FIVE : How are they doing now ? KK : They ’ re great . TG : They ’ re awesome .
FIVE : Who are your musical influences and what about them appeals to you ?
TG : Hm . That ’ s a good one . Well , as far as musical influences goes , I ’ ll throw Michael Jackson out there first and foremost because , I mean , a majority of the nation grew up on him .
KK : As far as hip-hop goes , A Tribe Called Quest would definitely be a big influence . As well as Outkast . TG : Yeah , hands down . Outkast . Who else ? KK : Old Lupe Fiasco . TG : Personally , artistically Kanye West . Man , it ’ s really hard to narrow it down .
FIVE : It doesn ’ t have to strictly be music , it could be anything . TG : Sports . As far as I go . KK : For me , my main musical inspiration is whatever is going on . Like , the “ Sunset ” track was in response to my grandpa passing away .
FIVE : What about “ Let ’ s Roll ?”
KK : “ Let ’ s Roll ” was just cool . It was just fun . That was actually the first I ever put out .
FIVE : “ 11:59 .” KK : I was just speaking about what I felt . Life , the government , everything . That ’ s just what I think about . As random as that is .
FIVE : It ’ s no secret that you examine big issues in your music and it seems to be quite universal as you have fans in other locales . What does that mean to you as an artist , especially with your background and upbringing ?
KK : The response we get for what we do is incredible . To me , it means everything . I think my favorite part is when people say that what we do inspires them to do what they want to do . Whether it be music or dance or art or school . Which , to me , is the most important thing .
TG : Effecting people ’ s lives . Making a difference on anybody ’ s life is always awesome . Even if it ’ s only with a three to four minute video .
FIVE : You ’ re quite young yet your music is very mature and thoughtful . How do you come to approach such topics ?
KK : I kind of feel like with everything , like my mom ’ s breast cancer , I had to mature kind of early to deal with that .
TG : I feel like as far as all of us goes , we ’ re kind of mature for our ages . It feels like what we do isn ’ t something you would expect from anybody our age .
FIVE : You are in a very good spot as far as college and music is concerned . Where do you see things going in the next few years with both ?
KK : I ’ m a sophomore right now , so maybe I ’ ll get to graduate in the next two years or so with my degree in biology and then depending what happens with this music , which we ’ re going to keep doing regardless , we ’ ll go from there . But I definitely want to get my degree no matter what .
College classes have slowed down music production but Kodak and Grier will no doubt remain relentless with their craft . This duo has proved they have the chops to be a rock solid entity in local music and possess a lot of promise in continuing to deliver thoughtful and fun music .
To hold fans and music lovers over , Kid Kodak has his album “ That One Kid ” available for download , as well as a mixtape with fellow artist Murphy D entitled “ Suburbia ” on his website www . kidkodakmusic . com
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