The 37 year old Nigeria born American musician, Kelvin Oluwole Olusola who shot into stardom with the global sound sensational group known as Pantatonix lifts the lid again as a common trait of Nigerians using beatboxing skills and leading the sound of music. His dexterous vocal skills horned to evolve into inventing cello-boxing (playing cello and beatboxing simultaneously) as a new music branch that has redefined the sound of music globally.
Olusola was born to Nigerian trained psychiatrist father, Mr Oluwole Olusola and Grenadian-born mother and nurse, Mrs Curline Paul who presently reside in the United States of America.
His father, Mr Oluwole Olusola moved to the U.S. after his medical school in Nigeria and later met his wife during his internship at the Trinidad and Tobago, Loma Linda University. They got married and later moved to Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and then to Kentucky during which two of his siblings were born and raised.
Olusola started his early education at Greater Philadelphia Junior Academy, but his family eventually moved to Kentucky where he was raised. He attended the Triplett School, a Montessori-based school, for a short period of time before his parents transferred him to the Owensboro Public Schools, where he went to Sutton Elementary School for their accelerated math program that allowed him to take precalculus classes from 9th grade. He later had to enroll at a boarding school for 11th grade class (upper year) which attributes as a major contributor to success in music. After graduating from Andover, Olusola chose to went to study for his premed but only to later switch to East Asian Studies at Yale University (East Asian studies is a distinct multidisciplinary field of scholarly enquiry and education that promotes a broad humanistic understanding of East Asia past and present. The field includes the study of the region’s culture, written language, history and political institutions).
As an academic music major at Yale, but got inspired to take on East Asian Studies after being introduced to China through a 10-day Chinese government sponsored trip for 100 Yale students. He lived in Beijing for 6 months through a PKU-Yale joint program during his second year, and then took a leave of absence during the 2009–2010 academic school year on Yale’s Light Fellowship to study intensive Chinese in Beijing. In school, Olusola was the Director of Communications for a Rhodes Scholar-led non-profit called College Outreach, and he worked as a book monitor in the Yale Law School library and as a practice room monitor at the Yale School of Music. He graduated from Yale in 2011.
Olusola is best known as the beatboxer of the Acapella group Pentatonix. After the group won NBC’s The Sing-Off in 2011, they released eleven albums, which have sold over 2 million records, and have amassed more than two billion views on their YouTube channel. Olusola has performed at classical musical festivals such as the Amsterdam Cello Biennale and the Kronberg Academy Festival, opened the TED Conference in Vancouver, and was chosen by Quincy Jones to represent him in concert at the 2012 Montreux Jazz Festival on the same program as Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea.
Olusola became more interested in songwriting and production, especially with how stomping and clapping could be used as an effective production tool for bolstering their a cappella tracks. Olusola co-wrote four of the songs on the album, Natural Disaster, Love Again, Hey Momma/Hit the Road Jack and Run to You. The album was released on November 5, 2013, and debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Independent charts, selling 31,000 copies in the first week. The Christmas album was re-released on November 19, 2013, additionally labeled the “Deluxe Edition”, and contained two additional tracks. One of these, The Little Drummer Boy, charted in several Billboard categories including peaking at number two on the “Streaming Songs” chart and number one on the “Holiday 100” chart. It became the fourth-highest charting holiday song on the Hot 100 in Billboard history.
Kelvin Olusola defies stereotypes by reimagining classical musicianship through a modern sonic and lyrical lens, all the while balancing his dynamic background of Nigerian and Grenadian heritage. With his debut solo album, DAWN OF A MISFIT, out May 9, 2025 via Sony Music Masterworks, Olusola uses his love of classical music as the backdrop to tell his story as a first-generation person growing up in a Western country. He hopes to unlock entry points for those unfamiliar with the classical genre and reach those in and outside the Black diaspora who may still be finding themselves through life’s hardships.
As one Nigerian who never shies away from his roots and proudly proclaims his Nigerian identity anywhere in the world, he expresses his purpose and commitment in using his talent to spread love far and wide with the unique frequency. And to shatter boundaries, only to bring all the pieces back together with the harmony of sound.
He is married to Leigh Weissman after they started dating college admissions consultant Leigh Weissman in 2017 after they met through mutual friend. They are blessed two children together: a daughter (born on April 3, 2021) and a son (born in June 2024).