. That experience sparked the love of music for me again,” Dixon explained. “It made me realize that I could do it on my terms, away from the religious aspect of it. I also took an electronic music class in high school, which was just music production. That taught me how to record.”

As he developed as a musician, the L.A. music scene was the perfect training ground.

“I have older siblings who were also already big on the open mic scene. We had a spot called Cozy, Room 5, and Zanzibar. At all these places, the players ended up being musical directors for a lot of big artists. So that’s how a lot of us got gigs.”

One gig that came from this time was signing background for BJ The Chicago Kid. They would collaborate with PJ Morton and Charlie Bereal to remake Sam Cooke’s classic, “Bring It On Home To Me". 

Their soulful rendition earned Dixon his first Grammy nomination. He detailed how the collaboration happened.

“I used to sing background for BJ when I was young, and I've always been a PJ fan. One day PJ finally called me and gave me the rundown on the record. He told me that BJ had already recorded it, but he felt that it needed a third part and I thought I would  be perfect for it. So he sent it to me, um, I cut it at home the same day, and somehow we ended up at the Grammys.”

At the 2025 Grammys, he received another nomination for his lush ballad “Can I have This Groove.” 

He shared how he came up with the love song.

“The song was an extension of my album The R&B You Love: Soul of the 70s and “Can I have This Groove” was on that derivative of it. Like all of my music, but especially the music from that album, it was all about tapping into the feeling of these different eras.”

“I wanted to showcase the different eras of R&B that influenced me. “Can I Have This Groove” puts you in the mood of Anita Baker, the Isley Brothers, and Marvin Gaye because it’s so smooth,” Dixon continued. “I know what we feel when we hear those classics, and I just wondered if that's a feeling that can be recreated in modern music.”

After being nominated on two occasions, he’s hoping that the third time's a charm.

“We're pushing for it man, I got a lot of faith and campaigning skills as well,” he laughed. “Faith without works is dead. You gotta have some strategy in place. We're really planning and strategizing, pun intended, to bring it home. It's a good category and  some great friends in the category. Win, lose or draw, I made a record that I really love and I can sing for the rest of my life.”

When he discovered that people were making up their own dances to the song, that’s when he knew he was on to something major.

“The proof to me that we executed the feeling is when I started seeing a bunch of footage of old heads stepping to it. Stepping is a love language when you're from those parts of the country,” he explained. “You gotta feel some love in the music for something to make you want to dance in that way. That gave me the confirmation I was looking for.”

To close out the year, Dixon has a residency at The Mint in Los Angeles throughout December. The show incorporates jazz into the live performances and the setup of the venue is totally different from what he’s accustomed to. With this residency, he’s looking forward to unveiling his full artistry.

“It’s a different approach than my traditional shows. It’s funny because I go back and forth with my manager and the agent because I don't like playing seated venues. I’m like, ‘Stand up’ because I'm an energy person. It's funny now that I've resorted to wanting to play shows that are only seated for this run because it goes against everything I argue with them about,” he laughed.

“I have a jazz background that I never really get a chance to showcase and Ihave a background in theater. I toured with a tap company for like 12 years, professional business,” Dixon continued. “I want to treat it more of an intimate show so I'm going to use some of those elements. If we find a pocket while we're doing it, I want the band to feel free to just lock in so that we can really jam.”