Born in 1983 in Orlando, Florida, Mykal Kilgore is a Broadway actor and Grammy-nominated R&B singer/songwriter. He was raised in a religious family and began singing in church. During the years preceding his solo debut, A Man Born Black, he built his reputation as a musical theater star, appearing in various touring productions before making his Broadway debut in the 2009 revival of Hair. He remained on Broadway for years, landing roles in shows like Motown The Musical and Dear Evan Hansen. During the late-2010s, Mykal Kilgore diversified his career by singing "Oh What a Beautiful City" on the Collateral Beauty soundtrack, collaborating with Postmodern Jukebox as a guest singer, and releasing "Reclaiming My Time," a gospel-influenced YouTube performance inspired by Congresswoman Maxine Waters. "Reclaiming My Time" went viral, introducing Mykal Kilgore's music to a wide audience of politicos and R&B fans. He then traveled to New Orleans to record A Man Born Black, an album that highlighted his skills as a songwriter and multi-octave vocalist. Inspired by classic soul icons, the album was released in September 2019 and debuted at Number 12 on Billboard's R&B Album Sales Chart. Mykal Kilgore was nominated for "Outstanding New Artist" at the NAACP Image Awards one year later, and A Man Born Black's lead single, "Let Me Go," received a Grammy nomination for "Best Traditional R&B Performance" in 2021.