Jordan Kensington

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Jordan Kensington is an entrepreneur, artist, songwriter, Television and radio presenter best known for the brand Invincible and as the founder of the Urban Music Awards an awards show celebrating the achievement of hip hop, R&B, soul and jazz music artists in six countries annually.

His business interests under the umbrella of Invincible Media Group include Urban Music Awards, a magazine, radio station, a Television production company, record label, celebrity management agency and a primary school and College. He has taken the roles of recording executive, rapper, Executive producer of Sky TV's Britain's Next Urban Superstar, writer, radio presenter and presented one report for the BBC 1 local news strand Inside Out.[1] In 2007 Jordan was worth an estimated US $18 million .[2]

Contents

[edit] Early years

Jordan was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of Emmanuel and Agnes Kensington. He grew up in St. Lucia, and moved back to London when his father died of kidney failure in 1995. He attended South Thames College and later studied law at London South Bank University.

[edit] Establishing Invincible Media Group

After finishing University, Jordan sold his house and with support from The Prince's Trust went on to set Invincible Magazine in 1999,.[3] The magazine reportedly saw a circulation of 65,000 copies distributed monthly in the UK giving exposure to several first time artist such as Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A, Joss Stone, Twista, Eminem and many more. In 2002 the company launched a radio station, production company and a celebrity management arm to further maximise the brand Invincible and 2003 saw the launch of the Urban Music Awards. The awards show spun off an events production arm to the company that led to the launch of British Music Week in 2005 and most recently International Football Awards which was held in 2009. The Urban Music Awards 2009 returned bigger and better in 2009 by celebrating the 7th anniversary with US version of the awards show on the 17th of July 2009 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York city and returning to London on 1 November for the UK Version of show. The 2009 return was covered by major international press including; OK Magazine, Daily Express, and the Insider,[4][5] ,.[6] 2009 also saw the launch of the Best Asian Act category to celebrate artists and musicians of Asian origin which was widely covered within the Asian media worldwide. ,[7][8]

[edit] Other ventures

In addition to his media business, Jordan owns a Primary school and a College located in Cameroon and St. Lucia. The College is called Mother Teresa's College, named after the legendary philanthropist Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The current College is in Cameroon; whilst the school is in St. Lucia . His interest in education has meant that he is constantly being booked to speak and offer motivational seminars in Universities, Colleges, and businesses.[9]

On April 22, 2007, Jordan inked a six figure deal with leading shoe brand Kickers. The agreement saw a special Invincible shoe created, sold and endorsed by several celebrities.[10] As well as working on sponsorship and marketing for brands such as Timberland, Samsung Mobile, SonyBMG and Warner Music Jordan signed off a 2 year deal with the world's biggest sports retailer Foot Locker in 2007.[11]

In 2006, Jordan was named Ambassador for the Government based campaign Make your Mark,[12] and was announced as an honorary VIP member of the BlackBerry VIP Entrepreneurs network. He came into controversy in 2005 when he criticised the Brit Awards for failing to recognise artists in the UK from different nationalities and his comments were featured on major networks including BBC 24 News.[13]

In 2007, Jordan gave a 30 minute interview with Jim Boulden of CNN to celebrate the launch of his brand new USA based newspaper in New York [14] and in 2008 he gave UK HipHop magazine a no holds barred interview about his life, dreams and his beliefs.[15]

He is reported to be behind the new, error-strewn free newspaper London Weekly.[16] In 2011, Jordan announced the launch of brand new energy drink, Power which is set to be distributed and marketed exclusively to the African continent.

[edit] Awards and nominations

  • International Dance Awards 2001 (Best Artist, 2001)
  • Carlton TV's Multicultultural Award (Best Publisher 2003)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Inside Out 18/04/08 (2008-04-18). "London - TV - Inside Out 18/04/08". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2008/04/18/insideout_180408_feature.shtml. Retrieved 2009-04-24. 
  2. ^ http://www.chelseamonthly.com/2011/08/london-entrepreneurs-are-at-the-forefront-of-global-innovation/
  3. ^ Harrison, Michael (2005-10-13). "Ethnic minorities lead capital's business boom - Business News, Business". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ethnic-minorities-lead-capitals-business-boom-510717.html. Retrieved 2009-04-24. 
  4. ^ http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/99277/Rihanna-leads-2009-Urban-Music-Awards
  5. ^ http://www.ok.co.uk/celebnews/view/10021/Rihanna-leads-2009-Urban-Music-Awards
  6. ^ http://www.theinsider.com/news/2132075_2009_Urban_Music_Awards_nominees
  7. ^ http://www.desihits.com/blog/article/rdb-beats-out-competition-at-urban-music-awards-20091104
  8. ^ http://www.monstersandcritics.com/music/features/article_1490858.php/In_Pictures_Arrivals_for_2009_Urban_Music_Awards
  9. ^ "Chelsea | News | Latest News | Latest News | GIVING LONDON KIDS A HEAD START IN BUSINESS". Chelseafc.com. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1611249,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-24. 
  10. ^ "Newswire / Press Release: The Kickers Urban Music Awards Announces Nominees for 2007 - Entertainment - Invincible Media Group". NewswireToday. 2007-07-31. http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/21763/. Retrieved 2009-04-24. 
  11. ^ "Foot Locker backs Urban Music Awards - Brand Republic News". Brand Republic. http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/840377/Foot-Locker-backs-Urban-Music-Awards/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH. Retrieved 2009-04-24. 
  12. ^ "Jordan Kensington". Make Your Mark. 2009-03-31. http://www.makeyourmark.org.uk/inspiring_stories/jordan_kensington. Retrieved 2009-04-24. [dead link]
  13. ^ "Entertainment | Music | Brits debate over 'urban' music". BBC News. 2005-02-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4253845.stm. Retrieved 2009-04-24. 
  14. ^ "Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. 2006-11-16. http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2007/09/03/boulden.uk.free.invincible.cnn?iref=videosearch. Retrieved 2009-04-24. 
  15. ^ "Jordan Kensington". Britishhiphop.co.uk. 2009-01-03. http://www.britishhiphop.co.uk/features/interviews/jordan_kensington.html. Retrieved 2009-04-24. 
  16. ^ Busfield, Steve (2010-02-08). "Hoax claims as London Weekly launch is met with derision". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/feb/06/london-weekly-launch. Retrieved 2010-05-07. 

[edit] External links

[edit] External links

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