KO THE LEGEND (October 2008) | Interview By: Jonathan Hay

As ever, you can read this exclusive interview below and we urge you to leave feedback on our forums or email them to haywire@dubcnn.com.

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Interview was done in October 2008

Questions Asked By: Jonathan Hay
 

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Dubcnn Exclusive – KO The Legend
A Dubcnn Exclusive
By Jonathan Hay
www.myspace.com/jonathanhay
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Dubcnn: When you first heard your single, “"She Wants to Get It" on Power 106, which is also one of the most influential radio stations in the country… what was that feeling like for you?

It’s funny, because the first time Power played my record I was in Mississippi working. All of a sudden, my phone started blowing up with voicemails and text messages saying "She Wants 2 Get It" was on Power 106 in LA, so I was excited to hear it when I got back to California but I didn't get to hear it. Then another time I was getting in my car to go get something to eat and I was in a terrible mood, I turned on Power and I was like man I'm NEVER gonna get to hear my song on the radio and as soon as I said that to myself Felli Fell played it!! I was driving while it was playing so I was trying to call all of my friends and family and drive and listen at the same time, I almost crashed! IT WAS GREAT!!


Dubcnn: Speaking of Power 106 – you held down the prestigious honor of freestyle champion at the station for 5 months straight… reflect on that experience?

The Whoa Call changed everything for me. I come from such a small town where there aren't a whole lot of emcees. Everyone back home always told me that I was good, and I always respected and appreciated their support, but I knew that their opinions were biased. The Whoa Call was the first opportunity for me to prove to myself and the industry that I have the ability to be a lyrical monster. I literally called in to the Whoa Call the 1st week I moved to LA and I stayed on for 20 weeks straight. At the time, I was a manager for Cingular Wireless so I would have my employees covering my shifts, or I would just abandon my job just so I could go freestyle on the radio. People like Fabolous and Lil Flip would be up there and I actually got to produce for Lil Flip because of the Whoa Call, so it basically kicked started my whole career. It’s funny that being on the Whoa Call with Felli Fell brought me notoriety as a battle emcee and now he's playing my record in the mix so he's bringing me notoriety as an artist, everything is coming full circle and I couldn't be happier.


Dubcnn: Right now, you have a mixtape out with Clinton Sparks that people can download for free at KOTheLegend.com. Take us in the lab with you and talk about the creation of this extremely dope mixtape?

In all honesty, all of the songs on the mixtape were already done, so when my mangers told me that they wanted me to do a mixtape, I went through a lot of my favorite records that I had done and most of them had a SUPER pop even rock edge. I knew that was right up Clinton's alley and he is my FAVORITE mixtape DJ and one of my favorite producers so the synergy was perfect. The crazy thing is, Clinton and I first met in Miami at the VMA's in 04, we talked in the lobby of the Ocean Hotel for like 20 minutes and I told him how dope I thought he was, and I gave him my demo and told him that we would be working together sometime in the future. Of course, I had no idea that we would ACTUALLY end up working together, but I'm glad it all worked out because he helped me put together a CD that I would enjoy listening to, even if it wasn't me singing most of the songs. He's really dope at what he does!!


Dubcnn: How did Clinton Sparks get involved with your project?

My management had connections to Clinton, but when we met with him, I still had to get him interested in me as an artist. When we first sat down to talk about the mixtape, he definitely viewed me as a typical new rapper and he was on his blackberry almost the whole time, but I understand the business so I wasn't at all offended. Then I started to explain to him how I'm more of a pop artist that just so happens to be a rapper. I explained all of my musical influences to him and told him that I wanted to do a mixtape where I remix some of my favorite pop, rock and electro songs and all of a sudden his interest piqued and he really started to get into what I was saying. So I gave him the files and a few weeks later he sent back an INSANELY dope mixtape.


Dubcnn: Obviously, there was a significant amount of money spent and time invested in the making of your mixtape, so why did you choose to give it away?

