Today we’d like to introduce you to K.Freshh.
K.Freshh, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
For sure. I’m an independent Hip-Hop artist and producer based out of Los Angeles, California but originally from Tarboro, North Carolina, or the 252 as we affectionately call it.
For me, my musical journey started in church. That’s the first real and tangible memory I have of connecting to music. I always think it’s super funny because I absolutely hated loud noise as a kid (nah really, like I cried at fireworks, haha) but now, I make loud noises for a living! I was always sensitive to sound, but more importantly, I was even more sensitive to how people responded and reacted to it. Church was incredible. You saw, in real-time, how people connected with a certain song, certain voices, certain messages, and how the timing and context of sound can shape and mold your experience with it. I think that’s why music has always been so deeply spiritual for me because it was introduced to me in a spiritual capacity.
I began piano lessons at the age of four and the sole reason I wanted to learn how to play was because of an instance that happened one Sunday after service. I boldly walked up to the piano, tried to play it, and I couldn’t. I was like, “I gotta learn this!” This “machine” seemed to have so much power and influence that I needed to tap into that feeling.
Before I identified as an artist, I identified as a “musician” first and I took a lot of pride in that. I wanted to be the best piano player of all-time. My dad had an incredible, keen taste in artists, and it wasn’t long before I made him go through every cassette and vinyl record with an accompanying story about every artist we came across. I needed to know everything about everything. And to this day, I think the knowledge-base and information I’ve been able to obtain about songs, song structure, artistic performance, rap cadences, the structure of melodies, and I go could on and on… is what has helped me developed a unique sound, style, and approach to creation.
That early passion led me into middle school and high school band. Nah, I didn’t play the clarinet, lol but I was a proud trumpeter. I say this is where my formidable years of musical training and prowess evolved. I advanced quickly on trumpet and started learning other brass instruments and by the time I was in 10th grade, I could play over seven instruments with fluency. My time in the Tarboro High school marching band is still some of the fondest memories I have of music. My middle school had a program that let a few kids play in the high school band. Of course, you had to be elite and be able to handle the pressure. For me, this was the first time that I was around peers and people slightly older than me that were better than me and also shared similar experiences and backgrounds to mine. This catapulted my level of talent, my ability to learn, and train quickly all while advancing my ability to think on my feet. It also exposed me to other genres and types of music that I wasn’t privy too. My friends and I, at the time, were listening to early Tyler, the Creator, and Kanye, yet we were playing music from the musical “Wicked” in the marching band. It was a gorgeous dichotomy and another reason as to why I think I’m able to be and stay diverse. And while I’m Hip-Hop at the core, I will never be defined by or confined to a genre. It’s my ambition to make albums of all styles and genres. I want to make “Yonkers” and “Defying Gravity”.
At the start of my freshman year of high school, my life-long friend and brother, Tommy Fomo, asked me to start a Hip-Hop group with him. At first, we just wanted to be like the Neptunes – he was Pharrell, I was Chad. We just wanted to make beats, but we quickly found out that rapping over our own beats sounded dope. We released projects, albums, did a few shows, and learned the foundations and fundamentals of recording, arranging, producing, and performing. I wouldn’t be the same creative I am today with my bro, Tommy. He pushed me to always be better, brighter, sharper, and more thoughtful. It was him that helped me discover what REAL artistry looks like. It wasn’t just about making songs, it was about the presentation, artwork, design aesthetic, and how you carry yourself.
When I was 17, I had an experience that changed my life forever. I got accepted into “GRAMMY Camp”. A prestigious week and a half long summer experience with some of the best musicians, artists, songwriters, and creators in the U.S. and around the world. I couldn’t believe I had gotten in, haha. GRAMMY Camp, which took place at the University of Southern California, allowed us as kids, to connect with and learn from GRAMMY-nominated and award-winning producers, videographers, songwriters, mixing engineers, and music business execs. This was when my focus started to shift from being just a “great musician” to becoming a “great artist”. GRAMMY Camp gave us the “sauce” on how to win big in the music industry and even more countless gems I still use to this day. For instance, the concept of “networking across” and building with the people right next to you can be just as valuable as “networking up” or trying to reach someone on a higher level than you. Both are necessary but many people negate and undervalue their circles and fail to exploit (in a positive way) the talents within it. Or even the concept of that you, as an artist, are a brand that holds value, so you have to start treating yourself like one.
The following year, I got into GRAMMY Camp again. This time, it was in Brooklyn, New York at the infamous but now defunct, Converse Rubber Tracks Studios. This time around, I had a moment that solidified my future. As part of the camp, we worked on songs all week long in between the masterclasses. The goal was to take what we’ve learned, apply it, and collaborate. At the end of the week, we would put on a show that featured original songs, arrangements, and visual content produced by all students. To perform in the show, you had to pitch your songs and perform them in front of the whole camp. The song my friends and I pitched was not only chosen to be played at the show, but it was chosen to be the finale performance. I was hype.
