By Chrysanthus Ikeh
In this exclusive interview with NET, he talks about his half a million-dollar deal with his label Kash Kamp Trick Billionaire Musiq (KKTBM), his debut album and more.
How is your new album, ‘6’O Clock’, doing in the market?
Very well. I’m surprised it’s doing this well but I’m beginning to think this is how most Nigerian albums do when they are released. I am still pushing, because I am not satisfied with the outcome. You can say the success of the album, to me, is minute compared to how big I really want it to be, regardless of the fact that most people think it’s the best hip hop debut album since MI.’s ‘Talk About It’ album.
When did you start rapping?
I started a long time ago in secondary school. To be honest I can’t really pick a specific date, year or season but I know I was still in secondary school when I came up with my first song.
What are the challenges you’ve come across in the music industry?
Apart from the politics and tribalism, I think every other challenge could be accepted because in life nothing good comes easy.
How long did it take you to record your album?
This is not the first body of work I have put out. I released a mixtape in late 2011. Majority of the material on the album were recorded recently; there where even songs that were recorded after we put out the release date of the album. I am a workaholic and music is an addiction, so I always keep making good music and at the end of the day the album was a strategic compilation of an epic body of work titled ‘6ix 0’Clock’. But since we had a bonus song which was my official first single, ‘Follow Me’, I can say I have been working on this album since 2011.
On the song ‘Heartbreak’, you rapped about a girl leaving you for Davido. Tell us about it?
That was an art being exhibited at its peak. I am not just a punch line rapper as majority of Nigerians see me, I tell stories and paint pictures with my music. Ironically, that was the only song I wrote on the album.
You did an unusual thing: a 2 in 1 video for ‘Notice’ and ‘Before I go broke’. Why?
There’s nothing special in doing the casual dope video where all you need to do is try to meet up with the standards you have set for your brand. I believe more in trendsetters than trend followers or rather ‘Yes men’; it’s the level of creativity attached to that video that spurs a question like this and these are the things that matter most to me. I am not just here to make music, I am here to create art that will exist long after I stop existing as a person in this world.
Tell us about your educational background?
I am a learner.
In the music industry, how would you rate yourself?
A-List.
Last year, you declared yourself the best rapper in Nigeria. What made you place yourself above other rappers?
My background, dreams, motivation and challenges already put me above most talents we have in the game. I still have mad respect for those that brought hip hop this far though.
Can we expect more projects from soon, or you are going to chill after the success of ‘6ix O’Clock’?
Chilling is for billionaires. I am working on the KKTBM collaboration album titled ‘The new government’, and also on my upcoming mixtape titled ‘Billionaire ambitions’. Before the release of those, a couple of exclusive remixes from hits songs on the album will be released alongside top notch video’s from the album ‘6ix 0’clock’
What would you have done if you didn’t delve into music?
Politics and Science.
You used to be signed to Storm Records. What is your relationship with them now?
Storm Records is my family. #Word.
Tell us about your record label with KKTBM?
It is one of the best deals that can happen to a young entrepreneur. The whole deal for my project and the KKTBM is worth about half a million dollars and as the day goes and we grow as a label and a brand, our income and capital for new projects grow too. The name KKTBM is already becoming a household name and we are about to turn it into a franchise.
You once said in an interview with ThisDay, that your Dad used to break your CDs. Was he not in support of you doing music?
He never supported it until after the release of my cover for the Ice Prince song, ‘Oleku’, which led me to signing my first official record deal.
Which Nigerian artiste(s) do you look forward to working with on your next project?
None for now.
Any plans to work with an international act any time soon?
Yes, but I’d rather let the outcome of the efforts I’m putting in speak for me by the time it’s done.
NET EXCLUSIVE: Yung6ix talks about his $500k record deal and more
