And don’t let the young age fool you. At 18 and 19 years old, both Keys and Tarver know a thing or two about singing that will make any critic want to fall in love again. “R&B is alive, and it is prevalent. You’re just not looking in the right place,” Keys said to us while sitting at the Irving Fine Arts Academy. “L2EO is definitely that right place. We’re going to take R&B back to where it came from…like men ripping their shirts off, sliding down the wall, singing in the rain, all of that,” he joked.
The alleged death of R&B is an exhausted discussion, often resurfacing year after year as social media prompts R&B battles between the '80s, '90s and 2000s, or of which generation had the best music, artists, or groups. Even K104 radio host Dede McGuire recently chatted about the theory after attending a concert with crooners Carl Thomas and Bobby Valentino, concluding that R&B is in fact not dead, but very much alive within the live music scene. Despite it all, both Keys and Tarver are on a mission to prove naysayers wrong.
On April 12, the pair dropped L2EO’s first single, “CAN I,” a song conceptualized by Tarver’s interactions with an ex. To McGuire’s point, it’s been the live performances of the song that are adding to the group’s momentum and slowly building a fanbase of loyal supporters who crave real R&B. However, it’s the next single, “You Don’t Have a Clue,” that’s coined as the breakout hit for the duo. Slated for a late 2025 official release, it was several live performances of the tune—including a recent appearance on Good Morning Texas—that had audiences in a shambles. Word on the street is that L2EO has been asked back for round two.
“It’s one of our best songs in my opinion,” Tarver said proudly.
“Once you hear it, we want you to fall in love with it,” Keys added. “We want you to not only hear it, but to feel what we’re trying to say to you, and that’s why we want it to be extremely perfect before it’s officially released on all platforms.”
Two singles, a TV performance, the BET Experience in L.A. and even an EP on the way—this was more than what either could have imagined when they first encountered one another at a 2023 summer camp at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL). A student at Booker T. Washington at the time, Keys was the lead role in Stevie: The Musical. Tarver, a student from Cedar Hill High School, was also in the production and quickly caught the attention of Keys with his powerful vocals. Serendipity spoke, and the two have been inseparable ever since.
“When we first met, we didn’t talk as much, but I knew he could sing,” Tarver said of Keys. “He could sing his tail off, and he was always energetic. But now our energy matches sometimes. I’m not too energetic, but sometimes our energy bounces off of each other and when it does, you get a magical moment.”
Perhaps as magical as the fact that the two have August birthdays eight days apart, and are both under the zodiac sign of Leo—hence, the name of the group L2EO. In astrology, Leos are known for their charisma, confidence, passion and for being enthusiastically in love. And as with any R&B group, each member has a persona, to which Keys and Tarver channel their inner Leos—Tarver, as the super chill, confident bad boy, and Keys as the passionate, lover boy who “loves to be in love.”
Inspired by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Prince and Chris Brown, L2EO mixes the artistry of old soul with the smoothness of contemporary melodies, harmony and oftentimes, seduction. With the upcoming single “You Don’t Have a Clue,” listeners are privy to the impressive range of both artists, with Keys especially soaring effortlessly across high notes throughout the duration of the melody. Listen closely enough, and you’ll hear influences from Tweet’s 2002 “Oops (Oh My)” hit, sprinkled throughout. Nevertheless, the song is about cheating—but L2EO makes it sound oh so good.
“This is definitely a personal song,” Keys said. “There was a time period in our lives where he [Tarver was sneaking around and I was sneaking around. We were doing stuff that we didn’t have [any] business doing, and we wanted to make a song about it. It’s us telling you, that you don’t have a clue that we’re cheating on you–in the nicest way possible. We’re trying to get this single off before we both head off to college.”
Keys will be headed to Berklee College of Music in Boston this fall, as Tarver heads back to Sam Houston State University for his junior year—but their plans are for L2EO to stay together, despite the distance, especially in the wake of their future EP dropping later this year.
“We’re currently working on some shows and with the EP, we really want to be happy with what we put out,” Keys said.
“We want to jump off of the porch real good,” Tarver added. “Some people jump off of the porch, and it’s not too professional. We want to be really professional and ultimately happy with what we put out.”
Ironically, as it is synonymous with R&B, the pair admit to genuinely wanting real love above all things, from the city of Dallas that is. “I don’t want to have to go outside of the city to get our name out there. We want to get our name out in our own city,” Tarver admitted.
“I want the city to hear our message and to see our artistry for what it is,” Keys added. “Like it or not, just jump on the bandwagon. We want real love.”
L2EO are currently working on an EP. Follow them @theofficial_l2eo.
Courtesy of PRJ Productions
