Latest / The Scene Projects / Kenny on Performing Live, Memphis Music, and Overcoming Industry Challenges
Transcript
- 0:02Alright.
- 0:03It's your boy, Pablo.
- 0:04One time, we are back live in the vault, man.
- 0:06I got a very, very, very, very, very, very, very special guest in the building, man.
- 0:11I got Dash Kenny in the building, man.
- 0:13What's going on, brother?
- 0:15What's up?
- 0:15What's up, bro?
- 0:16How you doing?
- 0:16Yes, sir.
- 0:17I'm doing good, man.
- 0:18I'm honored to have you here, man.
- 0:19And I've been seeing you blazing stages.
- 0:22I've been seeing you working with AJ, and and I've seen you with the wrap off league.
- 0:27Crazy, man.
- 0:28Kenny, I've been seeing you do your thing, man.
- 0:30Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you come from, and just know what I'm saying?
- 0:33A little bit a little introduction.
- 0:35You know what I'm saying?
- 0:36I got you.
- 0:37I got you.
- 0:37Hey.
- 0:37Well, I appreciate that, man, because, like, it's, I've definitely been putting in the the
- 0:41footwork this year, the groundwork, and it's good to know that it it is reaching.
- 0:45Shouts out to you know, it's a team effort.
- 0:47But, for me personally, man, like, I've been doing music for fifteen years.
- 0:54And past three, I think it's like I've hit that different level because, you know, there's a
- 0:59separation between just doing music and just rapping and doing being an artist and having to
- 1:03Yes, sir.
- 1:04Do all this other stuff.
- 1:05And, like, the other stuff has been kind of the issue with me.
- 1:09Like, you know, I was not a good live performer until, like, very recently.
- 1:12You can ask people close to me.
- 1:14And, it's it's good to see the growth, man.
- 1:16It's an honor to be here.
- 1:17It's an honor to be an honored guest.
- 1:19You know?
- 1:19That's like a, you know, that's a step.
- 1:21Like, I like to, every every step is part of the every step is part is still a blessing and
- 1:29part of it.
- 1:29You know?
- 1:29It's part the growth, man.
- 1:30It's part of the growth process, Kenny.
- 1:32And you know what?
- 1:33I can't walk in your shoes, brother.
- 1:35So I can't I can't judge your growth off my growth, and that's why it's so important for
- 1:39artists like yourself.
- 1:41So when you're on social media, don't be on social media to look so much and consuming
- 1:46because you're gonna start getting discouraged.
- 1:47You're start seeing your brother, your partner over here growing.
- 1:50You gotta be become the creator of the of the social media.
- 1:53So now it's like, you know what?
- 1:55I'm right here where I'm at.
- 1:56I'm right here where God got me at, and I'm good right here, man.
- 1:59So yeah, man.
- 2:01And you what's crazy is I never know you couldn't I I didn't this new to me.
- 2:05I I didn't know you couldn't perform live because everything I've seen with the wrap off
- 2:10league, bro, you've been killing killing it, dawg.
- 2:13So Man, man.
- 2:14How has how has that growth been, like, the the actual live performance?
- 2:18Like, how did you how what what happened?
- 2:20Did it come from you just seeing yourself, like, having that having your your your footage
- 2:25in front of you saying, you what?
- 2:26I'm about to go home and do some groundwork, read the playbooks, and go do the real work, or
- 2:31is it like you seeing other artists performing and saying, you know what?
- 2:33Damn.
- 2:33Let me incorporate this into my performance.
- 2:35Let me try this.
- 2:37Like, how did how did they go about your transition from a, you know, a kinda nervous
- 2:41artist on stage to, like, you know what?
- 2:42Give me that goddamn microphone.
- 2:44I'm about to kill it.
- 2:46Yeah.
- 2:48It's funny you say that because it's everything you mentioned, it's watching other artists
- 2:52getting advice.
- 2:52Shout out to Tom.
- 2:54Man, I know I blew his phone up a lot this year.
- 2:57And he gave me some of the most best direct advice.
- 3:01But, honestly, I didn't break through on stage until I kinda just quit giving a damn and just,
- 3:05like you know?
- 3:07Like, I'm comfortable up there now.
- 3:10And, like Kenny.
- 3:11Kenny, I I gotta I gotta think I gotta think I say, Kenny.
- 3:13I I say the only way to gain control is to lose control.
- 3:17Exactly.
- 3:18Yeah.
- 3:19Yeah.
- 3:19Exactly what it is.
- 3:20You know, I just, I know that I'm not out there for, like you know, it's not the end of the
- 3:27world and whatnot.
- 3:28And I think as artists, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be great or be the
- 3:33vision that we wanna see ourselves as in our head.
- 3:36But Right.
