2006–2007 In 2006, Kes launched their debut album titled
Three Baldheads and a Dread (a reference to the hairstyles of the band members). This album featured tracks such as "Stay with Me" and "Heads High". The track, "The Calling" was featured on the soundtrack of
EA Sports'
FIFA 06.
2007–2008 Kes released their second album,
Lion, in 2007. The title song was popular among fans due to its inspiring and motivational lyrics. "My Land" a collaboration with
Nadia Batson was a hit during the carnival season that year. "My Land" placed Kes and Nadia second in the Trinidad and Tobago International Soca Monarch Competition. Kes released other tracks such as "Our Prayer", and reggae-influenced songs "Limin" and "Bigger Brighter Day" from this album which received heavy rotation on local radio stations. Later in 2007, Kes released tracks that were more diverse, such as "Come a Little Closer" which also dominated local radio stations. In 2008, Kes' carnival releases included "Right Dey" and "De Remedy". Kes also released their music video for the single "Lion" in May. Bandleader Kees Dieffenthaller composed with noted songwriter
Desmond Child, a song on
American Idol alum
Ace Young's
2008 studio album.
2009–2010 The band's third album,
On In 5, was released on 10 February 2009.
On In 5 featured a mix of new and old releases as well as live performances. In 2010, the band's song "Let Me Know" was selected by
Six Flags to play throughout all their amusement parks. "Let Me Know" was also chosen by
American Airlines to play during their in flight programmes. In this said year, Kes performed a set of three songs on the
BBC World Service and launched their first ever
ITunes app. What's more they earned an Independent Music Award nomination in the category of World Beat Song for "Stalker", a track from
On In 5.
2011–2014 Kes released
Wotless in 2011, their fourth studio album. The album's title song was penned by Kes and Canadian based singer/songwriter/producer Kerwin Dubois. Kees won that year's International Groovy Soca Monarch competition with "Wotless". Kes was named USA 4 Real's international artiste of February 2011. In September they featured on Fox5's
Good Day New,
York as the first Caribbean band to perform on this show. October saw the band nominated for a
BET Soul Train Music Award in the category of Best Caribbean Performance. Kes released their sixth album entitled
Wired in February 2012, which included popular tracks such as "Precision Wine" "Stress Away" and "Coming Over". In 2012, Kes collaborated with
Snoop Dogg on a remix of "Stress Away". The song's music video was selected to appear in the 2013 BBC Music Video Festival. During this said year, the band released the well-received track "Tuesday On The Rocks". The song's eventual popularity inspired an annual concert, launched that same year and held on the Tuesday before T&T's Carnival. Also dubbed "Tuesday On The Rocks", this show featured renowned international, regional and local artists along with young, up-and-coming acts. 2014 ushered in another hit for the band, by way of the Ricky Blaze-produced track "Endless Summer" on the "Uptown Julie Riddim". Deidre Dyer of
The Fader described "Endless Summer" as an easy-on-the-ear, yet heavy-on-the-
rum Soca music tune. The band collaborated with noted photographer and film director, Johnathan Mannion for the music video, which also features cameo appearances by
Anya Ayoung Chee, winner of
Project Runway, season nine and
Major Lazer member,
Jillionaire. In that year Kes, collaborated with Jamaican Reggae singer
Gyptian, on a track entitled "Wet Fete" which was featured on Gyptian's album,
Sex Love & Reggae. Kees appeared alongside Gyptian for the music video of "Wet Fete" which was filmed in Tobago.
2017 Carnival, proved to be another successful year for Kes, as their music was well-received locally and throughout the Caribbean. Tracks such as "Wine up", "Incredible", "How We Like it" and "Ramp Up" were in heavy rotation on local radio stations. 2017 also saw two major collaborations between Kes and
Kernal Roberts on the track entitled "Shake", and "Workout" which featured
Nailah Blackman. "Workout", a mixture of Soca music and
Afrobeat quickly became one of the more popular songs coming out of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival 2017, generating over 3,000,000 views on
YouTube. During his performance at "Tribe Ice" (Fete), Kees invited Jamaican
Olympic Games gold medalist
Usain Bolt on stage side during his segment with Kernal Roberts. This caused a buzz in the international community as video footage of this event was featured on popular gossip blogs. The Florida Caribbean Students Association (FCSA) featured Kees as their keynote speaker at the 43rd annual Leadership Conference, which was held at the
University of Florida in March 2017. Kees also served as a guest judge at that year's FCSA annual Banquet and Miss FCSA Pageant. Another artist pairing occurred at the Decibel Entertainment Exposition in Trinidad in May 2017.
Will Smith, who was a featured speaker at the event, made a surprise appearance during Kes' performance. Will performed a medley of his hit songs while accompanied by Kes. == Performance ==