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Artist Background and Positioning
- Kayco introduced himself as a 27-year-old independent artist based in Portland, Oregon.
- His family relocated there from the Bay Area.
- He described himself as a fully self-contained artist who writes, produces, mixes, and masters his own work.
- His sound has evolved over time.
- He began with emotionally driven trap/hip-hop rooted in personal life experience.
- Over time, his music shifted further toward R&B while still retaining hip-hop elements.
- Independence is a core part of his identity.
- He emphasized operating without label support.
- The discussion framed this as a strength, especially for artists who can manage creation and production end to end.
Creative Development and Influences
- He has been recording since age 14.
- His early projects included:
- "Trap Ways"
- "Trap Fall"
- He intentionally left older work available on YouTube to document his growth as an artist.
- He described his influences as including:
- 50 Cent
- Kevin Gates
- Bay Area and West Coast music culture
- His artistic journey was shaped by personal hardship.
- He said he originally tried to make spiritual music.
- Later life events and legal pressure changed his direction, and music became his main outlet for expression.
- He wants artistic flexibility rather than being boxed into one style.
- He is comfortable making trap records.
- He also wants to create deeper lyrical music and more commercial or radio-friendly songs depending on the mood and beat.
Discussion on Artistry and Hip-Hop
- Kayco distinguished between mainstream rap and what he considers true hip-hop.
- He associated rap more with commercial regional styles such as drill and Atlanta-driven sounds.
- He described true hip-hop as being more rooted in rhyme schemes, structure, pocket, and culture.
- His definition of pure artistry centered on expression.
- He said artistry is about communicating feeling across genres and generations.
- He highlighted appreciation for instrumentation, timing, melodic structure, and technical musical details.
Education and Professional Development
- Kayco recently started an audio production course.
- He said he began the program the previous week.
- He chose Full Sail over other institutions he had considered.
- He has committed more seriously to music as a business.
- He recently stopped working his previous job.
- He is now focused full-time on music.
- He is building infrastructure around his career.
- He launched his publishing.
- He is in the process of launching his label.
- He has prepared roughly 30 songs for rollout across the year so he can continue creating while releasing consistently.
Current Projects and Release Strategy
- He has two upcoming projects planned for release this year:
- "Moonlight"
- "City Nights"
- Current track counts discussed:
- "City Nights": 12 tracks
- "Moonlight": 10 tracks
- Two songs previewed during the session were confirmed as part of "City Nights."
- He is still deciding final sequencing and release structure.
- He has considered whether to release one full album first and then follow with the next.
- He appears increasingly aligned with a steady-release strategy rather than dropping everything at once.
- His preferred rollout approach now is:
- One song per week, or
- One song every other week
- The reasoning behind that plan is to maintain fan engagement and support momentum as industry traction grows.
Music Reviewed During the Session
- The host played multiple Kayco tracks submitted previously.
- Songs referenced or previewed included:
- "11 Threes"
- Never Stops
- Other previously sent material including "Remember Who"
- Response to the music was highly positive.
- The host Mattsuuii strongly praised the quality and said the songs matched his taste.
- Mattsuuii expressed immediate interest in downloading and replaying the material.