About K.O. MCcoy:

They say that greatness takes time. If that saying holds any weight, K.O. MCcoy is right on schedule.

A proud native of Nashville, TN, Kortney Owens-Raider had always been a free spirit. While her school peers shared future plans of being professionals in corporate America, young Kortney knew that whatever her profession was, she would be free, creative, happy and experiencing new environments.

Prior to her singing/songwriting plunge into the music industry, she was being groomed by an agency for commercial modeling; singing at auditions would be her signature performance. Later, she started cutting her teeth with audiences as a cheerleader. Proving her creative and leadership skills as cheer captain, she choreographed award and championship winning routines for major local and national competitions for two years in a row. Despite her accolades, she was denied the opportunity to join the high school cheerleading squad. She felt crushed yet, determined to do something more.

Though her first interests were in modeling, her mother always encouraged her to embrace her true talent for singing. “My mother says I have been singing since I could talk,” K.O. remembers. “I hated singing at my auditions until one day, I actually heard myself and thought, „wow I am good!‟”

Taking her cue from her discovery, at fourteen she formed a trio act called KEP Infinity, which was born of two childhood friends. However, she maintained her identity by taking her initials and pairing them with a name that is symbolic of being genuine, dubbing herself K.O. MCcoy. Brutally honest with her vision, she instantly set high standards and goals for the team to reach. She admits, “I was Nickelodeon and Disney® ready. We were singing as we jogged up hills and when we were not doing that, we were singing and selling CDs downtown.”

Listening to a selection of greats from Patti LaBelle and Aretha Franklin to Prince and Beyoncé, writing was in her veins. She wrote all the material for the group creating a style alternative to what was out at the time. Their unmatched energy and futuristic blend of hip hop and pop music made them a permanent fixture in Nashville‟s music scene, garnering a wealth of fanfare and opening performances for Sammy, Jibbs, Crime Mobb, Jada Kiss, Sean Kingston, Lloyd and several more. They were even invited to sing back up for the great Alexander O‟Neal where K.O. lent her vocals for his usual singing partner, Cherrelle in “Saturday Love.”

What seemed like an easy chemistry for KEP Infinity was quickly diluting into differences in direction and the crew dissolved shortly after being recognized by Nashville Indie Music Awards and Hip Hop in the Ville Awards through several nominations and wins.

Yet, the business savvy artist was not giving up. Ever determined, K.O. MCcoy surrounded herself with a new team and transformed her style, bringing a more eclectic edgier sound as a solo artist. With contributions from composer/ producer Shannon Sanders she co-wrote her new album to showcase her expansive style as well as her alluringly silky vocals. “You Can‟t Stop Me” featuring Young Buck is her debut single from her new album she is currently polishing up under Allure Entertainment. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.