Kid Ink, Crowned in Ink

2013 was a
pretty exciting year for hot young rapper, Kid Ink. In addition to riding high
on the success of his first independent full length record Up & Way, Ink signed a huge deal with one of the oldest labels
in the music industry, RCA Records, who released his debut single which
featured Wale and Meek Mill, and released an EP, Almost Home, which featured even more big names like French
Montana, A$AP Ferg and Rico Love. But if 2013 was a big year for Kid Ink, it’s got nothing on his success so far in 2014.
Ink came out swinging in the new year with his major label debut, My Own Lane, which immediately shot to
the top of the charts all over the world. The record had an array of guest
features by the likes of Chris Brown, Tyga and Pusha T, and enlisted a near who’s who of popular hip-hop/contemporary R&B
producers including DJ Mustard, The Futuristics, SoFly and Nius, and The
Runners. CULTURE was able to catch up
with Kid Ink and pick his brain about the making and success of My Own Lane, as well as hear about his
upcoming tour, first run at SXSW and love for cannabis.

How do you feel about the cannabis legalization
efforts that have been picking up steam? You’re
on the road a lot; I bet you get to see a variety of changing regulations all
over the country.

Somebody
tried to tell me some numbers the other day about how much Colorado’s produced in taxes of the legal marijuana
and everything, and it seems like it’s
going really well. When I was out there recently, it felt very comfortable;
like, to be out in front of the hotel smoking, nobody was saying anything and
we weren’t getting any awkward looks, you know? So I
didn’t feel ashamed like I do sometimes in other
places.  But it seems like it’s actually really working out, they’ve found a way for the business side to work,
and it’s going well for them out there, so hopefully
it can move all across the country.

They can
just put the same regulations and restrictions on it that they put on alcohol
if people really feel like it’s
dangerous.  But I don’t think it’s
that serious.

You recently released your new record, My Own Lane. Can you tell us a bit about
it?

Yeah man,
well the record is my major label debut and with it, I’ve been able to get across as an artist to so
many new fans.  It was a really important
album for me, and I almost feel like it’s
my first project, even though I’ve
done so much music already.   This one was for all of the new fans that I’ve gotten from the recent success and signing
the deal.  At the same time, I have the
freedom, because I’m with a
major label, to do whatever I want to do production wise, and I wanted to work
with bigger producers and show growth to all of the older fans who already know
Kid Ink and know who I am.  I feel like
it really worked, I got support from the old fans who were worried things might
change since I got the deal, and then I can see all of the new fans I’ve gained as a result of the new record.  There hasn’t
been any backlash from the album at all.

Outside of trying to go bigger, was there any
other change in your approach to this record, as opposed to previous projects?

I kind of
tried to approach it the same way I did with my independent album, which I felt
like was a showing improvement type of thing.
So when I did this one, it was a lot about showing improvement regarding
who I am as an artist, and I feel like I’m
a versatile artist who can do so many different sounds and types of music as
long as the content is still king, so I think that was my responsibility for
this project.  Then, after a while, when
people are more familiar with me as an artist, I can go towards future projects
with more creative thought processes.
Because, you know, at the same time, I just like to write different
things for different people and I have so many other ideas that sometimes I
feel like people aren’t ready for me to talk about certain things because they
still want me to get across this other aspect of Kid Ink.  As long as I get across to the fans who Kid
Ink is, that’s what’s important.

You had a lot of collaborations on this
record, how did you decide who you were going to work with?

When I do
collaborations, it’s all about deciding after the song is finished, or half
finished, if I want to take a verse off and let somebody else on it.  Or if there’s one verse left, I might start
thinking about who might sound good specifically good for it.  I learned in the past, just doing my
independent thing, that there are a lot of collaborative songs that you could
tell that the other artists weren’t really into that song.  So, I think it’s important for people to
think about the features after they have the song, and who they have on the
song before, and try to fit them to vibe of the album.  So, on the record, it was just people I’d ran
into, people I met out on the road, people that I’d worked with before, and
people that would help out with the musical process more-so that just who the
fans might think is really hot right now.

Was there anybody on the record that you were
particularly excited to do a track with?
Anyone that you didn’t think was going to do it?

I think the
last minute process of getting Chris Brown on two songs was pretty dope and it
wasn’t something that was planned at all, it was just something that happened
during the process of recording the album.
Also, just getting the Pusha T verse back from the record that we did together
was pretty dope, because he’s been somebody I’ve been looking up to while
coming up in the game.  You know, when
legends like that are really paying attention to you and hall of famers are
reaching out to you it’s always dope because you don’t expect them to.

Do you have anybody in the future that you’re
hoping to work with?

Yeah!  I really want to get in the studio with
either Swizz Beatz or Timbaland, they’re two top producers that I could easily
create masterpieces with.

Speaking of producers, the album features a
lot of highly regarded producers, how did that happen?

For me, the
process of that is that I link up with all types of different producers, reach
out to different people, and pay attention to who’s hot.  Then, at the same time, reach out through
Twitter for independent producers and other people who are hungry to send me
stuff.  Then, once I gather all of this
stuff up, I go to the studio, play everything randomly and just start recording
what I get from the first lines and not even try to think about the producers;
just let the music speak for itself.  I
feel like I’ve worked with a bunch of platinum selling producers and a bunch of
independent guys who have no names who I think are really dope.  I remember when I was a producer and it felt
like nobody was giving my beats that shot, so I try to give other people that
chance which allows me to not sound like anyone else.  I feel like some of my best songs are done by
people that are independent producers.

What do you look for in a beat?  How do you decide what’s right for you?

I think it’s
all, like, a vibe, you know?  It also
depends on the time I hear it; time of day and time of seasons. Certain music
speaks to certain things, sometimes it’s summer music, sometimes it’s fall
music, and the different ways people feel during those times.  When I listen to music, like I said, I’m a
writer, so I just try to write the first thing that comes to my mind and from
there decide if its for me or for somebody else.  Sometimes though I’ll listen to a beat and I
don’t like it, and then a month later, it’ll be the best beat I’ve ever heard,
all because I’ll be in a different mindspace.

Beyond the new record and the touring, does
Kid Ink have any other big plans for 2014?

Definitely!  I’m always trying to go back to the process
of shooting as many videos as I can, so fans can expect a lot of visuals. The
tour is going to be amazing, we’re going to step everything up for the
show.  And I just want to continue trying
to build The Alumni, my music group and my team, and hopefully find some brand
new producers and artists to work with and grow so that we can make a bigger
team and brand. 

Ink Addict

Well, as your name implies, physically you’re
known for all of your rad tattoos, have you gotten any new ink recently?
Nah man, I need to get something done before the tour for sure!  I’ve only got a week, but I need to get
something done immediately because I’ve been itching for it.  I’ve been on the road a lot and I haven’t
found any artists while I’ve been out that I’ve been all that into, but I’ve
got some guys back at home that I think I’m gonna try out.  So while I’m here, I’m gonna try and get
something done.

Are there any artists that you’re hoping to
get worked on by in the future?

There is
one, Nikko Hurtado, who was on New York
Ink or Miami Ink, he lives out in
California now, and I’ve been seeing a lot of his work around; I think The Game
gets a lot of work done by him.  I always
see his stuff on Instagram and think, “Wow! This is amazing!”  Hopefully soon I can get an appointment with
him and get something done.