Crash Landing, Daydreamer and Wheels Up made noise throughout the blogs and websites, but now it’s 2012 and Kid Ink is aiming on taking the next step into the masses. Heavier rotation on the radio, DJ’s playing his tracks in the club, making the XXL freshmen cover, and reaching out to a wider fan base are all goals he’s trying to attain for what looks to be a big year for the Cali rapper. The heavily-tatted MC from Los Angeles is currently on board with world-renowned DJ’s, DJ Rockstar and DJ Ill Will on Tha Alumni label and he’s repping the west coast to the fullest with a range of music videos gaining massive hits on YouTube such as La La La, Keep it Rollin, and not to mention his latest single, Time Of Your Life, produced by Ned Cameron. Kid Ink jumped on board with the aforementioned Ill Will and Rockstar in 2010 and started establishing his online presence with his first mixtape, Crash Landing. After following that up with Daydreamer, Kid Ink finished off the trilogy with Wheels Up, featuring big-name producers and artists such as fellow west coast native, Nipsey Hussle, Hit-Boy and Lex Luger. The mixtapes and making a name for himself is done with, and 2012 brings on the challenge of taking that all-important next step of hitting the masses on a bigger national stage. Be on the lookout for his upcoming projects such as his forthcoming independent album and an EP project that’s currently in the works.
I was able to get a hold of Kid Ink over the phone as we chatted about the creation of his latest single, how he got on board with Ill Will and Rockstar, who he wants to collaborate with, his tattoos and more.
Interview by Michael Nguyen (@xMikeyNguyen)
So what’s good with you lately? Music-wise, what have you been up to?
Music-wise, right now we’re focusing on an EP project that me and Ty$ are doing that we’re trying to drop early spring. After that I’m probably going to work on an independent album.
With Time of Your Life, can talk about the story behind the song and like the creation process while in the studio?
I went to my man Ned Cameron in the studio and he played me a lot of his records. He’s the producer of I Just Want It All. He played me a couple of new records and with the third one he played, I got a vibe for it and a melody and it came real quick. It was one of the quicker ones that night. It just felt like magic even with Ill Will there and everything, it just felt like the right record. We didn’t even have to work too hard for the single. We went in there –that was the beginning of the start to push for the single and we got it right on the first try. It was crazy.
Are you going to work with him more in the future?
Definitely. We already have two more records wrapped up and we’re probably going to try to get three on the independent album.
Looking back at it, how’d you feel about Wheels Up? Did it reach your expectations?
I felt like it did. I felt like Wheels Up was something needed. It was detrimental for my look and going after the XXL freshmen look. I felt like it just helped me out and helped me reach a fan base that I didn’t really touch before with the hardcore hip-hop heads. It was more lyricism.
What’s your favorite song off the mixtape?
Favorite song is probably Never Change.
What about your first album? What’s going on with that right now?
Right now, it’s going pretty well. We knocked out a couple records. I haven’t stopped working right after “Wheels Up.” I haven’t stopped working so I have some stuff stashed but I kind of put it aside a little bit to focus and try to finish this Ty$ record which will hopefully finish up in the next two weeks and we’ll go right back in on the independent album.
So with the independent album, sonically, what can we expect from that?
With the independent album, I kind of grasped what the fans would like from the “Daydreamer” album and the “Wheels Up” album. I feel like on the independent album, I’ll be able to take what the fans really like from both of those and reach two different fan bases. I want to take both the sounds and blend them together so it will be more polished.
You’re also going to have some club bangers and shit in there too, right?
Definitely, of course. I’m going to make sure I reach everything and I’ll still keep it in the club and some for the radio.
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