I went to meet the new rapper who was signed to Permanent Reminder months ago. I came in while they were having some down time after preforming in Hawaii and had a few days off before doing the islands and going back to major cities to wrap the “Keep Calm and Be Amazed” tour nicely. This 20 year old has done a lot but he has been getting his first lately. It’s one thing to be featured on a few songs and drop a mixtape just to get your name out there. It’s another story when people are looking at you as the next guy and people are waiting to see you. Having attention, the expectations, the pressure, of be being the next something. People love to compare so it was no surprise that when TJ signed on with Matt Young the comparison was instantly made with Matt being the rapper that he is, the style that he used and the success that he had. Kidd Amaze was going to be the next Matt Young, because Matt himself was going to groom him to be the next big thing. However the start to the New Year wasn’t what TJ expected it to be. Early January with the YouTube “beef” between Matt Young and Kidd Amaze went as a negative towards the group. It felt as if there was tension and conflict between them, it didn’t help that later another rapper Lotus went to jail and Matt had to comment about her contract. Also there was the little argument with fellow rap star Sonaye. A kid that was all smiles at the end of 2013 had to pull back a little. His song "Hate That I Love You" failed to make it on charts on its debut and has peaked at number seven. How would the rest of the Album live up to all of the hype?
This young 20 year old was on Waikiki Beach in a hammock drinking a fruity drink out of a coconut with his iPod and headphones in his right ear. “You always listen to music?” I said him as he looked over at me smiling “most of the time, does it bother you?” He asked, but I shook my head no as he told me from the beginning he was going to listen to music. Far away from the streets of DC that his parents didn’t want him to be a part of and still far away from the city that gave him is first break as an artist where a lot of things broke his way. We talked a lot about music, about how he doesn’t really listen to rock but on certain occasions. How he keeps track of the people that are in the mainstream feed. How he loves listening to the first of an artist. “I think that is, if done right, the purest form of the musician,” he told me “because that is their introduction to the world, I still remember my first song and it is something you don’t forget.”
TJ has always been around music, even when he was little; it has shaped him to be what he is today. Even here with the nice beaches, the waves crashing, the sounds of laughter and joy. He would rather put ear-buds in and listen to Carmen Grant, Isabel, and mISTER_b. Sometimes he will be on phone tapping away with lyrics to a song and saying the words to himself. It has become a habit of his and he has pause during our interview to write lyrics and then pick up where we left off like nothing happen. “I’m not a good force song writer,” he told me after the third pause, “So to fix that I just write whenever I feel it and go back to see if I can use it.” “You know Matt once said that he has written and rewritten his album many times over.” I said to somehow reassure him that rapper has all kinds of ways to write but TJ being quick to reply “He isn’t the only one,” laughing at the comparing again.
I don’t think people realize how much this guy works at what he does. He would always smile and spend time with the people that come to his shows or see him out and about. He down to earth and isn’t arrogant about being a rapper. He doesn’t seem to be fazed by the pressure that people put on him or the pressure that he puts on himself and is so mature for someone so young. When we got to the topic of what he wanted to be known for and how he was handling himself he kind of laughed it off. “I want to be the best; I know that sounds like I have an ego because I do.” He said and told me why he wanted to reach that level “I want to be remembered, I want a legacy. Fame is all well and good; I’m happy that I get paid to do what I do, but anybody can take my role. If I wasn’t here, Isaac would be, Matt would be, Atlas would be, Sonaye would be, Lotus would be, Foxxy would be; and if it’s not them someone else would, so why not me? Why not be called the greatest to ever to it. To get that you have to work hard, push yourself, stay focus, and never let up. When you get it you have to work harder to keep your tittle.”
Listen and Be Amazed sell over 1.5 million as a mixtape in over a three month period. With the released of his debut album “Kidd At the Adult Table” Will past that mark in half the time and peaked at number 1 on the charts and he didn’t believe that it was possible for him to do without a hit single on it that he could point too. “There are a lot of songs that I liked and it wasn’t as well as I thought and then there was song that I did that people loved and I did it for other reasons.” The main we talk about was if he was an R&B singer in a rapper body with a lot of his hit songs about love and romance. “I like to talk about things that I have experience before. I know what it is like to love someone that doesn’t love you, to have your heartbroken, to finally breakthrough and prove people wrong.”
The crazy thing to think about when you bring up TJ is the fact that he really connects with his fan base. How much do his fans love him that he is very open and seems to get it. While he was finishing his tour he didn't stop working, and within a week he was on to learning more about the music industry and the process about it. That seem to get him into trouble with his statement about possibly having his own record label. What about being an actor something that I found that he got from friend Jay Rock who is over in England trying to start up a rapping career after leaving voice acting. "I would like to try it. So being in a movie like that is a cool experience for me." he told me about having a movie roll. From following him over the past 3 months the following day in the life of TJ would be to get up 5 in the morning with he blames, or credit, his girlfriend for that now he run early in the morning listening to music. After 2 hours he takes a shower, eats cereal, get dress and get ready for the day. A meet and greet at the local mall, with fans lined up too the door. Shopping for anything that he has ran out of and really the lack of security that he has around him, as he gets stop repeatedly and yes this is after the meeting with 3 hours of just signing autographs and pictures. Getting back in Limo he starts to think up songs and music, before going to have fun. Comic books and Arcades go bananas as he comes in with a few of his friends Ace, Thomas who they call T-mac, and Bugsy.
After fun he is in the studio listening to more music, recording more stuff and to mess around for a few hours. All you see is him in the booth freestyling has his friends cheer him on and laughing. Then when everyone takes a turn, it's time for another beat and start all over. They even got me in there to "rap", and I use that term very loosely. From messing around it now time to eat around 5pm. Kidd loves cooking but was surprising is the fact that while I was there shadowing him sometimes he would take cooks spots in the back and people couldn't tell he was a rapper he even used a different name every place he surprised. "Does he do this often?" I asked as one of friends sat a table watching people come in and having TJ cooking in the back. "He worked in resturant and fast food before so yea he done it." I could only laugh as after he covered everyone's break, he could sneak out to come back to the group. Even more when people asked for the cooked was. From there he would go back home to watch TV and mess around the internet before going back to bed to do most of this all over again.
What I learn from being around Kidd is that he is a young man, still finding a place here in the music scene. People are going
look at him as something that he is not. People are going to assume that he isn't going to be a real person but with the time that I spend with him the thing that we aren't see him changing his personality any time soon. The highly competitive, strong work ethic, and somewhat happy go lucky self. We can only wait to see what is in store for the talented rapper who is more of a person than a persona but with this is just the start what will his legacy be? because for everything we talk about his real goal is to be remembered for years to come and that take a resume and years to build that. He has a good start though.
