Rap to Create Community & Inspire
- Lea Chen
- Dec 4, 2017
- 4 min read
Who: Kayvon Music @ www.kayvonmusic.com/
What: rapper and creative originally from Baltimore, MD
[In his eyes]
When you're stuck in a frustrating place, how do you find motivation out of it?
When I've lost motivation, I don't feel like doing anything. So one thing I do is I stop everything, I go off the grid and I just create stuff. But the main creative thing I do is create music because that's my biggest passion. I like thinking about fashion or tech or shows, but when I'm most down, I like thinking about music. I go to the beats my producer has sent me or beats I've made and I start writing about what's going on. I get really motivated to write a song that has a vibe that communicates to you what I'm feeling, even if the words may not. I'll work on it for hours and hours and procrastinate other things. Usually when I do that overtime the lack of motivation escapes me and I'll accomplish things in the end.
When I'm writing to channel doubt or lack of motivation, I don't do this with the thought that this is for other people but more for my own energy. I don't create with the hope that someone else likes it.
How does an artist find their sound or style?
I'm not a traditional artist in the sense that I'm not 100% committed to making music so I'm not 100% committed to any one style. I like creating period, music just happens to be the most natural to me. With my sound, sometimes I'll try something more melodic or straight-up bars. My flow is pretty defined but the sound of the music isn't because I have very diverse tastes for what I rap on top of. While this is true, people who listen to my music would tell you there are certain sounds that fit my rap more. But what I want my sound to be isn't clearly defined.
If you are trying to commit to one sound, it's about making a bunch of different types of music but seeing what comes most naturally to you. If it's challenging, that's not a bad thing but if it's hard to a point you can't create that type of music, then it's probably not your sound. If you find a combination of what flows well for you to create and other people like it, that combination will let you know if that's your sound.
Is there a song of yours that you're most proud of?
For sure, the song I'm most proud of is Rayz. It did the best on Soundcloud and Youtube and did well overall. But the reason I like it so much is that I like the message and electric, soulful sound. It's got good verses and hooks. Crowds enjoy singing along with it. The song did well with mass audiences without compromising my integrity as an artist. I think that's what you look for - you want a song to be authentically you but at the same time it's nice if people like it. A lot of time people don't find the sweet spot between not compromising your sound and having people like your music. At the same time, creativity and business are so different.
Maybe over half of the reason Rayz was so successful was because of the promotional work that went behind it. There was a lot of that and a lot of creatives don't have the patience for it. So I'm also proud of the creativity I put behind the business.
When I think about the proudest work, I weigh the success that it had commercially a little less because I don't think that success is as correlated with the creativity.
How is where you are now different than what you would have expected from the beginning of your musical journey? Well, I started making music in elementary school and I didn't really have much of a vision then except I wanted to make music that was going to bring people together. As I got older, I started crystallizing this image in my head of what I wanted to become. I wanted to be a big rapper who understood the business behind it. I wanted to be like a Jay-Z so that informed a lot of my decision making, which is why I went to business school instead of a music school. I was going to be primarily known for my music but also hopefully a business mogul and that's where it was going to go. I still don't know where it's going to be and I couldn't have anticipated what I'm doing now 6 months ago. As far as what it is now, it's similar in the sense because I'm doing a lot in business while doing things with music, business, tech and clothing. A lot of people in my community know me as an artist but beyond that much more. Many people haven't heard my music but know me as a figure, as someone who's entertaining on stage or gives good speeches. People know I don't do it for my own sake but to help others, so my image is that I'm putting on for the people around me.
I'm really pleased; I wouldn't have expected to work at Facebook when I started the whole rap thing. But it's a testament to the value I'm bringing into my creativity and my credibility as far as execution. They give the role to 20 people out of 4,000, so you can't do that if you're not proven. So I think that's where I'm at. People know that I make music but I'm not confined to the music box and I'm very happy about that.
Listen to his music on Spotify or Apple Music.
Story captured by blvd eye while documenting the style of street.
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