Kid Ink Talks Style, Protecting LA’s Music Scene + Staying Away From Reality TV
growing catalog of radio-friendly hits, LA rapper
Kid Ink has managed to carve out a niche for
himself — amid an overcrowded sea of rappers.
Although his indie debut, Up & Away was
released
in 2012, it wasn’t until the unexpected double-
platinum success of “Show Me,” that the 29-year-
old began to appear on most people’s radar.
With his new single heating up the charts and his
latest album Full Speed sure to attract even more
fans, Kid Ink is poised to keep his winning streak
alive whether in or out of the recording booth.
Watch as the Cali hitmaker links up with
Footaction for the lifestyle behemoth’s Style
Means series with a the comic-book themed clip
shot by renowned video director Jessy Terrero .
After you watch the clip, check out below as Kid
Ink speaks to us about the pressures associated
with following up a hit song, whether or not he
would ever join the cast of Love & Hip Hop, and
more.
Can you explain the collaboration between you and
Footaction?
The way I look at it, it’s something to show a little
bit more of my lifestyle and my style at the same
time. From a regular person standpoint, [it shows]
how I go through my regular day all the way until I
hit the stage and how that changes up. It makes
me a little bit more relatable to the people, and
that’s definitely one of the main reasons I’m a part
of it. Footaction is something that I grew up on as
a kid. So I understand just where they’re at with
their kicks and how they kick it to the streets,
man.
From a music standpoint, what does the LA scene
have to do in order to protect its grip on the
game?
I think the first step was breaking out of the old
mold — the old Death Row and The Game sound —
breaking out of that street gangsta sound. I think
that’s how we first did it, we kind of just made it all
our own and kind of just spoke for all our different
neighborhoods. I think the big thing though, we
gotta stick together – like how the South always
keep it together. We gotta work together, keep
doing records together, keep supporting each other
and I think we’ve been doing a great job with that
lately.
Your latest single “Be Real” is doing very well
right now. How much pressure was there to have
a follow that can possibly match the success of
“Show Me”? Was there any pressure or was that
something that was in the back of your mind the
entire time?
I try not to put the personal pressure on myself
with any specific song, of course there is that
pressure, always wanting to do better and it’s like
a pressure and one of those things like I want to
get another number one. It’s not something that I
don’t want, to just keep reliving that same moment
but I definitely, you know, repeat that process a
couple of times and have a better understanding
for it. For me, I understand the game and how I
can switch it up and do different things and they
can be at the same potential as other records. For
me, I was just having fun and hoping that there
were a lot of other records that people would let
me know that were gonna be at that right potential.
I know which ones I was always fans of and “Be
Real” was at the top of my list, like the number one
record I supported as soon as it was done. Even
though the label was going around it and other
people were telling me this, this- and this, I was
like “nah man this is that one record,” so for me it
was exciting to get that record done and to know
that it was having a success. But I’m still looking
forward to it man- if it can do big things as “Show
Me” it’s just better for me to show and prove that
Kid Ink is holding his own, without having the
different co-signs from other people that people
might think their making my career instead of just
myself.
What was it about Dej Loaf that made you want to
work with her?
Initially the respect of her response that was
happening and just the culture- it was something
that I just couldn’t deny and the people around me
kept pushing on me just as far as “pay attention to
this girl, she has some potential.” For me, when I
got this one record the fact that she was probably
the only person content wise that could really
make this believable, after hearing the “Try Me”
record and the stuff that was being said. Even what
you didn’t hear, the whole hook is kinda cut on
certain parts – there was demoed parts that were
really street stuff, and talking about baby mammas
— some hood stuff. I had to use her for those
different parts for it to make sense and be
believable and then we picked across the parts that
just made better sense for the song. I think from
there, me working with a new artist like that
there’s a fear of when you get in the studio with
them. That you can kind of lead them to go
somewhere else and they may not be the same
person they are when they’re in the studio by
themselves. They might be star struck or brand
new, or not know how to work in front of you. But
for me it’s better cause I can send the record to
her, she can send it back and I still have that
confidence to produce it and make it my own
without having a bunch of slack. Like I’ve had
artist that I move one word around and I have
people get completely mad and not understand
where I am coming from. Where it’s easier to talk
to the newer artist and make them understand
where you’re coming from, they give a little bit
more to you because you’re in a better position.
How important to you is it for a person to be able
to separate a person’s artistry from the actual
person and what’s going on in their personal
lives?
There needs to definitely be some type of
importance there man to the point where people
can separate it, because you definitely see people
get through different things by making the good
music and they’ll do something faulty, and they
make that good record to get them over it and then
you kind of like telling yourself, “why did I hold
these records against this person for what they did
in their real life?” I think it’s because people like
Chris Brown that when I hung around him I could
tell that this is somebody who just wants to be you
know regular and chilling with everybody else.
When you hit a certain point you kind of just want
to chill and be normal and I think sometime you
get caught in normal situations and forget the
position you’re in and you kind of slip up
sometimes but people hold it against you like
you’re not normal anymore and they don’t
remember that you were just trying to chill and
have your own moment. So I think a lot of people
get into the same problem and do the same things
these people are doing it’s just not a super public
eye on everybody. I definitely try not to be
judgmental to those things when I work with
people and hopefully fans and other people can
separate that too. Like a hit song, is a hit song and
it’s like that in different areas. People hold stuff
against you man.
Would you ever join the cast of Love & Hip Hop?
Nah-I already made that decision early. I am not
even gonna say that they were reaching out but I
heard there were some words. But I shut that
down early because you know for me I think I’m
working too much. When you get into them
positions on those shows it kind of takes away,
you have to do different scheduling, you have to do
this and that and Ive noticed a lot of those artist
from those shows stop working. When you see
them next on those interviews it says “reality TV
star” and I just never want under my name “Kid
Ink” for it to say “reality TV star” before it says
“hip hop artist,” “musician,” “writer,” “producer”-so
definitely not my goal man.
So that would go for any reality show?
Unless it was something about me and my team,
and it was about the grind, and was really about
getting in the studio and it was really about the
work — or just me wanting to show people the
behind-the-scenes and what’s really going on. It’s
more the direction I’m trying to go- instead of
having a show that’s going to mess up my
relationships because they’re going to try to find a
whole bunch of rumors or bring some ex-girlfriend
in the room that I didn’t know about and that I
gotta deal with.
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