Beastette

Beastette (born Rachel-Nichelle Stacy Kesh on 12 September 1990) is a French-British alternative pop singer, songwriter, and producer. Beastette rose to prominence in late 2010 when she released her debut single "California" which was commercially successful in the UK and charted within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart while also being considered her signature hit. In 2011, Beastette released her debut album Wildfire which was certified Platinum in the UK and followed it up by released Francais, which also served as one of her first official releases in francophone Europe and Canada; an EP, Francais, was also certified Platinum in the UK and also went Platinum in France. Beastette has had a series of top ten singles in the UK and two number one hits in France. Beastette has also won two Urapopstar Awards.

Aside from her successful career, Beastette is also known for her quirky, "party girl" image and her use of computer, internet, and text terminology in her daily speak. Beastette is seen as one of the most popular alternative singers at the moment.

In late 2011, Beastette began work on her second album and in May 2012, she revealed that work on the LP had finished. The album will be released sometime later in the year. In May 2012, Beastette revealed that she would be releasing a single titled "She Ain't About To Do That", which features urban singer/rapper Aurora Reed, in July.

Early life
Beastette was born to an English mother, Catherine Ann Kesh, and a French father, Frédéric Jacques Claude Kesh (né Lavoisier), who is originally from Montluçon, France. Frédéric is gay while Catherine is heterosexual; Catherine, looking to enter into a relationship with a homosexual male because "she thought it would be fun", met Frédéric in Paris while passing herself off as a man. The two began dating and shortly thereafter Catherine revealed her true gender to Frédéric. Despite being taken aback by the revelation, Frédéric had already fallen in love with Catherine and stayed in the relationship. Catherine proposed to Frédéric a year after they met and the two eventually married. When they got married, Frédéric took Catherine's last name instead of her traditionally taking his.

Beastette was born in Manchester but was raised in Marseilles, France until she was nine years old when her family moved to the French Riviera. Raised in a upper class family, due to her mother being an heiress and a part-time but successful businesswoman, the family had vacation homes in Hong Kong and Los Angeles, in which the latter would have a profound impact on her as she made plenty of friends in the Compton district of the city. In her early teens, the family permanently moved back to Manchester. Beastette has an older sister named Stephanie, who is a singer, songwriter, producer, and now currently a "honorary member" of the indie pop band Curriculum.

When she was thirteen, Beastette wrote her first song and by the time she was fifteen, she began to pursue a career in music. At sixteen, she performed her first live gig at a club in Manchester. Playing in Manchester's underground club circuit for the next few years, Beastette became well known by the name "Raynachelle" which is a deviant of her childhood nickname "Rae-Nichelle", which itself is a derived from her real name. By the age of nineteen, she became well known for her underground releases and live performances at clubs. In 2010, Beastette set out to push her music to a broader public by releasing it to a wider audience.

2010 - 2012: Wildfire and Français
Beastette introduced herself to the British public in mid-October 2010 and had announced that her debut single would be "California". Released on 29 November 2010 in the UK, and eventually also released in the US, "California" debuted and peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart in December 2010. That same month, Beastette was signed to Fusion Records following the commercial success of "California". Shortly after being signed to the label, Beastette released her second single "Revolve" and her debut album Wildfire which were both released in the UK on 17 January 2011. "Revolve" managed to debut and peak at #4 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Beastette's second top ten hit and highest chart single to date, while Wildfire reached #3 on the UK Albums Chart. Also eventually released in Ireland and the United States, the album was certified Platinum in the UK and Ireland and Gold in the United States. The album has sold over 500,000 copies in the UK.

In January 2011, it was announced that Beastette was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Urapopstar Awards, being nominated in the same category as close friend MIDNIGHT, FERROXYL, Kenya, and Just Ginger. MIDNIGHT won the award. In February 2011, she released her first collaboration single with TWISTED DISCO called "Have A Word"; it reached #3 in the UK. In May 2011, Beastette released her third single from Wildfire titled "Priorities". Initially heavily promoted by Beastette, promotion waned. Despite this, the single debuted and peaked at #5 on the UK Singles Chart becoming Beastette's third top ten hit in the UK.

In spring 2011, Beastette announced that she would pursue a French-speaking singing career in francophone Europe and Canada where she was mostly an internet sensation getting many views from her music videos. She would also continue her English career in Canada as well. Her first French single "Jaloux" was released in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada in June 2011 and would reach #1 in France and top ten in those other countries. Beastette also released a French version of her debut album Wildfire titled Flamme in those territories where it reached #1 in France, the top ten in other francophone countries and would be certified Platinum or Gold in those countries; Wildfire, the English album, also debuted in the top ten in Canada during this time. In late July 2011, in the UK, Beastette earned her second and third Urapopstar Award nomination where she would be nominated for Best Alterative/Rock and Best Collaboration for her work wtih Twisted Disco on their single "Have A Word". On 28 August 2011, Beastette won her first Urapopstar Award in the category of Best Alternative/Rock.

