Kayy Kemper: MizFitz Radio’s September Featured Artist

Written by Kayra Perez on Mon Sep, 2019

Kayy Kemper is an independent artist from Newport News, Virginia. “I moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina around 2007.” Kemper grew up in Virginia but he has resided in Fayetteville ever since. “Virginia, those are my roots right there.” Kemper didn’t start rapping until he was 16 years old living in North Carolina. “ I didn’t really look at other people and say I wanted to rap. It was more so listening to beats and falling in love with it.” He started doing music with his cousin and Soulja Boy was a major influence. “He was young out here doing it and dancing. I started out dancing. He went viral recently and everybody was trying to be on his wave but I’ve been a fan. “I had the rubber band chains and all.” Another influencer of Kemper’s music is the rapper, 50 Cent. “Everybody knew that since high school, they used to call me 50 Cent. I didn’t mind it because he was my favorite rapper.” In Kemper’s song “Get That Money” he channels his inner 50 Cent. It’s actually inspired by the song “I Get Money”. His sound is multifaceted and his lyrics are for everyone to tune into. “I think that is what separates me from everybody else. A lot of people can only rap about the streets. I could make a rock song if I wanted to. I like to tell stories in my songs too.” His stories stem from experiences. Most of his freestyles are created from relatable circumstances in life.

Kemper found his sound in 2015 and started researching how to turn his passion into a business. He has been lucrative in establishing a global audience. Kemper even receives videos of fans from countries like Canada and Honduras. They often dance and create choreography for his music. “I love it. I used a little tactic. I have a Spanish homie. I asked him to write for me in Spanish telling women if they like the song then they could dance to it.” On his social media platforms, Kemper posts his fan love with people of all nationalities dancing or listening to his music.

When asking Kemper on what he likes about being an independent artist, he specifies that “ being independent is cool. I wouldn’t mind signing if I had the right deal but if anything I’ll do a partnership.” Kemper’s involvement with the music scene makes it seem like he has a team behind him but in reality, it’s a one man show. “I didn’t recently get with a group until a month or two ago. We have something called Arena Muzik and we just dropped our first video. It’s called “Goat Talk.” Kemper writes all of his music. He doesn’t currently work with a producer but he does purchase his beats. “I was 15/16 and I always had a camera with me. I have all of the videos on my computer and I’m 27 now.” It’s a learning process becoming an artist and it’s essential to document the progress made over time. Kemper would like to work with Soulja Boy in the future. “ I like YK Osiris too. I think he’s dope and would be a good collab because he sings.” Kemper sees his music blowing up as long as he sticks with versatile music with island vibes and afro type beats. “ I literally have two big songs I can go anywhere to perform. I can go to Jamaica, New York or anywhere.” As it pertains to his albums, Bad By Myself and Bad By Myself 2, Kemper named the title after the principle of being better by yourself and doing business by yourself. He wants to be remembered for his quality and persistent work. “ I have to be persistence with good visuals and good sounding music.”

So far with music, Kemper has faced issues with business poor promoters. Kemper is confident that he’ll get to where he needs to be especially when it comes to performing shows. To other independent artists, Kemper wants others to know the business side and the true intentions of the people you work with. “Radio stations want to hear how good it’s engineered and mixed down. You have to put a lot of money on promotions even if it’s Facebook or Instagram ads.”