- 3:37This past year, man, it's been really about just getting them reps in and, you know,
- 3:41learning.
- 3:42And it's like the little stuff, like move, you know, know, when to use your backing track,
- 3:46when to not use your backing track, the,
- 3:48you know, the Right.
- 3:48The nuts and bolts of it.
- 3:50But at the end of the day, man, it's all about you just gotta go out there and send it and,
- 3:53like I'm be real.
- 3:54I'm be real, Kenny.
- 3:55If, Kenny, if you if you're talking about using Kenny, Kenny, if you're talking about using
- 4:01backing tracks and not using backing tracks, man, you're, like, three steps ahead of most
- 4:06artists already.
- 4:07You know?
- 4:08Yeah.
- 4:09Well, my favorite rapper like, my favorite rapper is Lupe Fiasco.
- 4:12And, like, he uses a live
- 4:14band record.
- 4:15So, like
- 4:17yes, sir.
- 4:17Yeah.
- 4:18Yeah.
- 4:18Shout out, man.
- 4:19Shout out Chicago.
- 4:20I ain't never been, but shouts out Chicago.
- 4:22And then Memphis is Chicago connection heavy, though.
- 4:27Oh, yeah.
- 4:28Sure.
- 4:28Sure.
- 4:29But, so, like, all of my, like, I have a really big, thing about one to be as true to the craft
- 4:37as I can be.
- 4:38And, kinda like, you know, like, the old philosophy of it was, you know, you don't use
- 4:43backing tracks.
- 4:44You don't use vocals or whatever.
- 4:44You gotta rep your entire verses.
- 4:46And, like, I don't think that's necessarily don't have to do that.
- 4:49That's not a requirement anymore, but I would like to be able to do it.
- 4:51Right.
- 4:52And that's kinda my goal going forward with the live shows.
- 4:56Yeah, man.
- 4:56I love it, bro.
- 4:57I love it.
- 4:58As a artist, I'm a be real, man.
- 4:59I don't I don't take too much from independent artists.
- 5:02Like, when I see artists performing on stages and I don't I don't care how dope they are.
- 5:07I just feel like, you know, we're on the same mission.
- 5:10So I'm I'm I'm I'm kinda like this.
- 5:12I I I think I'm thankful that god had put me in a stage to where, man, I'm on stage dancing
- 5:17like Mike, bro.
- 5:18I'm on stage getting it like I'm on I'm on stage doing some craziness, man, and to where
- 5:23I'm seeing myself on stage and other artists.
- 5:26I'm like, dude, dude moving like me, man.
- 5:29Like, hold on, bro.
- 5:30You weren't moving like that a year ago, bro.
- 5:32look at that.
- 5:32You moving like that, bro.
- 5:34And it's like, it feels good, but it's all it it's not like, oh my god.
- 5:38These these my sons.
- 5:40It's like it's like, you know what?
- 5:41I'm doing something good here, and I'm on I'm on the right track because, obviously, people
- 5:45are seeing me.
- 5:46And, you know, I'm a say this, though.
- 5:49If you out there trying to trying to use my ad lids and stuff, we got a problem out here.
- 5:54Oh, yeah.
- 5:54That's different.
- 5:55Yeah.
- 5:55That's violation.
- 5:56But, like, yeah.
- 5:57No.
- 5:57It's a it's a shout out to Big Curse.
- 5:59He gave me this, like, metaphor about all of this being a tree, and it is, man.
- 6:04Like, it's like, because I'm kinda the opposite.
- 6:06I'm I'd be really big fans of my my peers.
- 6:09You know?
- 6:09Like, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a fan of these folks.
- 6:11Like, like, shout out, young gangsta AJ, man.
- 6:14Like, they bro, the energy, like, it's like I I study, hip hop in general.
- 6:20So, like, to have, like, these folks who I mean, I guess they're my colleagues, but, like,
- 6:24a lot of them are, like, you know, my homies and shit.
- 6:26Like, watching everybody just get, like, good at, like, you know, level up like this
- 6:30together, it's a it's a hell of a thing, man.
- 6:33And it's like, you know, we all build each other up, then we can just, like, have, like,
- 6:37one of them, like, 800 year old trees.
- 6:40You know?
- 6:40They're Right.
- 6:41They're forever.
- 6:42You know?
- 6:42Never stop.
- 6:43I think that, think that there's definitely, like, positions to play in it too because,
- 6:50like, it's like, Trippie Tributes.
- 6:52That's another crazy, like, you know, live performer.
- 6:55Like, I learned a lot from, watching him.
- 6:57I learned a lot from, Cody crazy.
- 7:00I learned a lot from everybody, but at the end of the day, that didn't make me good on stage.
- 7:05That made me like, the letting go part was what made me, finally get good on stage because you
- 7:13can't you can't duplicate.
