You have probably danced and sang along to a few of the songs KC has written hooks for, like Ace Hood’s “Cash Flow” and Young Jeezy’s “Go Getta.” But now KC is stepping from behind the pen to prepare for his debut album. I know you’re out in L.A. right now. What are you working on? Right now I’m working with my choreographer David while juggling time in the studio with The Runners. How has it been since you signed with Danja? It’s been pretty good. He’s probably one of the most talented guys I know so every time we’re in the studio it’s a very fun experience. One of the great things is there is no boundaries with the music we do, and besides the business part, he’s a pretty down to earth guy. It’s good to do business with people you enjoy being around, it makes things much better. Do you produce also? I just write songs and sing, but these days production is not just making a beat so I would say I do produce as well. When I’m songwriting and I’m there with the artist, I have to morph them and tell them how to sing the song. For a songwriter, what’s the procedure for writing a song with an artist? I just listen to the track. The track usually has a mood to it and I just go in the booth and come up with the melody because I don’t really write anything down. Once the track is played I figure out if it’s a club song, or a love song, then I write it down. As far as with the artist, the song is already done and when it’s finished we present it to the artist and if they like it we go from there. This year I wrote “Cash Flow” for Ace Hood and “Boss” for Rick Ross. The Runners and I came up with the beat and figured out who was going to be on the hook.
How did you hook up with The Runners? Me and The Runners have been cool for about four years now, if not longer than that. I met them through DJ D-Strong. He told me about these producer cats and he had already heard some of my stuff so he felt like we would be good working together, and he was right. Are you working on your album now? The album is pretty much complete but we’re really working on the pre-album, which will be the prelude to the album. It’s a way to get out the material for a new artist. I feel like music is really accessible, so you can’t hold on to your material because there are so many people trying to do it right now. The plan is to give it to all the DJs so people can get it in their head before I force them to buy something. I can’t put an album out and people don’t know who I am because the way the economy and CD sales are right now, you have to have major fans first. Some people buy albums and the two singles is the only good thing on the album, I want people to know that everything we do is good quality music. Since you wrote a lot of rap hooks, can we expect R&B/Hip Hop music on your album? No (laughs) I definitely won’t be rapping. I got into writing rap hooks because the opportunity was presented and I was able to do it, but I’m still a singer first. I don’t plan on staying in the same box, but I can’t say if I’m going to start rapping. I do plan on evolving. What’s going to be the name of your album? The name of the album is tentative right now, but we’re playing with It Is What It Is. The pre-album is like a mixtape? It’s kind of a mixtape, but there’s not going to be anybody hosting it. It will sound like an album and you can download it in December on my MySpace, which is myspace.com/kc78music. But the first two singles are on my page, which are “I Know What You Doing” and “Late Night.”
OZONE MAG // 17