Today we’d like to introduce you to Kekothemeko.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kekothemeko. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I always did enjoy creating content. I was making YouTube videos progressively while attending high school when I had been invited by a friend who had a studio to come record. Pushing for a career in rapping was never a thought of mine, but I did freestyle often. I hadn’t written anything before, so I decided to write my first song the day before I went to his house. When I arrived, I recorded and engineered the song myself. The song was garbage but at the time I was proud and happy with the outcome. I showed some friends and a lot of people said they enjoyed it. I decided to dive deeper into music.
Roughly one year later, I started to invest in myself. My first purchase was a Blue Snowball Microphone, which cost me $60. I downloaded the program Audacity and started to create more songs. I uploaded them onto SoundCloud, where I would get about 100 plays. The feedback pushed me to grow. I grinded and made more tracks and felt accomplished and that I had improved. Eventually, I found more equipment. A better microphone, a stand for the microphone. My friend @SupremeJai_X (Instagram) who also makes music gave me an extra audio box he had. I started getting better programs, teaching myself how to engineer and learning more about audio equipment. I allegedly stole a pair of headphones from Walgreens, and I used those as my studio headphones.
In May of 2018, I released my first project titled “Playpen.” The cover art was made by longtime friend/manager @MoralMan (Instagram) who has made artwork for the likes of Lil Tracy, Famous Dex, Merkules and more. Playpen consisted of four songs, one of which I made a music video for. The single, “PBS” which came with a video, became my first song to surpass 1’000 plays and later on 2’000.
My next move was to release a string of singles, such as “Buy It” and “No Child Support”. These songs did extremely well, and as they continued to grow I figured that I should drop an EP.
On May 4th, 2019, I released a new EP titled “Bald Headed Bitch.” I’m hoping that it will be enjoyed by my audience while I continue working on my first full-length project. I would like to thank VoyageATL Magazine for giving me this opportunity. I truly feel blessed, I want to send love out to everyone who has sent me positive energy leading up to this moment!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I have faced a lot of weak points when it comes to creating music. Though, I am thankful for the people around me that believe in me enough to help me. There are just a few members of my team, so those few who help me run things do their best to help my workflow. Having people believe in me feels great, in the past, I’ve had people try to put me down. People told me to quit music but I won’t let it get to me.
I have had to work around things such as lack of transportation, meaning I have created a space at home to create music from and I do a lot of socializing online rather than at public events or functions.
My mother being diagnosed with schizophrenia & bipolar disorder has been a struggle within my family. I have so much support from her, but it impacts me when she has episodes.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I feel like what sets me apart from other artists is that I look at music differently.
Songs can be made an unlimited number of ways. It seems a majority of artists only see a couple of ways, people always want to bite someone else’s style.
I spend a lot of time making sure my songs are unique, they have to have my personality. I use the time to explore melodies and I start each song with an open mind so I can give a feeling of freshness to my music. I strive to improve daily, and constantly try to approach song creation differently.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Accomplishing everything I want to do before the next life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://soundcloud.com/kekothemeko
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kekothemeko/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kekothemeko
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