Keith Mitchell: The Voice of an Angel, Releases Gospel Album, Food For Your Life

Coming from a time when R&B had the guts to be rousing, dissimilar, and poignant, Keith Mitchell found his falsetto and helped to form the soulful singing group, After 7 (Kevon Edmonds, Keith Mitchell, and Melvin Edmonds).

After 7 released their self-entitled album in 1989 under Virgin Records with 3 singles that hit radio airwaves by storm, Ready or Not, Can’t Stop, Heat of the Moment, with the first two singles landing on Billboard Charts at number 7 and 6. Though the first singles were released in 1989 and 1990, it wasn't until 1992 that the group picked up steam. 

The group was Grammy nominated, and by 1991 they released the movie score for The Five Heartbeats Soundtrack, Nights Like This.

Keith Mitchell came from a missionary background in Indianapolis, Indiana. It's not uncommon that he sang in church, which is the normal origin for children in rooted in Christianity during that time. However, there was something special about Mitchell, where he was baptized as a fledgling, and he gave his life to Christ. Mitchell received Christ like an adult scholar latching onto the word, and He began preaching the gospel, attending church six to seveb days a week. The irony is that, Mitchell was only 7 years old.

He became choir director by the age of 14. After graduating high school, Mitchell attended Indiana University. He was there a year before meeting Kevon Edmonds (older brother to Kenneth "Baby Face Edmonds) while performing at the IU Soul Revue (African American Arts Institute) 40-piece ensemble.

Mitchell said that they sang, choreographed, and wrote songs with the IU soul revue subsequent of his gospel background. Once forming a friendship with Kevon, he link with the other members to form the emphatically harmonious group known as After 7.

Mitchell trained with Steph Griggs, who was the vocal coach for the late icon, Michael Jackson.

When asked the reasoning he needed vocal training considering he was choir director as a teen, Mitchel said, "The writing side of the music and the production side of our music all fell into the hands of Babyface, Kenneth Edmunds, which was Kevon’s and Melvins younger brother; but as young singers and then dealing with choir directors, you are taught some different facets about your approach to singing particular music. Some people sing outright with a full voice. Some people sing with a more whispery, quiet, breathy ton. There’s a particular song that is constructed by a producer. A lot of times, they have a concept in mind when they create the music. It’s our job to take their interpretation of how they see, and feel the music should be performed, for listeners ears as well as our ears. That's up to us, and kinda the signature aspects of who After 7 was."

Mitchell said that he experienced a little stage freight but worked through it before launching in the phase of After 7-- "Baby Face had kinda put his stamp on Melvin, Keith and Kevon cause we actually ended up recording some demo tapes for them along the way, and as he (Babyface) approached writing and producing, he needed a guinea pig, and we became a guinea pig in several of the songs that we um, put our voices on-- They became songs that he ended up selling to other artists when he and LA (Reid) went to Los Angeles, and hooked up with Solar Records and Dave Griffy. They placed quite a few of those songs, but the nucleolus of who After 7 was, was pretty much molded by Baby Face and LA.

Keith Mitchell was a natural soprano where most fans didn't get to experience his true sound until After 7 released, "Baby I'm For Real," where each member was given a solo throughout the song. It was nighttime television host, Arsenio Hall that picked up on Mitchell's standout doowop, falsetto annotations on the record. Hall complimented Mitchell saying that he was a lead vocalist opposed to background though most of the prominent songs that After 7 released didn't allow Mitchell to express his talents on the records as a solo artist.

Accelerating almost 30 years later, Mithcell released his first full album Food For Your Life, July 2025. It's a gospel record with singles reflecting on biblical passages, life lessons, and the business of music. 

Mitchell says that it's easier to release music now, compared to when he first released spiritual music on the "Myspace" platform; however, Mitchell contributes his ease into Gospel recordings while going to Creflo Dollars church, and everything else was God.

When asked for his motivation behind the album and the creative process, Mitchell said, "Food For Your Life is truly a reflection of my love and my passion for God, the word of God-- The gloriousness of who He is and the sacrifices He's made. Being born again at such an early age, I'd have to attribute the fact that I had an anointing. I had the blood of Christ dipped on me, and protection and guidance that have prepared me for a journey to serve Him..."

Mitchell released He's Alive, a redemption tune that's uplifting where it has the signature falsetto that introduces the singer while the vocals are autotuned just a smidgen. No matter how informal that may be, the true Keith Mitchell shines through in renaissance fashion where the vocals heighten in the verse where he's chiding, "He'll give you all you want and all you have to do is follow his word, and praise him, and thank him, glorify the Lord, lift his name in all you are," which gives memory to the high pitched sound that fans remember from After 7. It rekindles a flame that Mitchell, even 30 years later, approaches music with the same fire and talent.

"He's alive is the first song, I think, that was instrumental in presenting first, that in order to become a Christian, the first thing you have to be willing to acknowledge is that the spirit of God. That is the same spirit He put in His son, Jesus Christ. It's the same spirit that's in me, in you, and all living beings. That's the spirit of God, and I think as we look at the climate, my thirty years in R&B singing about love songs and singing about relationships.

I think I walked that walk in a spiritual manifestation even though it was secular music. That fundamental thought, because without believing, just like a child who's being taught about Jesus, and the son of God, and how he died on the cross, and he shed His blood, and then He resurrected-- That’s a hard story for a child to comprehend and hold onto without see, feeling and touching it-- It's the same thing for today, for folks who don't take the time to get to learning. This song is an opportunity to see the purity and the determination that's in my heart and my love for Christ, and what He's done for my life. That song is a reflection, and the most important thing we have to learn, and believe in, and hold on to, and glorify and thank Him for it."

The song, He’s Alive, is a radio buzzer, Mitchell released, "Owe Him My Life," featuring C. Walker. It’s an instant favorite, that could get radio play, easily. The vocals are beautifully conjoined complimenting the message as well as the messengers, "serving the Lord."

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