Whatever Happened To Kento? Bam Rigby Returns Stronger Than Ever With “Silhouette”
There are comeback stories and then there are full-circle moments. Emerging artist Bam Rigby is serving us both with his striking reimagining of “Silhouette” — a song that longtime pop obsessives may remember from his earlier pop music incarnation…
Back in the early 2010s, an artist named Kento arrived on the pop scene as one of the more intriguing names orbiting the world of Frankmusik. Armed with shimmering synth-pop hooks, anime-boy charm and serious crossover potential, he felt destined for bigger things. Then suddenly, he disappeared. Like many of you, we often wondered whatever happened to him because the promise was undeniable.
Cut to a few years ago and I’m at The Eagle in NYC ready to call it a night after a night of fun and raunch with my friends – somehow we ended up there… A guy with a razor-sharp jawline starts chatting me up out of nowhere and we instantly fall into a fun banter – connecting on the music (and perhaps his sparkling bright eyes) Naturally, Instagram profiles get exchanged. Turns out…it’s Kento and this pair of pop loving obsessives were already following each other.
After this night of chaotic clubbing energy, Kento explained that he was reinventing himself creatively. Gone are the sparkling electro-pop synths and glossy hooks we first fell in love with. In their place? A more instrument-driven sound rooted in contemporary pop-rock storytelling — something sitting comfortably between Harry Styles, Conan Gray and Benson Boone with a little emotional grit underneath the polish.
And honestly? It works. Gone is the Kento persona, now enters Bam Rigby.
What Bam also revealed to me was far more personal. Not long after making his stateside music debut years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer — a life-altering moment that forced him to step away from music entirely while he focused on recovery and rebuilding his strength. Now a proud survivor, Bam Rigby has become an advocate for cancer awareness, regularly supporting organisations like the American Cancer Society and Stand Up To Cancer through portions of his music and merchandise sales.
That emotional resilience bleeds beautifully into this new era.
His reworked version of “Silhouette” feels less like a reboot and more like a rebirth. The original Kento version leaned heavily into synth-pop melancholy, but Bam Rigby transforms it into something punchier, bolder and far more cinematic. Guitars swell, percussion crashes with intent and his vocals carry a lived-in vulnerability that only comes from someone who’s genuinely fought their way back to themselves.
It’s contemporary instrument-driven pop-rock done right — confident, emotional and refreshingly human.
And perhaps that’s the most exciting thing about Bam Rigby. He’s no longer chasing the moment he almost had ten years ago. He’s creating something far more authentic now. “Silhouette” proves that sometimes the best comeback stories happen after the spotlight fades.
Now one thing we have been dying to do at EQ Music is get Bam Rigby over to London for his first UK show with us – it actually almost happened. So, consider this your official notice, Bam Rigby — you’ve still got UK fans waiting for you over here and we fully expect an emotional singalong to “Silhouette” at an EQ Music showcase sooner rather than later.
And here’s a cheeky pic of that that fun night where I crossed paths with the future Bam Rigby himself.