- 7:15You can't ever duplicate.
- 7:16It all has to build.
- 7:17Like, when you're building your craft, we're all products of our influences, but you don't
- 7:21ever wanna be a copy.
- 7:22You know?
- 7:23See, Kenny Kenny, a lot of people don't even know, man, that for a long time, Pablo one time
- 7:27was in the living room surrounded by eight mirrors, man.
- 7:30I would do nothing besides dance all day.
- 7:32I would just get in the mirror, and I would cut my music off, like and be like, no.
- 7:35I can't spin right here.
- 7:36If I spin right there, I can't come out to spin early enough to even hit the burst in time.
- 7:40It's like, bro, I'm I'm I'm in my I'm in my socks sliding around to them in around the
- 7:45living room.
- 7:45And but I was getting ready to go on tour with Bubba, and I said, you know what?
- 7:48I gotta go out here as the goddamn fool, man.
- 7:50I can't I can't be on stage all stiff, man.
- 7:53And I said, you know what?
- 7:54Man, that's the background work that most artists ain't doing, bro.
- 7:57I started, what you doing?
- 7:59I I started taking the taking the lyrics out of my songs, man.
- 8:03I said, you know, I'm a leave the the hook in the chorus, but I need to learn his goddamn
- 8:08lyrics.
- 8:09And so X.
- 8:10When I
- 8:10met Bubba bro, when I met Bubba, he came with a guitar.
- 8:13Nigga, ain't no DJ with a guitar, brother.
- 8:16You know?
- 8:17I'm
- 8:17like I'm like, damn.
- 8:18I gotta I gotta and and now I'm on stage with a guitar and a band, and I didn't forgot my
- 8:23words.
- 8:24But the the people don't know that.
- 8:26Right?
- 8:27And so I was like, I said, okay.
- 8:29Okay.
- 8:30Well, let me catch myself and go back to the first verse.
- 8:33Fuck you talking about?
- 8:34And I was like, damn.
- 8:35It's just
- 8:36that easy.
- 8:36Bro, it's just that easy.
- 8:37And so what me and Bubba started doing is we was like, you know what?
- 8:40To make the song a little longer, we'll go through the first the first verse twice, then
- 8:44hit the hit the second verse, and then and the song got.
- 8:46And I said, you know what?
- 8:48Bro, it came like that on accident because I forgot my lyrics.
- 8:52But it it it it
- 8:54Best things happen on accident.
- 8:55And when you get that live band too, you can adjust on the fly.
- 8:58Like, that's something I really, really would think, would help me a lot as well.
- 9:01Because, like, sometimes we wanna do different shit.
- 9:03Like, it's on the you know?
- 9:05Bro, come on, bro.
- 9:06Let's come on.
- 9:08We we yeah, man.
- 9:09We Like We we've
- 9:11been doing these jamming sessions and these open mic nights and these open jam sessions to
- 9:14all the artists out there.
- 9:15I've been holding these open mic nights and open jam, but I got a real live band.
- 9:18This is a good time for artists to come get a feel on how it feels to perform with a band and
- 9:23for artists to get the footage, man.
- 9:25The good footage.
- 9:25This is good marketing material, man.
- 9:27Say, hey.
- 9:27I I got a band.
- 9:29And you you go to a venue with a band, you you ask for $800.
- 9:33You know?
- 9:33It's like the the band, they gonna they gonna take care of half the show.
- 9:37You you gonna you gonna put $200 in your pocket, pay the band 500, put put 3 in your
- 9:41pocket, pay the band 500.
- 9:42And, bro, you gonna get on stage for thirty minutes, let the band do their thing?
- 9:45Bro, you won.
- 9:48Bro, you gonna have the old heads happy?
- 9:49You gonna have the new like, the the the kids happy?
- 9:51It's like you'll be like it's everybody's gonna, you know, get the stamp of approval
- 9:54because,
- 9:55like Everybody.
- 9:55You're really out there.
- 9:56And it's fun rapping with with live instruments, man.
- 9:58Like, that's one of the most fun things, like, in this, in my opinion.
- 10:03I I love rapping over instruments.
- 10:04I just had never gotten a chance to do it live, and, I'd like to do a live album one day.
- 10:08That's really, on the on the bucket list for sure.
- 10:10Mhmm.
- 10:12But I definitely agree, though.
- 10:14That's that's, I'm try What's up?
- 10:17Yeah.
- 10:17Yeah.
- 10:18Yeah.
- 10:18I I didn't mean to cut you off, brother.
- 10:19But, man, Memphis is saturated Memphis is saturated with good artists.
- 10:24I mean, there's so much talent out here.
- 10:26It's crazy, bro.
- 10:27What's been your biggest challenge, man, of standing out?
