Kilo Kish Talks K+ Mixtape, Creativity & Chemistry With Childish Gambino
Kilo Kish is an enigma. Last spring, the 22-year-old it-chick released her first project, Homeschool, to an industry that's forced even the most unique artists to compromise. Now pushing her follow-up mixtape, K+, Kish admits to only recently starting to take her craft seriously. "I always consider myself a fine artist first. And then if people want to call me a rapper or whatever…" she explains. "My heart is always going to be in making concepts and trying to explain ideas."
With record labels in hot pursuit, the Orlando native and friend of artists like A$AP Mob, Odd Future and Childish Gambino sat down with VIBE to break down her sophomore mixtape and creative process.
Download the K+ mixtape here.
VIBE: What have you been up to since graduating from F.I.T.?
KK: I’ve mostly been recording music and doing Kilo Kish stuff. My life did a 360-degree turn [as far as] recording, learning more about the process of making music and who I want to be as an artist. I don’t have any day job, so the opportunities are endless. It’s kinda nuts. I kinda get anxiety sometimes. I’m like, "What am I going to work on?"
VIBE: What was the inspiration behind the "Creepwave" song?
KK: I was talking with Jesse Boykins III on Skype about different loft spaces and apartments. I was like, "Yeah, I just want a big open space with white windows and white bricks and this and this." It was nearing into the winter time and I got some beats from Kronos and they were so dark -- the footsteps and everything. I was thinking empty New York apartment and feelings of loneliness and solitude. I basically took the Skype conversation and made it into lyrics. That’s why sometimes my lyrics seem a little far off or don’t really have a focus.
VIBE: How did the collaboration with the Flatbush Zombies come about?
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With record labels in hot pursuit, the Orlando native and friend of artists like A$AP Mob, Odd Future and Childish Gambino sat down with VIBE to break down her sophomore mixtape and creative process.
Download the K+ mixtape here.
VIBE: What have you been up to since graduating from F.I.T.?
KK: I’ve mostly been recording music and doing Kilo Kish stuff. My life did a 360-degree turn [as far as] recording, learning more about the process of making music and who I want to be as an artist. I don’t have any day job, so the opportunities are endless. It’s kinda nuts. I kinda get anxiety sometimes. I’m like, "What am I going to work on?"
VIBE: What was the inspiration behind the "Creepwave" song?
KK: I was talking with Jesse Boykins III on Skype about different loft spaces and apartments. I was like, "Yeah, I just want a big open space with white windows and white bricks and this and this." It was nearing into the winter time and I got some beats from Kronos and they were so dark -- the footsteps and everything. I was thinking empty New York apartment and feelings of loneliness and solitude. I basically took the Skype conversation and made it into lyrics. That’s why sometimes my lyrics seem a little far off or don’t really have a focus.
VIBE: How did the collaboration with the Flatbush Zombies come about?
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VIBE: How did the collaboration with the Flatbush Zombies come about?
KK: Well… They’re creepy, and that’s like the creepiest song on the tape. Meech’s voice is just crazy, amazing. And I knew that since I worked with them on "Jupiter sounds" on their tape, I wanted to have them on this one. They’re also a really creative group, but I didn’t want it to be done in the way that most people do features. I didn’t want people to wait around to hear Flatbush Zombies and all the features on my tape. I didn’t want people to wait around like, "Oh I heard Donald Glover’s on this. Let me wait for his verse." I tried to do them suddenly in a way that’s truly a mix of their style and my style. So I had them say something at the end.
VIBE: K+ is the title of the mixtape. Why that name?
KK: I don't know; it was the summer time and I was sitting in my room and as most ideas come to me, they just come... I wanted it to be a collaborative tape and I wanted to branch out and not necessarily work with the same producers, because Homeschool is such a product of me and [Odd Future group] The Internet. It's our baby; it’s not just my tape. It's also theirs. It’s all their production. On this one, I wanted to be like, "Okay, what would I make personally?" I found all the beats I would love listening to and all this stuff that's a little less spacey and a little less astro than what The Internet would do. They have their own inspirations and I have my own inspirations. It’s a little bit darker and more R&Bish from there.
