The Ocean State Great

Calling himself “The Ocean State Great,” K.i.T. is an upcoming rapper from Rhode Island with both great ambition and talent. Well on his way in establishing himself, he has performed over 40 shows at 15 venues. K.i.T. has labeled his infuences as the Canadian rapper K-os and the rap group A Tribe Called Quest. He has said that he had been rapping since a young age and was inspired by his older brother’s rap efforts. So far he has released two demos and a mixtape and he is expected to release more new music this year. All of his music is available for free on his website where he also posts videos, maintains a blog and provides local song picks weekly.

We began by contacting K.I.T. to ask if he would be interested in being interviewed for a project. Since he is a student at Northeastern and a music industry major, he was very open to the idea. The song K.i.T. gave to us was his single “Tricks are for Kids.” We met at his place for the first recording session where he created the beat and showed us how he practices rapping. He performed a show at the ballroom on Northeastern’s campus and another at Afterhours and we managed to film both. After that Alex followed him on the road to Rhode Island to interview him further. The video posted came together after all the material was collected

In one session, K.i.T. gave us a glimpse of his writing and recording process. He showed us several of the programs he uses, namely Reason and Recycle, to build his songs from scratch. By chopping and manipulating sounds from other songs and creating loops, he makes his own beats for him to rap over. Much of his creative process involves playing around on his computer and MIDI keyboard to find the combination that sounds right. Within a few minutes, he had quickly crafted together the basic sample for a song and was ready to add drums. Although he has said that he prefers rapping over other peoples beats, it was clear that he was well-versed in these computer programs and knew how to get what he wanted out of them.

K.i.T. noted that always keeps his smartphone with him in case he ever needs to quickly jot down some lyrical ideas. He says that he isn’t sure where the ideas for his music come from, so when he does think of something he gets it saved as soon as he can. Even the ideas that seemingly came off the top off his head, verses he considered as “practice,” came across as very natural and with confidence. He considers his rapping abilities as a craft, and knows that he can’t perform or get better without practice.

After our time interviewing and following K.I.T., it is obvious that he has the will to make something of his craft. He always seems to be looking to improve himself and what he is doing in the music industry. His rhymes have clearly developed since day one due to this drive to better his art. As a music industry major, he is beginning to take music theory and learn things like scales and even piano. These skills will eventually translate into his music to enhance what is already a good thing. Eager to always be creating new music, K.I.T. has potential to grow and become a serious player in the rap game. The thing about K.I.T. that stands out to us is his ability to dominate the stage with his presence. He never seems to hesitate when he is live due to his constant effort to practice what he writes. Eager to always be creating new music, K.I.T. has potential to grow and become a serious player in the hip hop game in the near future.

SONG ANALYSIS

"Tricks are for KIDS” by K.I.T. is a hip-hop style rap song that incorporates lyrical rhyming verses and choruses over a repeated background beat. The “beat” (referring to all parts of the instrumentals) is synthetically composed, using a short ascending synthesizer riff and mostly static bass line. Aside from the drum intro and the occasional halt of the beat, these elements are constant throughout the song. The repetition does not outstay its welcome in the three minute piece, however, as the primary focus of the song is on the rhythmic and lyrical aspects.

The drums also repeat in a loop similar to the synth and bass, but have somewhat more variation in addition to the short lick that starts the song. The cymbals play a 16th note constant pattern, while the snare accentuates the 2nd and 4th beats of each measure, as is common in hip-hop.

The vocals are mostly spoken, with some singing in the chorus. K.I.T.’s delivery is on the beat, rapping mostly in two-line sets, although sometimes breaks up a lyrical line across the rhythm, providing an interesting way to change subjects by “pivoting” on one word and incorporating it into the next line. The chorus introduces a low voice with K.I.T. echoing the end of each line, i.e. - “Don’t try to be a tree if you a twig (if you a twig)”.

The form is a basic verse/chorus form with a short intro and outro, comprised of the instrumental and some short vocal quips in the intro. The lyrics are not particularly structured, although there is some development of the lines. Overall, it is the vocal performance and rhythm that makes this song stand out, as it should be in a song of this genre.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

What is your inspiration?

My favorite rapper of all time is just K-os. As of late I’ve been listening to a lot of Talib Kwali. And lately since I’ve been learning the piano I’ve been listening to a lot of composers like that. But that’s pretty much it musically, like other than that I have no clue where ideas come from. It can be random, from something that’s just happened to me it or something that sounds funny together or cool together. I have no method for my madness, other than the fact that its mad.

What are you listening to?

Kind of all hip-hop at the moment. There’s times where I’ll be listening to like One Republic or Coldplay, something along those lines. But right now I’ve been listening to hip-hop, especially Kanye’s new album. Crazy.

Where did it all begin?

When I really think back, it always goes back to my brother. He used to just record on a tape, like a cassette, back when people used those...like in the basement on this karaoke machine. I’d always just go down there every once in a while and listen to him create. I remember one time he needed a hook, he couldn’t figure a hook for one of his songs, or a chorus. So I was just sitting there quietly and I thought of one and he let me record it. That was cool as shit. But then again there was a time when I saw my brother doing stuff. He started his own little rap crew. That was funny, and then I joined it without asking and made a song as if I was part of it. Then I started making songs and stuff with them because he knew how to record and everything. But the more and more I made songs the more I was like - this isn’t the kind of music I want to make. I want to develop a conscious kind of music. And I started to see how I can do that. The first thing I had to do was learn how to record myself. Before I can record myself, I was dependent on him to do my music. It’s supposed to be my own personal thing, so as soon as I learned to record my own music, I branched out to do my own thing.

What do you do before a show?

Honestly, I always practice the day before or two days before. Do it a couple times, go through the set. I’m comfortable with it because I’m always doing it. But besides that I really have no rituals. I’m usually nervous for some reason, I have no clue why. I’ve done like 40 shows. But I’m always nervous the first five minutes before I go on but as soon as I get up there it all goes away and I’m just chillin’.