- 10:30What's been your biggest your biggest challenge to say, you know what?
- 10:32Hey.
- 10:32Look, motherfuckers.
- 10:33I know it's a million of us, but I'm that skinny, motherfucker.
- 10:36You know, what's been your biggest challenge, man?
- 10:41I've I've gotta lean into me being weird and me being, like, the lyricist, like, the lupe
- 10:46fiasco type, you know, person in this, ecosystem because, and I've got I've got, like,
- 10:53bangers.
- 10:54I've got songs that, you know, I've made.
- 10:55I've got a trap album coming out, beginning of next year called Kenneth the Menace.
- 10:59But right now, I'm working on, like, a Wu Chang type, you know, album with my brother Sympho.
- 11:06I think that my my what makes me different?
- 11:09What makes me a one on one?
- 11:10And, shout out to the rep off league because they stamped me.
- 11:13They they they told me I was a one on one.
- 11:14So that's like, you know, that that was a cool day in the group chat.
- 11:17But, like, I gotta lean on being me.
- 11:20I can't ever, like, let it just become like, I'm making these songs because I think that
- 11:25this is what people want.
- 11:26I need to be making these songs.
- 11:28Do but not you you wanna make a song that everybody likes and the people want, but you
- 11:31wanna make sure that you're not derivative or you're not, you know, just trying to follow a
- 11:36blueprint of the next person because what works for the next person won't work for you.
- 11:39And, yeah, Memphis is packed, bro.
- 11:41I know about 50 artists that should be millionaires right now.
- 11:44Like like, real deal, and they all unique.
- 11:48And, like, it's, it's insane, man.
- 11:50I know it ain't like this in other cities, but, like, we really got something special going on
- 11:55here.
- 11:55And I think that, they sleeping on us, bro.
- 11:58Like, really,
- 11:59like Bro, bro.
- 12:00No.
- 12:00No.
- 12:00No, Kenny.
- 12:01That hey.
- 12:01That's Kenny.
- 12:02No.
- 12:03No one's sleeping on you.
- 12:05You are sleeping on you.
- 12:07Kenny, let me tell you this right here.
- 12:08Gonna tell you a little quick secret.
- 12:10Yeah.
- 12:10If if if you was to come together with, I say, five other artists from Memphis, Tennessee
- 12:15right now that you know for a fact, pop it.
- 12:19Right?
- 12:20Yeah.
- 12:21Oh, if you was to go to St.
- 12:22Louis right now, I swear for god, bro.
- 12:24You'll take over, bro.
- 12:25Take over, bro.
- 12:26Oh, bro.
- 12:27Shout out to, shouts out to we went we went to Springfield or whatever.
- 12:31Shout out to CPM and.
- 12:32We went to Springfield, like, they shout out to Springfield, man.
- 12:36That was a great show.
- 12:37Shout out to my boy, Sadboy Glitch out there.
- 12:41Like, it's a see, I've done a little bit of the out of town stuff, but I I wanna do more, man.
- 12:45Like, it's like, I've I've, you know, with Lagodi, they put me on stage in Minnesota,
- 12:50Minneapolis, in front of about 500 people.
- 12:53That was amazing, but I wanna do more.
- 12:56Like, it's like, I've, I've gotten really kind of hip to how this works a little bit more.
- 13:03And, you know, now that I'm fully independent, it's all on me.
- 13:05So, yeah, man, I would love to, like, just click up with, you know, four or five, you
- 13:10know, Memphis underground rap avengers and go do the damn thing.
- 13:13Like, that's that's that's the goal.
- 13:15Like and it's like, it may just be hard trying to pick the five, man, because, like,
- 13:23everybody, you wanna bring 15, but, like, you can't bring 15.
- 13:25You gotta let you know.
- 13:26Right.
- 13:27Right.
- 13:28Right.
- 13:29And you gotta make sure I've been trying to make sure I'm thinking about, like, how the
- 13:32music curates, how the the set list would go, how the, like, it's really the other ends of
- 13:38this stuff because, like, man, music and, like, writing poetry, that that's, you know, that's
- 13:41that's me.
- 13:42That's in me.
- 13:43That's like, my my mama gave that to me.
- 13:44So, like, that ain't going nowhere.
- 13:47All this other stuff, I've had to learn because I'm not really really not even a musically
- 13:51inclined person to be, to be honest with you, but I you know, this is the best way for me to
- 14:00get my thoughts out.
- 14:02And, like, I I fell in love with hip hop when I was, like, 14, and I've just a lot of it's been
- 14:06a learning process.
- 14:07And, it's crazy.
- 14:09If you would've if I would've known that I'd be able to mix and master my own music, you know,
- 14:13one day, like, when I was, like, 15, I you know?
- 14:17It's crazy because, like, I never really envisioned myself as a musician, but I always
- 14:23envisioned myself as a writer.
- 14:24But now I couldn't envision myself as anything other than a musician, a hip hop artist.
- 14:28You know?
- 14:29Right.
- 14:30So, man, I was I was talking.
- 14:32I had an interview I had an interview yesterday.
- 14:34Big shout out to to Wild Willie.
- 14:37And he asked me a really, really serious question, man.
- 14:39And he do got a dope podcast.
- 14:41You'll you'll meet him here pretty soon, man.
- 14:42Like I said, this this is a big tunnel system, bro.
- 14:45Once you get in with Pablo, bro, you you you're gonna be an interview, motherfucker.
- 14:49Yeah.
- 14:50You know?
- 14:51And which which is good for you because now the world can see what you got going on with new
- 14:55albums coming out, new shows, new this on different platforms.
- 14:59Right?
- 14:59It's like you can you can say, hey.
- 15:01Go check me out on this interview over here on Wild Willie.
- 15:04I'm on the scene probably with Bubba Starks over here in South Dakota, and I'm in I'm I'm
- 15:07over here with Pablo in Memphis with Black Sheet Kid Music.
- 15:10So, bro, welcome to the family.
- 15:12Welcome to the family, bro.
- 15:14But what he asked me was how did music play a role into saving my life, man?
- 15:20Music saved my life.
- 15:21I'm a army veteran.
- 15:22I lost my mom, man, and and I really went through it when she died, man.
- 15:26And music became it was always like that.
- 15:29It's like it was it was more than just the religion.
- 15:32Music was almost like God.
- 15:33You know?
- 15:34It was almost like everything, bro.
- 15:36And so Yeah.
- 15:37How did how did music play a part into where you at right now?
- 15:41Like, music really saved me, dawg.
- 15:42Like, real talk, bro.
- 15:44Bro, no cap.
- 15:45Aside from the military service, it's almost the same type of story.
- 15:50My mom, she had cancer.
- 15:52She passed away January 17, twenty twenty four last year after a long battle.
- 15:57Mine's too, bro.
- 15:58I've been around the ball I'm so sorry for your loss, brother.
- 16:01Yeah.
- 16:01Know Sorry
- 16:01for your loss,
- 16:02brother.
- 16:02Goes on.
- 16:03It hurts, man.
- 16:03I've been around the block with, you know, just substances and just, you know, like, a whole
- 16:07bunch of stuff I wasn't, you know Same here, bro.
- 16:09Involved in.
- 16:10Same here, bro.
- 16:11And, like, When my mom got sick, I knew I had to be alright, and I knew that music was a way
- 16:16for me to be alright.
- 16:17So I just dove headfirst back into music.
- 16:19That was 2022, and, I haven't let my foot off the gas yet.
- 16:23And I'm sure probably a mirror image of your own story in, in its own way.
- 16:28Bro, bro.
- 16:28This is a potential for my survival, bro.
- 16:30Like, this is This is crazy.
- 16:32Bro, thank you, man.
- 16:33Thank you, bro.
- 16:34Like, this is confirmation that I'm on I'm on the right track here.
- 16:36I'm on the right track moms, man.
- 16:38Man, shout out to moms out there.
- 16:40You got moms out there still living?
- 16:41Kiss her for us right now, for me and Kenny, man.
- 16:44Kiss your mom for Pablo and Kenny today.
- 16:46You know?
- 16:46That's really
- 16:47But, man, Kenny so you you you you you you you get into, like, the the substance abuse thing,
- 16:55man.
- 16:55Me being an army veteran on top of all the craziness I went in went through in the
- 16:59service, I come out here and lose my mom.
- 17:01Boy, I'm telling you, bro, I'm a I'm a felon now.
- 17:03I I had never had no prior law enforcement history.
- 17:08I'm a felon now.
- 17:09I had never done no drugs, top pills, and all that kind of crazy stuff.
- 17:13But once mom died, it was like, you know what?
- 17:15I didn't really give a damn, man.
- 17:17In the midst of all that the midst of going through that tunnel, man, music found me.
- 17:21I I found myself surrounded by my little homies.
- 17:23They wanna freestyle all day.
- 17:24You know?
- 17:25And so we start we start recording on face on YouTube, just making little YouTube videos,
- 17:29putting them on YouTube, and that that turned into us starting to beat on the beat on the on
- 17:33on the table, start starting to go in and get beats.
- 17:36And now I got a full blown studio, bro.
- 17:37So, yeah, music literally saved my life, man.
- 17:40And it's great to hear that, you know, it's not just it it's it's not just about me, but this
- 17:45thing it's it's it's done this for a lot of people.
- 17:47You know?
- 17:48It's a network, bro.