I'm a firm believer in maximizing the awareness of your product before you can capitalize on the product itself, and the best way to increase awareness of a product is to give it away for free. If your product is good, you will have repeat customers and THEN you can attempt to generate revenue on your second release. But for me the keyword is exposure!! I hope to have my music in at least 250,000 mp3 players before the year is out and the best way to do that is to give my music away for free. I'm positive that it will be a bigger pay off at the end of the day.


Dubcnn: As a producer yourself– what do you think of the sonic, production sound of hip-hop today?

Most of the sonic production of hip-hop today is questionable in my opinion. There are a couple of gems out there like Kanye's "Graduation" and TI's "Paper Trail,” and I like a lot of individual records, but for the most part the hip-hops general populace is stagnant. I think music on a whole is headed in an AMAZING direction where borders are being crossed and every genre is being mixed together, I think if hip-hop were to follow in the footsteps of the change that pop music is making then some VERY interesting things would happen I.E. Kevin Rudolf's "Let it Rock" feat. Lil Wayne, that record is Electro, Rock, Pop and Rap all in one it’s an incredibly creative song and I think that it’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as where music is headed.


Dubcnn: You worked with Britney Spears on her Onyx Hotel Tour – please share with us some history of that journey…

Working with Britney was dope, I was actually selling cell phones at the time and I was at work when my friend Kevin Tancheroan (who was the artistic director for the Onyx Hotel Tour) called me and asked me to come to the studio and he wouldn't say why. When I got there, Britney was there just chillin with her bodyguard and joking around outside. He introduced me to her and said he needed some extra vocal production for her live show. That weekend, she performed for the NFC or AFC championship (I can't remember which one) but she used my vocals for her performance, it was the first time that I had ever heard my voice on national television in that capacity, it was a great feeling. She's actually one of the coolest celebrities that I've ever met and working with her has afforded me a lot of opportunities that I would have otherwise never received. It’s crazy because Kevin went on to create Dance Life for MTV and he's directing the theatrical re-make of FAME. He's 2 or 3 years younger than me and he hired me for my first official industry job. Even though I’m his elder, I look up to him a lot and he's had a crazy impact on my career.


Dubcnn: What do you think about all the controversy and sensational tabloid drama that surrounds Britney Spears?

I would be lying if I said that Britney and I were friends. I have been around her a countless number of times and my best assessment would be that when you lose the ability to control your own life, when every decision you make could affect your career positively or negatively and everything you do is analyzed under a microscope it takes its toll on your mental state. I feel like the media took away her right to make mistakes that most humans make. People just made a bigger issue out of it all because she is Britney Spears.


Dubcnn: Britney is rumored to have a Diva reputation – how did she personally treat you?

Britney is HANDS DOWN the most down to earth, nicest celebs that I've ever been associated with. She ALWAYS been nice to me even when she's being pulled in 50 different directions and she was very easy to work with. It may not be popular to say, but she's amazing.


Dubcnn: Your websites are brilliant and filled with colorful eye candy – do you personally help with the creation of your internet sites?

ABSOLUTELY!!! If I were able to paint my thoughts on a canvas they would look identical to my website. I pretty much told my media team what I wanted and they executed it PERFECTLY they are the BEST at what they do!!


Dubcnn: I notice you wear a lot of Ed Hardy, is that one of your favorite brands?

I don't have a favorite clothing line, but Ed Hardy is a California classic and I dig a lot of their collection. And they throw some of the best parties hands down :)


Dubcnn: Nirvana is one of your influences, so my question is this - - what is it that draws you to Kurt Cobain and company…

The thing is, musically I'm a HUGE fan of Dave Grohl. I think he's dope. I love Kurt Cobain as an artist, but I'm more interested in his persona. He was the poster boy for adolescent angst; his voice was so full of emotion that you felt EVERYTHING that he sang. He was so dedicated to his craft that it consumed him and as untimely and unfortunate as that is, he's left us with some of the most prolific works of art that we've ever seen or heard.


Dubcnn: As far as performing, what can the people expect from seeing your live show?

I was a dancer before anything, so I understand the importance of entertaining an audience. I feel much more comfortable on stage in front of people than I do behind a mic in the studio. I want people to feel thoroughly entertained when they leave one of my shows. I also want to be seen as an approachable artist as well. I hate being a fan of an artist and when you finally get a chance to meet them, they aren't interested in anything that you have to say. So if my fans feel like they've made an actual friend and they're entertained then I've done my job.


Dubcnn: You have opened up for everyone from Nelly Furtado to KRS One, from Destiny's Child to Kurupt and so forth. What are the biggest differences in the live shows between the different genres of music?

The main difference when performing with artist of different genres is the audience. I have to tailor my sets to the audience I'm performing for. If I'm doing a show with an artist like Kurupt, my set is going to be mostly hip-hop, whereas if I do a show with Nelly Furtado my set will be more pop.


Dubcnn: With basically so many wack hip-hop performances nowadays, what live performers really inspire you…

I'm captivated by any artist that commands the attention of their entire audience. I love watching The Roots, Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Kid Rock, Pink, Kanye, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Justin Timberlake etc. All of these artists are masters of crowd control and their passion for performance is always 100% evident when they're on stage. I’ve learned a lot from all of them.


Dubcnn: As an emcee, you literally kill mics – so I highly respect your lyrical opinion. With that said, what do you think of hip-hop right now lyrically speaking…

Hip-hop to me is a living entity of sorts. And like any living person in their early 20's, it’s in a transitional period. I love the swag rappers like Jeezy and Ross and Wayne, but I think a lot of people get so caught up in their delivery, that they don't pay attention to what they're actually saying. The standard for lyrical prowess has definitely been lowered, but there are artists like Jay, Kanye, Lupe, Pusha and Malice, Pharrell and hopefully myself, that can help remedy that situation and find that happy medium between catchy and profound.


Dubcnn: Amazingly, you can go from heavy emceeing – and then straight flip into a sing-song style approach, like on “What You Do” which, is also one of my favorite songs by you. Tell us how that song (which samples the mega hit record ‘Hey There Delilah’ by the Plain White T’s) came about?

I was doing a show in Ohio with my friend DJ Maxwell, he is an on-air personality at a popular radio station out there. From the time I got off of the plane, until the time I left I heard "Hey There Delilah" about 150 times. Needless to say, I became infatuated with that record. I thought it was a song that the hip-hop audience would love if they knew about it so I remixed it just for fun and put it on YouTube. Two weeks later it was on radio stations all over the country. That song gave me a lot of visibility, which goes to show that EVERYONE can appreciate good music no matter what genre it is.


Dubcnn: Do you know if the Plain White T’s have ever heard your version of the song?

During VMA weekend, I was leaving a party on Sunset and I ran into De'mar Hamilton from Plain White T's, I was just going to casually hand him a mixtape and as soon as he saw the cover he said "Yo you’re the dude that remixed our song" he told me how dope they all thought it was and that was the highest compliment I could have EVER gotten, other than Jay-Z saying he thought I was dope, (which happened a couple days ago :))


Dubcnn: What do you feel about the west coast hip-hop scene right now…?

I'm west coast until the wheels fall off, but the truth is, Snoop and Dre monopolized the west coast. It’s to the point where if you rap and you're from the west coast and you aren't associated with them, then you can't get on and I think that’s wack. And they have so much going on, that even if you are associated with them and you're a west coast rapper you aren't really a priority. That’s why I'm glad to see people like Wayne and David Banner takes an interest in the west coast movement. On the flipside, I believe a big part of the reason why no one is checking for the west is because a lot of artists are afraid of change. I'm well aware that a lot of the ghetto war stories we hear from west coast rappers are based on true events, but the reality of the situation is that the majority of the west coast isn't hood. I think once west coast artists get back in touch with their fans it'll be all-good again.


Dubcnn: In closing, what is the last thing you’d like to say to the readers here at Dubcnn?

In addition to my single, which is playing on radio coast to coast, my mixtape is out and its music I made for everyone to enjoy, it really isn't much deeper than that. My other passion is producing and I have some great things coming up with other artists, including Lil C who is featured on the mixtape. And readers can download it for free at my website KOTheLegend.com.