RH First Look: KoVu
KoVu, a rapper who grew up outside of Chicago, sat down with us a few days ago. We chopped it up about representing the suburbs, going on tour with the likes of Tory Lanez, being well known in a small town, and more. Check out the full interview below:
rubyhornet: For any of our readers not familiar with KoVu, who is KoVu?
KoVu: KoVu is a young kid from the suburbs of Chicago. I grew up in Plainfield, Illinois. It was a small town where everyone was trying to be a rapper. I didn’t get into rapping until my freshman year at college in 2012/2013. Made a dorm room mixtape called Good Morning Nightmares. After taking a break, I came back in 2015/2016 and dropped my ep Contrast. Played a couple shows with Waka Flacka, Vic Mensa, and Tory Lanez. Now I’m here.
rubyhornet: KoVu comes from the Lion King, because your mom said you looked like Kovu, a character in the movie. What kind of influence does Disney have in the culture?
KoVu: Disney is like Apple, they have everything. I was a huge Power Rangers fan so when they took over that I was really upset. I’m looking forward to the new Lion King with Donald Glover and Beyoncé.
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rubyhornet: You originally wanted to be a singer, like Chris Brown, over a rapper.
KoVu: I got into music through R&B. My favorite artist is Chris Brown. I would imitate his dance moves. Then once Drake came out, he showed people you could sing and rap. Chance is another big inspiration.
rubyhornet: Do you still feel that way?
KoVu: If I could sing, I would do that 100x over rapping. I always hear these hooks and have a melody, but need to find someone to lay it down. I’ve taken singing lessons and practice a lot, but I don’t have the pipes like Chris Brown.
rubyhornet: In high school you were into dancing and theater.
KoVu: My parents were going through a divorce during this time. My study hall teacher Miss Dunham, who happened to be the choir teacher, saw that I was frustrated all the time. She put me in a second study hall where it was just us and she would teach me how to play piano and read music. Then I joined choir, and later theater.
rubyhornet: How did this translate to your music and stage performance?
KoVu: My DJ, 1981 Toyoko and my other DJ, Cookup Cam turn up with me on stage. We make up dance moves and try to incorporate the crowd as part of the show. I like to make sure the crowd knows I’m just a person like them.
rubyhornet: Tell me about going on tour. Meeting Tory Lanez, Waka Flacka, and Vic Mensa.
KoVu: The Tory Lanez show was on my birthday. I just turned 22 and his stage energy was on another level. We played a whole Midwest tour with Waka. He taught me a lot about the business. He has his hands in a water company and an app to discover underground rappers. I only ran into Vic shortly at our show.
rubyhornet: How does it feel being well known in a small town?
KoVu: It’s weird. When I walk in somewhere, people whisper and talk. My friends still treat me the same. They are still going to call me an idiot. Kids in high school that didn’t talk to me have reached out about my music or have gone to some shows. It’s crazy to think that I’m representing this suburban town.
rubyhornet: The creative process on Contrast and working with only one engineer.
KoVu: JLP Studies Jimmy Renyolds. It’s rare to find an engineer when you tell him what you want and where it comes out exactly how you heard it. After we dropped Contrast it went on top 50 on ITunes. The creative process on the new album is different, I am showing more about my love life, my personal life, and going deeper than just the party aspect that my previous work covered. 4 years deep with Jimmy and I.
rubyhornet: What should fans be on the lookout for?
KoVu: Playboy, my new project with 16 songs. Coming soon.
Kweku Collins Perfectly Captures The Summer Fling With "Sisko and Kasidy"
Kweku Collins' newest track "Sisko and Kasidy" is a summer love anthem. Linking up for another collaboration with fellow Closed Sessions artist Ajani Jones, this is his first release of 2018 and it perfectly captures the heat of the summer and the uncertainty that comes with a fling. In the chorus Kweku sings "It's been hot, it's the summer, what you expect?" in a thickly layered, Dan Deacon-esque, harmony that adds to the disorienting effect that makes the song feel like the subject.
There's a heat that's captured within the production and combined with the lyrics it creates a summer-in-a-bottle effect that will definitely have you coming back in the middle of the winter. Just like with a fling there is a melancholy underneath the surface, Kweku even asks “What if the sun doesn’t come out tomorrow?”.
"Sisko and Kasidy" is a reference to the two black commanders in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
You can see Kweku and Ajani perform together at their Pitchfork after party at Schubas on July 21st.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1DXlJYboCnmNC35GcLyYtm?si=3EIaZxmFRYOc0B3eLq47DQ
Future Drops Beastmode 2
Future connects with fellow Atlanta producer Zaytoven for a 9 track mixtape Beastmode 2. This is the sequel to Future and Zaytoven's 2015 collaborative mixtape Beastmode.
The glorified lyrics about the wealth and success are balanced with flashbacks of the struggle. On "Red Light" Future says, "Sleepin' on the carpet made a man out me". Then later reflects with, "I finally start to embrace that I'm famous. It's hard for me to erase when I was nameless".
On the closing track, he reminisces about his rough past while detailing his drug use.
"Pouring up in public, damn, I hate the real me
My mama stressing out, she say these drugs got me"
Stream the project below: