Kemba - Dr. Strange interviews Kemba lyrics

Dr. Strange: Can we start with you briefly introducing yourself as an artist? How would you describe your music? Kemba: I'm Kemba, I'm an artist and writer from the Bronx, NY. My music is hard to describe for me, because I'm changing. The next project I put out will sound very different from the last. But I think artists with good taste will always put out good music, and I think I have pretty good taste at the very least Dr. Strange: Oh, do you have anything in mind for the direction of your next project? Kemba: Actually, yes. Every album I've been trying to get better, tangibly. You're Welcome was just me getting used to rapping and recording. Fall FWD was my first crack at writing songs over original beats. Good Morning, Midnight was me experimenting with my voice, and melodies, and things of that nature. I think GNK, then Negus, are where I got comfortable with all parts of music-making and started getting better at all of it. Now, I'm working on my melodies, and being more personal in my music. I want to go from reporting what I see, to telling folks what I've been through and how I feel. You know? Dr. Strange: So, you're gonna Drake on us a little bit? Haha, but in all seriousness, I totally feel ya, I'm looking forward to it. Would you say this progression is because you personally prefer to listen to music like that? More melodic, deeply personal music? Kemba: Not going Drake. Not really that emotional, just talking about life experiences. I think it's just what I love to make. It's a natural progression. Also, I think I've said all I can say when it comes to social issues. Now I want to make music for your everyday life Dr. Strange: Do you mean like everyday life as in dealing with relationships and stuff of that nature? Kemba: I mean everyday life as in everything. I want to make music that you can play in all stages/events in your life. Stuff you can grow with Dr. Strange: Your old name is YC the Cynic, and in your Twitter bio you refer to yourself as a “recovering cynic”. Can you tell us what sparked that change in you, where you went from a “full-on” cynic to a recovering one? Kemba: I kinda just grew out of being a cynic, so to speak. I've gotten more positive as time's gone by. It's still a process though Dr. Strange: Can you recount anything in particular that affected your worldview more positively? Kemba: I don't know the exact moment, but, one of my exes, my first real relationship, gave me The Secret DVD. I got deep into studying the law of attraction, reading a ton of articles, listening to a bunch of audiobooks, etc. Funny thing is, once you learn about it, you notice a bunch of famous people talking about it. Anyway, that phase kind of fizzled a bit, but the positivity it brought is still here Dr. Strange: Gotcha. I never took for a person who's into The Secret. That's actually cool. How much do you believe in the LOA? Would you say it worked out for you? Kemba: I believe it a lot. I've seen it work. I made a vision board, full of people that I wanted to meet and things I wanted to do. One thing on it was a picture of Peter Rosenberg hosting an event at SOBs. I never met the guy in my life. Sure enough, a year later, I had my GNK release party at SOBs and Rosenberg brought me on stage Dr. Strange: That's neat. Rosenberg is one of those guys that really tries to keep an eye on the whole scene. I've seen that he also played you at his Late Night show. Do you think they'll be other appearances or interviews with him or Ebro? Kemba: Yea, Rosenberg is real. He supports emerging artists. I'm positive there will be other things in the future Dr. Strange: They say inspiration can come from anywhere, but what type of thing usually gets you inspired? What type of thing sets you off? What do you look for that really pushes you to create? Kemba: My music is like, an amalgamation of life experiences. I just live, and watch, and listen, and learn, and love and hate…and then go into the studio listen to a beat and write. There's not one specific thing or another. I get ideas walking in the street, in the shower, everywhere Dr. Strange: What are things you want people to take from your music? Do you have any particular things in mind that you want people to get when creating your projects? Kemba: I want to be of service to people. I want to be a voice for people like me. I want to make music that defines moments/experiences in people's lives. There's music I will always love because of the memories attached to it, where I was in my own life. I want to make music like that Dr. Strange: In your song, “The Heaviest Cross” featured on your last LP, in the opening lines you rap “I put out a song today, It got both love and hate, I only put my heart into it”. Is there something in particular that made you rap those lines? Were there moments you had in mind where you poured your heart into a song, and it went under fire by someone when creating that song? Kemba: I think that's something a lot of artists feel, really. A lot of us write from personal experiences: all we know, believe, and love. To have that boiled down into a number score out of 10, based some arbitrary opinion, it kinda s**s. There's benefits, of course, but the whole foundation of that idea s**s Dr. Strange: I noticed you really have a way with words, that you're a good writer, how did you cultivate this talent for it to come off as refined as it is now? Kemba: I've always had a talent for writing. Teachers wanted me to do it more, but I was never interested. Music was a way to write that was encouraged by my peers, you know? So, once I started writing rhymes, at like 9 years old, I literally never stopped Dr. Strange: I find your music interesting, but what's more is that your visuals also deliver too. Are there any more visuals coming up in the near-future? Can we expect any new Kemba music vids? Kemba: Thanks! I'm working on a video for Already. Other than that, I don't know. But I have a ton of ideas. I write a lot of video concepts Dr. Strange: Would you be willing to share any video concept ideas you have with us? Kemba: I'll keep the video concepts to myself for now. Haha Dr. Strange: Haha, fair enough. As someone who's really into film and ideas of my own, I'm curious to hear about others. Do you see yourself ever branching off into that field more? Whether is penning scripts or picking up the camera yourself or direct? Kemba: I'd really love to. I wrote the video for The New Black Theory, and the one for Molotovs at Poseidon. I love it. I don't know about picking up the camera though Dr. Strange: What do you like to do in your spare time? Any TV shows you watch currently? You can share anything really Kemba: For fun? I don't do much. I chill with close friends, go to shows once in a while, but that's work too. I play a lot of NBA 2K. I'm the best. I watch Netflix. Just got caught up with Walking Dead. Excited to see Black Mirror come back. Atlanta is fire. Also loved Luther, Peaky Blinders, The Fall, a bunch of stuff. Impractical Jokers is my joint too Dr. Strange: Haha, I'm a fan of Black Mirror, Atlanta, and Luther too. What is it about these type of shows that resonate with you or pull you in? I love psychological thrillers. Black Mirror is amazing at keeping you guessing. Luther is so dope. It's basically Idris Elba as Batman. And it's beautifully shot. Atlanta is just so unapologetically black, nuanced, hilarious. Plus I'm a Donald Glover stan. I met him once and froze Dr. Strange: So you just got starstruck? Did he say anything thing do you? Kemba: Nope. It was just hi you're great, thanks, that's love. For sure man. Peace… Same when I met J. Cole a few days ago. Haha Dr. Strange: So you met, Gambino, J. Cole, and Nas. Who else in the industry would you like to meet? Kemba: I've met a lot of the people I wanted to. But I just want to let everyone I appreciate know that I appreciate them. Drake, Anderson .Paak, Andre 3K, Eminem, Jay Z, Kanye. There's like, countless people man. I'm young. It'll happen Dr. Strange: We know you are an independent artist, but independent doesn't necessarily mean alone. Can you guide us through with what type of people you work with and what do they do? Kemba: I've been doing literally everything, on the business side for the past 5 or so years. Booking, publicity, marketing, all me. I've been blessed with great people helping me on the creative side though, like Frank Drake, Cole King, Otis Clapp, DJ Charlie Hustle, Oliver Eid, Sense Hernandez, Jayo, DJ Sosa. I probably missed some folks, I apologize Dr. Strange: Oh wow, so you really are a true “independent artist” in almost every sense of the word, do you see yourself becoming less and less of a one-man-team in the future any time soon? Kemba: Yes, exactly. Just like you said it. I think I'll be gradually less of a one-man-team as time goes on. And it'll start very soon. Figuring out the future as we speak Other fan-submitted questions: Rakeemlaflare: What inspired the name change, and what was the recording and writing process for Kemba like? Kemba: A few things: The best way I can explain it is like, I came up right before the internet was the main way to come up. So, I grew up with a lot of the old rules. Like, whatever your hood named you…that was your name. It was an honor. I got the name YC when I was 12. After I hit 21, it started to represent who I was becoming less and less, you know? Also, my learning experiences were pretty public. My first mixtapes were on 2dopeboyz, Nahright, and sites like that. I didn't have original beats then. I didn't even know how to write a chorus. So, people got a first impression of me that stuck throughout my whole career as YC. Plus, I made a lot of mistakes. So I just wanted to start fresh The recording/writing process is very natural man. Usually, Frank is sitting there making the beat from scratch, and I'm feeding ideas, guiding the process a little, or just humming melodies while he works. It's really fluid and organic. The hook always comes first, lyrics last Eric Diep: Can you break down “The New Black Theory,” and what made you write such a politically charged song about skin color and appearance? Have you been racially profiled before and what was your response? Kemba: The New Black Theory was simple. It didn't take long to write. I wanted to be as straightforward as possible. No crazy wordplay, nothing that needs to be heard a million times to understand. I wanted to be as blunt and brutally honest as I could about how I feel as a black man. And yes, racism is everywhere. Just last week, me and my boy Vithym were upstate at the studio (that I've been going to four 4 years), when a lady (that moved into the building maybe a year ago) took pictures of our car and tried to told the landlord we may be dangerous squatters. The idea that someone went on the offensive, putting us in danger situations (taking pictures of the car) while claiming to be in danger is how so many people of color get f**ed. I'm still pretty upset about that