In October 2011, Beastette released "Lavande" as her first French-speaking single in the UK and Ireland. Released on 3 October 2011, her Francais EP was released the same day in the UK. "Lavande" was commercially successful where it peaked at #5 on the UK Singles Chart, continuing her top five streak there; the single also become her second number one hit in France and charted within the top twenty or top ten in other countries, becoming her widest charting single. The Francais EP also debuted at #5 in the UK, where it sold 59,273 copies in its first week. To date, the EP has sold over 500,000 copies and has been certified Platinum despite, what Beastette calls, substandard promotion surrounding the project and even the project's UK lead single "Lavande". After selling 70,119 copies in its first week, "Lavande" has since sold over 280,000 and has become the first Platinum single for Beastette and also her management.

In late 2011, Beastette went through a string of collaboration and featured singles, all of which were commercially successful. Her first collaborative single during this period was "Cremation Vacation", lead by Sexy Star. With Beastette brought in to be featured on the single mix of the song (as the original album version only had Sexy Star], the single reached #9 in the UK. and is certified Gold. Beastette was then featured on "Generic", a song by Sienna, which charted at #4 in the UK. Beastette was the co-credited alongside with her label boss and best friend Syd Wolfe on "Glow", the lead single from Wolfe's re-released Monsters Reloaded. "Glow" was very commercially succesful as it reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming another top three/top two hit for Wolfe but coming Beastette's first single to chart within top three (that she wasn't a featured artist on such as "Have A Word" which peaked at #3) and her highest peaking single to date.

In 2011, and later in early 2012, Beastette planned to re-release her Francais EP so she could better promote it. Information of what was to be on the re-released EP involved numerous leaked rumors but none were confirmed by Beastette until she released a press statement that stated that she wanted to release a double disc edition of the EP where the first disc was the include the original EP while the second EP included remixes of all the songs from the EP. It was rumored that she had planned to release an accompanying video album. In early 2012, Beastette announced that "Lencenciement" would be the second single from the album. However, at the suggestion of her record label, Beastette cancelled the single and also eventually scrapped plans to re-release her EP.

2012 to present: Raynachelle:Incognito
In late 2011, Beastette confirmed in an interview in a French publication that she had begun work on her second album. Beastette stated that she hoped to release the album in early 2012 but by January 2012, Beastette was still working on the album. Beastette worked concurrently on her second album and her planned re-release of her EP Francais. Once the re-release for the EP was cancelled, Beastette focused fully on the album. The singer has confirmed that she mostly worked with her sister, Stephanie Kesh, on the project but revealed she worked with other producers as well. No further details regarding the album have been revealed just yet but Beastette stated that she hoped to have the album out in the summer of 2012. She also revealed that she plans to release a single from the album once the project is fully completed; she would later confirm the album's full completion in May 2012.

In May 2012, Beastette announced that she would be releasing a new single in July 2012 titled "She Ain't About To Do That" which will feature urban singer/rapper Aurora Reed. Beastette announced that she would take a new musical direction with her sophomore album, stating that she would be doing a lot of urban and pop music instead of alternative/indie pop that was once prevalent on her debut album, Wildfire, and her EP Francais. Beastette revealed that she might rap on the album as well.

Image and artistry
Beastette is known to have a reputation for being somewhat of a party girl who likes to drink. However, in contrast to her to her party girl image, Beastette sometimes manages to show a fashionable side to her. Beastette is known for her being quirky in behavior and with her comments to the press. However in contrast with her odd quirky ways and her party girl image, Beastette's music is serious and rarely reflects on personality except on some occassions (i.e. her being featured on the remix of "Downtown" by Blonde Ambition). Beastette is also famously known for incorporating computer, internet, and text terminology in her daily vocabulary such as "[statement].com" or [statement].org" and such.

Beastette is also known for her moderate prescence when promoting her material in the UK. Critics say that she should promote her material more so she could have better chart positions that she "deserves" to reflect her popularity; Beastette highly agrees with them.

Influences
Beastette is said to be influenced by her peers such as MIDNIGHT, Bella-May, Ruby and the Gems, Candi, Dresden & Bareilles, Paulo Araujo, her label boss Syd Wolfe, Taylor, Thorn City, Bella-May and plenty of others.

Personal life
Beastette has not publicly announced her sexual orientation though she did, at one point, admit that she was a lesbian before retracting her confession. She has, however, admitted to being very fond of MIDNIGHT and Syd Wolfe and has said that she has "lady crushes" on them. Beastette is often known for her rampant flirting with both men and women.

Beastette is famously known for being fond of homosexual men and wanting to have relations (and probably relationships) with them. Beastette's debut single, "California", for example was inspired by a gay male friend of hers who she was in love with - despite him already being in a happy relationship. In February 2012, Beastette admitted to sleeping with over 505 men, many of them being gay men. She has stated that she has only slept with a handful of straight men with her stating that the "bedroom skills" of gay men were better than that of straight men. She had not admitted to sleeping with any women, though this can be disputed and is often rumored that she has.

In 2011, Beastette got married to Deyonce Kesh (ne Nohles) in a quickie wedding where they only got married at a court house. They invitied their family - at the last minute - to an impromptu reception. Before marrying Deyonce, she dated his twin brother, Devante, who left her for another man. Deyonce decided to take Beastette's real last name because "he just wanted to" and also admitted that he had strained relationships with his family including his twin brother. Deyonce, along with his twin brother Devante and despite being married to Beastette, is openly gay, a fact that Beastette is proud of and likes to boast about to the public.

Despite being raised in France and having a French father, Beastette speaks little French and English is her primary language. Beastette claims she is taking French classes to perfect her French speaking skills.

Discography
Main article: Beastette discography