- 17:49This is this how we get this is how we grow.
- 17:51This is how we leave a legacy.
- 17:52I always say that, you know, I'm not worried about death because through music, I'm
- 17:57immortal.
- 17:57Like, sound waves never die.
- 17:58That's big fact.
- 17:59Like you know?
- 18:00And, from the first time I made like, I've been doing this half my life now, which is crazy to
- 18:05say.
- 18:05Like, I can't I'm so happy I I made it to the point where I can say I've been doing music my
- 18:09half my life.
- 18:10Right.
- 18:10But, like, from the first time, like, I thought I wasn't gonna be no rep, but it was like I
- 18:15was, like, writing, like, short stories and stuff, like you know?
- 18:18And when nobody was rereading them, Juntz.
- 18:19And I was like, man, I need to get heard because, like, you know, every writer wants to
- 18:22get heard.
- 18:22So I was like, I like, randomly just, like, got really, really into, like, Lupe Fiasco, Nas,
- 18:28and just went down, like, this, you know, the ultra lyricist type of rabbit hole hip hop.
- 18:32And the first time I spit a verse and get recorded it on a bootleg ass HP mini m p three
- 18:37recorder, I didn't even have Audacity, I, like, played it back.
- 18:40I was, like, oh, it's over with.
- 18:41This is what I'm do the rest of my life.
- 18:43And, it continues to come back and save me and come in clutch when I need it because, like,
- 18:47I've gone astray.
- 18:48I've, like, I've, you know, messed up.
- 18:51I got one of I'm trying to cuss less.
- 18:53So I've messed up a lot in my life.
- 18:54I've made the wrong decisions.
- 18:57And music has always been there to catch me, like or, you know, provide that safety net to
- 19:04get through it.
- 19:04And I I think that a lot of people feel that way.
- 19:08I think a lot of people resonate with that, and I'm I'm blessed to be in that, that subgenre of
- 19:16rappers, I think.
- 19:17Yeah, man.
- 19:18It's it's so crazy.
- 19:20You say you you just want to be a writer.
- 19:21You you wanted to be a writer.
- 19:23Bro, I I've been bro, bro, we're gonna get together.
- 19:27We're gonna get together after this Zoom call, and I'm gonna give you some sauce so you never
- 19:34stop writing, Kenny, because, bro, I make a I make good money writing, dog.
- 19:39And and and just short stories, and and I I'm actually a published author, and I on my mama
- 19:46grave, dog.
- 19:47By next week, bro, you're gonna be a published author, bro, on my mama grave, bro.
- 19:51Word.
- 19:52Word, bro.
- 19:53On mama grave,
- 19:54Okay.
- 19:55Bro, and and and you
- 19:57bro, bro, I'm gonna put you on game, bro.
- 19:59I'm a I'm a send you a link.
- 20:00And when you download the link, we both gonna get paid.
- 20:03You know what I'm saying?
- 20:04But it's gonna create it's gonna create you a platform to where you can share your stories.
- 20:08It could be stories about volcanoes, stories about artists, stories about what's going on in
- 20:12music culture, stories about what's going on in Memphis.
- 20:15Any story you want, bro, as long as it's 600 words, bro, you get paid.
- 20:19Wow.
- 20:19Okay.
- 20:20That's the man.
- 20:21I'm a journalist.
- 20:22I'm a I'm a I hey, bro.
- 20:24When you're doing this music thing, bro, you need you need seven to eight, nine different
- 20:27streams of income, dawg.
- 20:28Yeah.
- 20:29I I realized that.
- 20:30That's been the that's another big hurdle this year.
- 20:31Like, I've had to sacrifice.
- 20:33Like, I've had to really, you know, because, you know, you have to invest in yourself to to
- 20:38do this music.
- 20:39And, like, I really have had to put a lot on the back burner and, like, not address things
- 20:44that I need to address because I'm trying to do I'm I'm doing with music.
- 20:47Like, it ain't no other I put it off so many times in my life, but getting the money or
- 20:52making money off of your talents is, like, a big hurdle.
- 20:56And, like, that's something I'm still trying to get over.
- 20:58Bro, that what you need, bro.
- 21:01That's what
- 21:01you need.
- 21:02Yeah.
- 21:02Yeah.
- 21:03But You
- 21:03need merch, bro.
- 21:04You need merch.
- 21:04That's it.
- 21:05I need merch.
- 21:06And, here, let me, I'm terrible about not plugging my what I'm what I need to plug.
- 21:10So go let me go on and, plug this stuff, if that's cool.
- 21:14Yeah.
- 21:14Yeah.
- 21:15Yeah.
- 21:15It's cool, bro.
- 21:16Alright.
- 21:16So for those of y'all who don't know, my name is That's Kenny, capital t, capital k, no
- 21:21space.
