Growing up, KAotik remembers his parents being “adamant” when it came to keeping his Nigerian heritage and traditions intact. That doesn’t mean he was sheltered from American pop culture though. With a mixture of both going on, it wasn’t too long before hip-hop entered his life and the rest, well the rest sort of fell into place as the years passed by.
With a sound that’ll take listeners back to the heyday of the genre, KAotik is ready to take on the world of hip-hop in a whole new way with his latest release, Got Lyrics. But before you hit play, read what he had to say about his music, career, and more.
Kendra: What changed for you junior year of high school that made you start pursuing music?
KAotik: I was into sports, specifically basketball, and I lost my desire for it after I got cut from tryouts. After that, I became more and more interested in hip-hop and began to write a whole lot more.
Kendra: While you’re an east coast guy born and raised, your sound is more decade based. I got a heavy dose of the ’80s and ’90s influence overall. Do you often pull your inspo from nostalgia instead of locale?
KAotik: I think my inspiration at one point, previously came from what was happening musically then. Now I can say it comes from the true pioneers of hip-hop from the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Kendra: That’s at least what I felt when listening through Got Lyrics? It’s safe to say you’re a bit of an overachiever when it comes to delivering music. 30 tracks deep? Why not break it down into a half dozen EPs or a few albums, why all at once?
KAotik: Yeah, I agree with you, I do have a hefty amount of tracks on Got Lyrics, but it’s to entertain my listeners for a lengthy amount of time. Also, I had a whole load of material available that I wanted to put out at that specific time.
Kendra: On the lengthy record you’ve got some freestyles in the mix. Is the art form of freestyling lost on emcees today?
KAotik: First of all I believe there are two types of freestyles, there’s the written type and then there’s the coming off the top of the head type. Got Lyrics has written freestyles. Though I am not bad when it comes to coming off the top of the head, I prefer written freestyles. The art form of freestyling isn’t lost on emcees today. There are a plethora of emcees that still use the art. You just have to do the research and find out who.
Kendra: Do I ever dare ask if there is more on the way for 2019, or are you focusing everything on Got Lyrics? and possible touring this year?
KAotik: There’s more material I have available so in the future I might release a new project in 2019. You just have to be on the lookout on my website for any new releases. Now as for Got Lyrics, I’m focusing on promoting it as much as I can. But as for touring, there’s a possibility I might go towards that route depending on my time situation.
