Rising Stars: Meet Kai Winborne of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kai Winborne.

Hi Kai, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚, 𝐆𝐀. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝟑 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟔 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐘𝐞𝐭, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐝’𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐈 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝟕, 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭. 𝐀𝐬 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐰, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥’𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐀𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜, 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬, 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐀𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡, 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐈 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫. 𝐔𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭. 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐍𝐁/𝐏𝐨𝐩 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐆𝐨 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥, 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥. 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐈 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐈’𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲.

Alright, 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?
– Health-wise I’ve dealt with acute asthma, PTSD, and a thyroidal cyst covering my windpipe
– My older brother passed of a cardiac arrest when I was 7

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
– I’m an artist at heart
– I’ve been a musician, director, actor and filmmaker since I was 6
– I made my regional on-stage debut this past spring as Byron in The Watsons Go To Birmingham at Alabama Shakespeare Festival
– I produced my first mixtape and EP in the Summer and Fall of 2024
– I’m a classically trained actor with a year of on-stage experience and soon, a BA in Theatre Arts from Alabama State University (Spring 2026)
– I specialize in on-stage/film acting, voiceover, live vocals, recording artistry, audio engineering, foley art, sound design, costume design, graphic design, photography and journalism.

How do you think about happiness?
I’m happiest when I’m making noise. I grew up performing and creating out of rebellion. Asthma and thyroidal blockage made it hard to breathe so in a way, I feel best when I’m challenging that. One might say I just like hearing myself talk. I guess they’re sort of right.

Pricing:

• $300 a music video
• $150 a photoshoot (4 shots)
• $50 for a verse
• $25 for cover art

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/kaikakuyon?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZ9X1scVUzKzUNZGaB0l1Hx7QcppuB30oAMdPdt2XY_Nm5BM1RszwrooW0_aem_AV0iD3Gf3R5HBetrW2feyUoiRdvdLxnyefHFbGxp5RD2bPAY4cVzRpgDBR4nwLkB2coqtLEpziUGJv1oHoa57Yhj
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supremeguykai/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kai.winborne.3
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-winborne-b1412526a?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@craftedbykaku?si=ZWwhQfOaGmxmTDVH
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/8hbFHgnXanAUYmezyT

Image Credits
Carson Shearer
Kai Kakuyon
Yero Winborne
Eric Franklin Jr.