- 21:22So it's That's Kenny.
- 21:24You know, no space.
- 21:26It's, pretty simple.
- 21:27There's one other dude named that, but he makes Lo Fi Beach to chill to.
- 21:30I'm the other dude.
- 21:31I'm I'm I'm me.
- 21:33So, right now, I've got a lot of stuff going on, man.
- 21:37Me and, my brother, Crown Bossology, are about to drop this fire ass music video for a song we
- 21:43got called rules and regulations, and it will be my first music video ever.
- 21:46And y'all, like, folks have wanted me to do music videos for so many songs, and I said no.
- 21:51I was like, nope.
- 21:52I'm waiting on the right time.
- 21:53I'm waiting on the right song.
- 21:54Waiting on the right thing.
- 21:55When I say this is the right thing, like, I I mean it, man.
- 21:59Like, it's it's crazy.
- 22:00I won't give away any details, but it's I'm so it's a dope ass first video.
- 22:06And, we got a lot of people involved.
- 22:07We're gonna bring out we gotta do one more day of filming.
- 22:10We're we're gonna be, you know, bringing the whole everybody out and shit, and, that joint
- 22:14gonna do at least 10 k.
- 22:15Like, I'm not even go I don't I'm not even like that.
- 22:17I don't know when I say stuff like that, but that joint doing at least 10,000, like, off the
- 22:21rip not off the rip, but it's gonna be at 10,000.
- 22:24So that's the the music video that's that'll be dropping in the near future.
- 22:28And then I've got, really, it started as a passion project.
- 22:32Me and my brother, Simpho, who, that man damn near the man is better than me at making music
- 22:38at this point, so I can't really call the name of protege, but, like, it's that type of
- 22:42relationship, I guess.
- 22:43But, he's out in Oregon.
- 22:45We made this, like, boom bap album, like, all hip hop album last year.
- 22:49We started making it called double edged sword, and it is finally finished.
- 22:53I'm dropping the second single.
- 22:54We're dropping the second single from it on October 3, this next Friday.
- 22:59And this album is like it's all the all hip hop stuff that all my, like, old homies, you know,
- 23:06from back in the day saying that I changed up and don't do that anymore.
- 23:09I don't you know, I'm trying to appeal or whatever.
- 23:11This is the answer to that, because, like, this is this is the album I wanted to make when I
- 23:17was 15.
- 23:17You know?
- 23:18And, say, I could have done it without Sympho.
- 23:20He did a lot of the heavy lifting on it, and he, really, like, it's dope to watch somebody
- 23:25grow, man, and, like, have an influence on somebody and watch them just, like, excel,
- 23:29like, because, I didn't have nothing to do with that, man.
- 23:32He did all that himself.
- 23:34And, like, now I'm inspired by him.
- 23:36Like, I'm I'm on album.
- 23:37Like, man, I gotta get my verses up.
- 23:39I gotta rewrite that verse.
- 23:40Hold on.
- 23:40And, like, it's one of those albums, man.
- 23:42If you love hip hop, you're gonna love, double edged sword.
- 23:45You're gonna love this single we got coming out on, the next Friday, October 3.
- 23:50And, other than that, man, I've got music everywhere, bro.
- 23:54I've got two albums.
- 23:57I got, Helen Great Heights, my debut, won an award voted by fans, supporters, strangers, the
- 24:03hood.
- 24:03So I'm only Ruben who was hitting the, you know, doing the the groundwork and, getting
- 24:09them votes.
- 24:10My album nine six till infinity dropped earlier this year.
- 24:14I just dropped a mixtape because I I just wanna get that stuff out the vault.
- 24:17And I'm working, man.
- 24:20We're working.
- 24:20I'm I gotta be one of the hardest working artists in the city, man.
- 24:22Like, I gotta be.
- 24:24Like
- 24:24Come on, man.
- 24:25Hey.
- 24:25Big shout out to you, man.
- 24:26Keep working, bro.
- 24:28Kenny do that.
- 24:29Kenny, right now, man, who is your biggest supporter, bro?
- 24:32Who who would you say is your biggest supporter right now, man?
- 24:35My biggest supporter.
- 24:38It's gotta be, man.
- 24:43It's gotta be, like, gotta be my niece.
- 24:46Gotta be, like, my little my little niece and my sister, because, you know, like, there ain't
- 24:52nothing like you know, kids don't lie, man.
- 24:54And, like, when you play the music and the kids like it, like, that's how you got the you got
- 24:57the pass or whatever.
- 24:58And then, like, I'll hear, like, my niece or whatever.
- 25:00I won't I don't wanna go into the details list because there was another rapper involved, but
- 25:04a rapper was trying to promote his stuff at a random department store.
- 25:07And my niece and my sister were there, and he started talking to them about how he was the
- 25:11best, rap yada yada yada yada yada yada.
- 25:13My niece just straight up was like, no.
- 25:15You're not.
- 25:15My uncle is.
- 25:16And, like, that's what it's all about, man.
- 25:18So that's, like, my biggest supporters.
- 25:22And then just my my mom really, bro, because even though she ain't here, bro, she supports
- 25:27all this.
- 25:28Like, this ain't happening.
- 25:29Like like, energy is real and, like, man, it's
- 25:35Hey, man.
- 25:35Hey.
- 25:36Hey.
- 25:36I feel the same way, man.
- 25:37My mom not here, but she's supporting all this craziness, dog.
- 25:40Do need do with
- 25:41this other
- 25:42smile on my face right now, man.
- 25:43My mom would just be here like, yeah.
- 25:45That's my baby.
- 25:46Yeah.
- 25:46Yeah.
- 25:47You know?
- 25:49I'm with it, bro.
- 25:50Your answer better than mine's, man.
- 25:52My answer was myself.
- 25:53I said, I pat my own stuff on the back.
- 25:55I hug on myself.
- 25:56I go look in the mirror and say, boy, you a bad motherfucker, Pablo.
- 25:59Well, I'm so proud of you.
- 26:01See, you out here doing what other artists won't do.
- 26:03You believing in yourself when you probably shouldn't.
- 26:05And when you when you feel depressed, you get on livestream and start inspiring people.
- 26:09You're making cold calls.
- 26:10You're calling over 25 venues a day.
- 26:13Shit.
- 26:13Pablo, I'm proud of you, my nigga.
- 26:15I I I you your answer better than mine, man.
- 26:17I think
- 26:18No.
- 26:18I like that answer.
- 26:19I mean, my kids my I mean, my kids are are good inspiration when it come down to they they make
- 26:24me wanna go hard when they come over here and see all daddy's equipment, and they wanna see
- 26:28what daddy can do with it.
- 26:29But come on, man.
- 26:30Who's my biggest supporter?
- 26:32She's dead, brother.
- 26:33So it's gotta be me.
- 26:35You know?
- 26:35Yeah.
- 26:36Thanks.
- 26:37I I really feel the same, but I've, like, you know, the the the, you know, self confidence.
- 26:40I think I'm finally breaking through with it, but it it's a journey, man.
- 26:43Oh, yeah.
- 26:44Most definitely.
- 26:45You just said, that's all I'm trying to get.
- 26:46Like, next year, I'm trying to be sounding like you know?
- 26:50Because, like, I I don't really like I I'm socially awkward.
- 26:54I don't really like, you know?
- 26:55I remember I was telling, some I was telling Click, well, mister Click to shout out to miss
- 27:00Click that, like, there wouldn't be I wouldn't have progressed as far as I have without him.
- 27:04I was telling him, bro, what's the problem?
- 27:05Why can't you just relax?
- 27:06And I'm like, bro, I don't know.
- 27:08He's like, something had to do with, like, man was perplexed or whatever.
- 27:10And, like, folks will, like, meet me or whatever, I tell him what I do.
- 27:15And they're like, that's a hell of a thing for you to do with, like, having anxiety the way
- 27:18that you do.
- 27:18And I'm like, I'm not gonna they don't stop me.
- 27:20Like, that's shit.
- 27:21I came through freaking some opiate addiction.
- 27:24I came through all this shit.
- 27:24Like, anxiety stopped me.
- 27:26Like
- 27:28Bro, are you are you seeing a green screen?
- 27:31I am seeing a green screen.
- 27:33And I wish you'd have told me, man.
- 27:34It's gonna be all through the recording, man.
- 27:36Oh, for real?
- 27:37Man, I wish you'd have told me, man.
- 27:39Shit.
- 27:39Yeah.
- 27:39It's all good, though.
- 27:40It's all good.
- 27:41It's all we edit all this stuff anyway, man.
- 27:42It's all good.
- 27:43Damn.
- 27:44Okay.
- 27:44Man.
- 27:45As long
- 27:45as I got I got
- 27:46the I got the vocals.
- 27:48You know?
- 27:48I got the vocals and and all that good stuff.
- 27:50We'd go through and put all kinda craziness ins and outs and stuff and play with it, man, real
- 27:55good.
- 27:55I got I got a podcast AI system to make it look all good and throw shorts, and you'll have
- 28:00shorts shorts to you you have shorts to go out here and show, but if it was all green, like,
- 28:05bro, we're have to damn to redo this interview one one day, man, because, yeah, I mean, it's
- 28:09just gonna throw it
- 28:10The whole thing went green, but I I think I noticed it.
- 28:12It was it was a good chunk.
- 28:13I didn't wanna