With America's sudden interest in Latin pop artists such as Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias, Afro-Puerto Rican duo the Kenoly Brothers, are beginning to make their presence felt in the music industry too. Ron Jr. & Sam Kenoly's debut album, All The Way (Next Generation Ministry Records), isn't just pop though. No, it's pop, it's urban, it's funk and it's tear-jerking ballads with an evangelical fervor. "The album is strongly getting the message across about how bomb it is to have Christ in our life and to represent Him," Ron Jr. says. "It's about standing up for Christ and getting that message across to people. It's about going all the way with the Lord. That's why we named the album 'All The Way.'"

The Kenoly's dad Ron Sr. is the best-selling praise and worship performer in the Christian music industry with several awards and a gold album to his credit. He nurtured Ron Jr. & Sam's gift by producing their first album which they sold at his worship service. Instead of signing with a label, the brothers decided to create their own company. "We're taking everything on ourselves and doing it," Ron Jr. says. "We didn't want to be a slave to anybody's contract. We want to build something our kids can inherit. The bottom line is signing yourself to a label is like renting a house. You don't do it unless you have to, otherwise, you are just paying somebody else's bills."

Sam says that God gave him the label's name. "This generation has been abandoned by the older generation," he sermonizes. "We've been bad-mouthed and put down. It's kind of bad. They don't know what I'm thinking. They generalize our generation and say we're gonna kill each other and it bothers me. I wanted to start a ministry to reach the next generation that everybody is doggin.' I wanted to let them know there's a better way. I didn't want to call it Generation X, so I called it Next Generation. That way well never go out of style. After we reach the next generation, then we go after the generation after that and on and on." The label is run by Ron Jr. , Sam and their older brother and manager, Tony Kenoly.

The duo's career together was born sometime in 1994. "1 started traveling with my dad because he wanted me to explore what he did and to see what it was like on the road," Sam recalls. "He was gone a lot and it was a way for us to spend time together because we always had a cool relationship. He liked the way I dealt with people. So, at first, he had me selling product at his concerts. But, my dad has always been our biggest fan, encouraging us to sing. My brother and I had won all these talent shows and we were like a main attraction around town. Dad saw how we were getting good and he asked if we wanted to sing on his 'Welcome Home' album. We did a song called 'I Love To Love You Lord.'

"The album did really well and that song got such a good response that radio stations were playing it in different countries. It was in # 1 in Fiji and had A- 1 rotation in New Zealand [It also won a Dove award]. So when I started traveling with my dad, he said 'you need to start doing this song.' My brother was off doing his own thing at the time, so I went up there by myself and sang it. It was traumatic at first because I was just used to screaming girls but the people at churches were a little more conservative so you didn't know right away if they liked it or not. They did like it, but they just weren't screaming and stuff. For the next two years I sang it and pretty much established me and my brother even though he wasn't there. Finally, in mid 1997 we decided we wanted to record an album called 'Who's There ... ?' and our dad produced us. But, I believe nothing happened with that because we were not ready yet. We still needed to grow spiritually."

They have grown and their songs reflect their spiritual maturity. "If I want to write a song about something, I'll say 'God give me the words to say.' He'll start giving me a melody and I'm like snap! I gotta get alone and isolate myself and give my complete attention to that song. One song on the album, 'You Are My Joy,' came about like that. I was driving in my car and I was telling the Lord how much I loved Him and I was convicted'. He said, ' if you love me so much, why don't you spend time with me? I make time for TV and go hang out with my partners so I said, 'I need to represent.' I was driving up the hill to my house and all of a sudden the words came right to me."

Something that hasn't come as easy is Spanish. The duo's mother, Tavita, was born in Puerto Rico but raised in New York city. As a child she spoke Spanish, but the Welfare department forced her to stop. They made her learn English in order to better assimilate in urban society. The Kenoly Brothers have been studying Spanish the last few years and plan to include Spanish-language songs on their next album. They are pushing themselves because they want to reach Latino communities with the gospel, something few other artists are doing. "In a way I'm scared to reach out because we don't speak Spanish," Ron Jr. says. "As soon as they find out we're Puerto Rican, they are excited. Then, when they hear that we don't speak Spanish they are like disappointed. We catch heat from a lot of people but I'm listening to tapes, CDs. Usually when people learn why we don't speak Spanish, they have a different attitude and understand."

However, the Kenolys want to reach every nationality with their smooth grooves and Hip Hop beats. "We try to write universal music," Sam adds. "We want Chinese people, black people, white people, Indian people, all people. We think we've got the right balance to our style. We're not so soft that we'll only get the InSync fans and we're not so hard that well only get the Dru Hill fans. The Backstreet Boys aren't getting played in the Bronx, but in the Bay area the teenage girls have their posters up on their walls. We want to reach the girls, their boyfriends and we're not opposed to reaching their parents either. From the city to the suburbs, we want to reach everybody with this message about Christ."
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