VIBE: Would you call it a collection of your thoughts?
My idea was to document what it is to make a mixtape, and the actual music is just whatever’s left. It’s kind of hard to explain. I always consider myself a fine artist first and then if people want to call me a rapper or whatever… My heart is always going to be in making concepts and trying to explain ideas and bring people into my world a little more.
VIBE: You previously said your sound is singy, talky, rappy. How would you describe your sound now. Has it changed?
KK: It has changed. I’m still singy, talky, rapping, but I think since then, I definitely feel more comfortable. At some points when I listen to Homeschool now, I get a little cringy because I can hear how uncomfortable or unsure I was. Most people didn’t really get that from it. They just were like, "It's very conversational and chill." For me, it feels like I’m reading and I’m like, "Uh, is this okay?" Naturally, I’ve been doing it for a little bit longer and I’ve learned more. On the last one, I didn’t really choose the beats. I wrote the songs and recorded them. I wasn’t sitting down with the mixer and the engineer, and I wasn’t cutting and splicing up ad-libs myself in Pro Tools. This time I was.
VIBE: Who did the production on this project?
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KK: Well… They’re creepy, and that’s like the creepiest song on the tape. Meech’s voice is just crazy, amazing. And I knew that since I worked with them on "Jupiter sounds" on their tape, I wanted to have them on this one. They’re also a really creative group, but I didn’t want it to be done in the way that most people do features. I didn’t want people to wait around to hear Flatbush Zombies and all the features on my tape. I didn’t want people to wait around like, "Oh I heard Donald Glover’s on this. Let me wait for his verse." I tried to do them suddenly in a way that’s truly a mix of their style and my style. So I had them say something at the end.
VIBE: K+ is the title of the mixtape. Why that name?
KK: I don't know; it was the summer time and I was sitting in my room and as most ideas come to me, they just come... I wanted it to be a collaborative tape and I wanted to branch out and not necessarily work with the same producers, because Homeschool is such a product of me and [Odd Future group] The Internet. It's our baby; it’s not just my tape. It's also theirs. It’s all their production. On this one, I wanted to be like, "Okay, what would I make personally?" I found all the beats I would love listening to and all this stuff that's a little less spacey and a little less astro than what The Internet would do. They have their own inspirations and I have my own inspirations. It’s a little bit darker and more R&Bish from there.
VIBE: Would you call it a collection of your thoughts?
My idea was to document what it is to make a mixtape, and the actual music is just whatever’s left. It’s kind of hard to explain. I always consider myself a fine artist first and then if people want to call me a rapper or whatever… My heart is always going to be in making concepts and trying to explain ideas and bring people into my world a little more.
VIBE: You previously said your sound is singy, talky, rappy. How would you describe your sound now. Has it changed?
KK: It has changed. I’m still singy, talky, rapping, but I think since then, I definitely feel more comfortable. At some points when I listen to Homeschool now, I get a little cringy because I can hear how uncomfortable or unsure I was. Most people didn’t really get that from it. They just were like, "It's very conversational and chill." For me, it feels like I’m reading and I’m like, "Uh, is this okay?" Naturally, I’ve been doing it for a little bit longer and I’ve learned more. On the last one, I didn’t really choose the beats. I wrote the songs and recorded them. I wasn’t sitting down with the mixer and the engineer, and I wasn’t cutting and splicing up ad-libs myself in Pro Tools. This time I was.
VIBE: Who did the production on this project?
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VIBE: Who did the production on this project?
KK: I love Matt and Syd. I always want them on every project I do. So Matt did some beats. And there was one beat where me, Subtract and Matt were in the room together. There's Kronos, a U.K. producer, and Star Slinger who’s also from the U.K., Donald [Glover, aka Childish Gambino] produced some as well, and [Odd Future member] Earl Sweatshirt and Very Rare, a producer who works with A$AP Ferg and those guys. I definitely pushed for Earl’s beat, and I definitely pushed for Donald’s because they produce a lot and you wouldn’t really know.
VIBE: Going into features, who’s on the mixtape and why did you choose to work with them?