We performed our closing showcase at the Tisch School of the Arts. The finale was everything it needed to be and more. K.Freshh was on the stage and telling everybody to put their hands up. Several hundred people in New York City with their hands up at my command… WITH a standing ovation… yeah, I knew this was my calling. (Sidenote: I was feeling fly because I was wearing some red jeans and felt like Kanye when he was performing at the VMAs in 2010, lol)
But, from that moment on, I decided to dive fully into this “artistry” thing. I went to school at Elon University, got my degree in Music Production and Recording Arts, released two albums, performed at numerous events around campus, started building my base as an artist, released a handful of music videos, interned for the GRAMMYs, laid the foundation of work ethic for my career and then after graduation… moved to Los Angeles with some friends of mine to pursue music full-time, take over the industry, and make something shake with this artistry thing.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
During my entire college chapter, I felt like I was on Cloud 10! Yeah, Cloud 10. I had an amazing time with some incredible people. I STAYED in the studio during my junior and senior years and that became my happy place. I graduated with high honors and as a respected member of my class. And while I had tremendous success in college, I was at a familiar crossroads that many college seniors face…
“What are you doing after college?” Short answer: I didn’t know. I needed to recharge, regroup, and reassess before making any decisions. I went back home and stayed the whole summer at the house I grew up in. I made another EP and was feeling good and creative. The homies were in my ear talking about LA, but I wasn’t really feeling it. I don’t know – but I was just unsure. I’ve learned since that when you are unsure, you just gotta jump, so that’s what I did.
I jumped. And for the first six months, I felt like I fell flat. I was unemployed for six months, felt like I didn’t have any value, and also felt like my worth as a person was slowly deteriorating. I remember one night, I sat in my room and cried as I thought about all of my goals and ambitions. I set the bar so high and had placed all of this incredible pressure on myself. I used to call that time “the dark ages”. But now, I call it the period of enlightenment. I needed those six months. I needed to be humbled and brought back to square one. I needed to be shown what that art of long-suffering looked like. I needed to write “that” chapter in the book. I slowly started to get on my feet, got a part-time job that became a full-time job working at a music store. That gave me something to apply myself to and while things were better, they still weren’t amazing. I was doing OK, but I wasn’t thriving.
But to be real, let me not even breeze past that. I want to be transparent with the people reading this. I flirted with depression and anxiety because things weren’t clicking like they had been. The thing that kept me from falling into depression and anxiety was my original love and avenue of how I discovered music. God. God kept me close to the bottom but never let me hit it. It was the most beautiful and profound experience I’d ever had, and I’d go back and do it again if I needed to. I learned so much about myself, my identity, how to re-align goals, and I learned the value of pure and authentic work ethic. I had to prepare myself. I moved to LA in September of 2018. I didn’t start working until March of 2019 and wasn’t full-time (still making minimum wage) until July. During this period, I applied myself and relearned how to create. I probably made over 5 or 6 albums during that period. Just learning, hacking, getting better, and sharpening the sword.
I needed to go through that wilderness period to have the amazing vision and clarity that I do now, even the midst of a pandemic. I’ve never felt sharper, wiser, creative, and more humbled than I do at this very moment.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
Sure thing. I am an independent Hip-Hop artist and producer that writes, arranges, composes, mixes, masters, and promotes all of my music. This year alone, I have released seven (and might be eight by the time you read this, lol) new singles. What sets me apart is a sound that blends lyricism, musicality, and spirituality. I’m always in the lab learning and getting better. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t learn something, read something, or watch something that helps push me toward my destiny. That factor of non-stop learning is what will enable me to become one of the biggest, if not the biggest artist of all-time.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment in my career thus far has to be my February 2020 single release, “Mood Off”. Mood Off was the first song I had released in over a year and a few months. It was a perspicuous marker of growth, clarity, and precision and an indicator that K.Freshh was back and focused. I was finding my rhythm as an artist while redefining my sound and style and it showed. It was met with rave reviews by family, friends, and homies. It showed that “I still had it” and that this was the VERY beginning of a very fruitful, successful, and prosperous career.
The ability and mastery it took to chronicle my hardships in a tangible piece of art was a success to me. I was like… Man, if I can Mood Off… then I can do anything! No, really – I know that part kind of reads a little cheesy, lol, but I’m dead serious. When you’re at any crossroads in life, you have a decision to make. You can either let the hardship “become” you or you can humble yourself, redefine yourself, and climb the hill of upward trajectory. I didn’t play “Mood Off” for anybody before it came out. I didn’t need to, and I didn’t want to. I just wanted my experiences to be free and to be felt.
Contact Info:
- Email: kbmusic3@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kfreshh_
- Stream “Mood Off”: https://www.smarturl.it/kfreshh-moodoff
Image Credit:
“Matthew Clanton” as the photographer of all of these images and link to his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicalmatthew
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