Crowned winner of Billboard’s industry competition “We Hear the Future” in 2006, harmony-rich pop/R&B group AHMIR has continually toured during the last seven years and recently notched two major milestones: a May 20 performance on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” and a slot on YouTube’s inaugural, sold-out DigiFest music festival at New York’s Terminal 5 on June 1. Early on, AHMIR manager Michael Cheung of Chino World Management sought to buck the norm. Labels weren’t seeking vocal groups, and because members Leon Jones, Michael McDonald, KC Washington and Mark Robertson are all black, Cheung didn’t want the foursome automatically boxed solely as R&B. “Their audience is wider than that,” he says. Now, with covers of everyone from Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum to P!nk on YouTube, AHMIR counts more than 70 million views and nearly 400,000 subscribers on its channel. Among fans of the act’s silky vocal prowess are Ryan Seacrest, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato. The tipping point was AHMIR’s 2010 signing with Robbins Entertainment. “It was one of the few who saw the more-than-just-urban vision,” Cheung says of the RED-distributed pop/dance label. First single “War” is being worked at top 40, with a new single in the wings. This summer AHMIR will focus on a new album, culled from original music the group has been recording. “We’ve been doing tons of writing ourselves,” Robertson says, “and with others whose names we can’t reveal right now. But a lot of good things are in the works.”