KK: I like working organically. I don’t like getting pushed into the studio with people I don’t really know. I worked with Donald again. It’s really fun because we have the same perfectionist mindset. He sent me a beat for one [song] and he’s also featured as a rapper. I have Vince Staples on one song. The day we recorded with Vince, there was a million people in the studio -- Harry Fraud, Action Bronson, Earl, Vince 88 Keys. I kept calling people in to do little ad-libs. It was fun having Vince on one of Earl’s beats. And I had a few of my girlfriends and my DJ do a few ad-libs. I just wanted a very layered album that sounded like we were having a lot of fun, which we were. There’s a lot of screw ups on K+ if you listen really closely – it’s not perfect. That was the point of the tape: to highlight all the imperfections. I think it’s more interesting that way. It gives people more insight into how [the process] actually works so you don’t have this flawed idea of how people are.
VIBE: Would you say that you have a chemistry with Childish Gambino? You guys have worked together a few times now.
KK: Yeah, that’s the thing. When I make music with people, I want to be friends. I want to text you when I see something funny on TV. If you’re in town, I want to hang out. I don’t want it to be some fake thing, like we just work together. With Donald, immediately from when we were working last year on his project, we hung out and we always continue to.
VIBE: Are you in talks with any labels?
KK: We’re always on/off in talks with labels. We had offers from the beginning when Homeschool dropped, then we kind of held off because during that time I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. It took me making this project to realize what kind of music I liked making. Luckily, I did hold off because then you would’ve been expecting another Homeschool. I would’ve been in left field somewhere, making some weird Disney Channel song. I feel like eventually I’ll sign. Me and J. Scott are kinda just our own team. It’s also a pride thing. I just want to do it myself.
Download K+ here:
http://www.kilokish.com/k
KK: I love Matt and Syd. I always want them on every project I do. So Matt did some beats. And there was one beat where me, Subtract and Matt were in the room together. There's Kronos, a U.K. producer, and Star Slinger who’s also from the U.K., Donald [Glover, aka Childish Gambino] produced some as well, and [Odd Future member] Earl Sweatshirt and Very Rare, a producer who works with A$AP Ferg and those guys. I definitely pushed for Earl’s beat, and I definitely pushed for Donald’s because they produce a lot and you wouldn’t really know.
VIBE: Going into features, who’s on the mixtape and why did you choose to work with them?
KK: I like working organically. I don’t like getting pushed into the studio with people I don’t really know. I worked with Donald again. It’s really fun because we have the same perfectionist mindset. He sent me a beat for one [song] and he’s also featured as a rapper. I have Vince Staples on one song. The day we recorded with Vince, there was a million people in the studio -- Harry Fraud, Action Bronson, Earl, Vince 88 Keys. I kept calling people in to do little ad-libs. It was fun having Vince on one of Earl’s beats. And I had a few of my girlfriends and my DJ do a few ad-libs. I just wanted a very layered album that sounded like we were having a lot of fun, which we were. There’s a lot of screw ups on K+ if you listen really closely – it’s not perfect. That was the point of the tape: to highlight all the imperfections. I think it’s more interesting that way. It gives people more insight into how [the process] actually works so you don’t have this flawed idea of how people are.
VIBE: Would you say that you have a chemistry with Childish Gambino? You guys have worked together a few times now.
KK: Yeah, that’s the thing. When I make music with people, I want to be friends. I want to text you when I see something funny on TV. If you’re in town, I want to hang out. I don’t want it to be some fake thing, like we just work together. With Donald, immediately from when we were working last year on his project, we hung out and we always continue to.
VIBE: Are you in talks with any labels?
KK: We’re always on/off in talks with labels. We had offers from the beginning when Homeschool dropped, then we kind of held off because during that time I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. It took me making this project to realize what kind of music I liked making. Luckily, I did hold off because then you would’ve been expecting another Homeschool. I would’ve been in left field somewhere, making some weird Disney Channel song. I feel like eventually I’ll sign. Me and J. Scott are kinda just our own team. It’s also a pride thing. I just want to do it myself.
Download K+ here:
http://www.kilokish.com/k
