Kilo Kish - K+ (2013)

This time we're diving into a work very dear to me, by one of my favorite underground singer/rappers - Kilo Kish, an incredibly interesting, original, unique artist.

"K+ - a mixed media installation which juxtaposes items collected over a period of 6 months during creation of a thirty minute mixtape under the same name. K+ is aimed at creating a window into an individual's complete creative process by showcasing all menial tasks which facilitate a final creation."

The music world back in 2013 was a completely different beast than the one we know today. Odd Future was making waves after 2012's OF Tape Vol 2 and 2013's Wolf, along with a tape by The Internet going bananas. We were entering a time with more of a focus on the youth, subversive experimentation a la the counterculture movement from decades before, made all the more explosive with the ever-increasing freedom the internet (not the band this time) yielded everyone. Though K+ wasn't an official OF record, it came after years of Kilo being a consistent collaborator with OF's more forward-thinking producers and lyricists. 

There's always been something special about Kilo. Immediately we hear her love of psychedelic, sublime instrumentals and sharp beats; on here as well as all of her features, it's difficult not to be entranced by her sing-song, whispering vocals. Her lyrics are often playful and immature as well as melancholy, always relatable in their focus on adolescence, issues with the system, and whirlwind young romances; she has a remarkable way of making anything sound humorous - or creepy, depending on her tone and the accompanying instrumentals. 

And she's a real, aesthetic-focused artist. Her first mixtape Homeschool (2012) was accompanied by an incredible music video for lead single "Navy"; K+ was accompanied by an e-zine detailing behind the scenes production and notes; and after this tape, she went full on into this visual focus, leading a performance art adjacent tour; in 2015, she collaborated on a capsule collection with Maison Kitsune, a record label / clothing producer. I could keep going on and on; just check out her Wikipedia page!

All of her records are incredibly unique, experimental works, but as I said earlier, K+ is very dear to me. Out of all her works, it captures best her spirit of existential inquiry along with a very listenable, easily consumed musicality. All of the beats are fun, smooth, and digestible; there are few interludes, and few sections in which it's tough to make out the process of where she's going. 

"Trapping", for example, is a very snappy trap song before trap was really that huge. Immediately following that, "IOU" is smooth, dreamy, very close to the sound of her close friends at the Jet Age of Tomorrow. (One of these days, I'm going to write about one of their tapes, too.) "Scones" is immediately hypnotic, and features a painfully awkward conversation in the beginning of it that just grabs you emotionally way that's very skillful (and brave) to feature here. In the sharp, fast 808s is crystallized the spirit of the cloud rap years - a youthful, earnest energy that's difficult to replicate.

And like I said earlier, there's a real art in her lyricism here. In "Turquoise" she grapples with the limits of her own ability and knowledge while managing to find, in the titular hue, "paradise". On "Better", she's exploring a time sink of a failed relationship while simultaneously musing on her place in the industry - if so many people are better than her, why does she still find success and fulfillment? What do we really mean when we say one artist is better than another? Is there more to our preferences than simple music taste - maybe some inherent biases or dishonest ideas? Quite the conversation to be having in 2013!

"i don’t really understand my purpose in this whole “music thing” if everyone else is so much better at singing, songwriting, and just being an artist in general at this time…then what makes people have any interest in playing my music[?] just wondering…"

You can't forget the features here! Childish Gambino gives a stirring performance in "Ghost" and he also produced "Scones"; final track "Creepwave" features Flatbush Zombies; "Love2K" starts with a strong A$AP Ferg verse in which he, surprisingly, talks about the same thing Kilo is for the rest of the song. (Is it me, or is it rare for rap features to stick to the topic and refrain from pointless boasting?) Kilo really was the first "Balenciaga mama". "Trapping" is my favorite featured song, though, with a Vince Staples verse and a genuinely hilarious outro featuring him and Earl Sweatshirt. 

For a 30 minute mixtape, there's a lot to love here, and you can easily tell Kilo put a hell of a lot of work and effort into this. If you're looking for a place to start with her, you can't go wrong with this one. It might not mean as much to you as it does to me, but I'll never forget this mixtape for being a strong example of a Black woman in charge of her art in the music industry, navigating her spaces with bravery and seductive ease. 

DREAM...