So much has happened for New York based Kilo Kish since SB.TV's Lily Mercer caught up with her a year ago. The past 12 months have seen her building a buzz with her debut EP Homeschool and early this year followed up with a mixtape entitled K+...
The tape saw her collaborating with the likes of SBTRKT, Star Slinger, Earl Sweatshirt, Flatbush Zombies, A$AP Ferg and more, in an exploration of the recording and collaborative process. The project resulted in a one day art exhibition that saw k+‘s ten songs presented alongside an installation of every email, note, Skype conversation and whatever else went into the process of recording. The exhibition was then ripped down and the remnants of the project released to the internet in mixtape form.
We caught up with the rapper/ vocalist/ artist recently whilst on tour in Newcastle to discuss the project and whether she can yet take herself serious as a musician…
You’ve described your new project k+ as being more about the process than the product, why did you choose to do this?
Since I started making music, especially these guys (The Internet), I was so interested in how different people work, and how different people write songs and record, and everyone’s own creative process musically because it’s a culture that I was never really a part of. And so I decided to make a little art collection, an exhibit based on that idea, and just trying to bring people who maybe didn’t know about that process a little bit more to the forefront. Just to kind of explain my process and how I work on things because I like a lot of transparency. I just wanted to be open with the people that listen to my music, so that they can hear like all the little things in between.
And there was a lot more emphasis on collaboration this time around.
Yeah because before I worked mostly with The Internet, they did most of the production on Homeschool. So this time I wanted to kind of take the reins in a little bit more, now that I’m a little more comfortable with making music, and I’d watched and seen different people work and was ready to make my own project. k+ was more of my personality really, so for the collaboration aspect I just wanted to bring in all of my friends, like natural people that I’ve worked with before, and have had dinner with, and have hung out with, and have slept over houses with. I just wanted it to be natural and comfortable and not forced collaborations like when you’re put in the studio with someone else. I just wanted it to be real, and that’s why I chose the people that I chose.