Kidd Kidd Interview – Grinding For A Cold Hour

Kidd Kidd interview
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Firs thing I said when I met Kidd Kidd for our interview during one of his recent trips to New York City, is, “you been grinding for a HOT MINUTE, man.”  With a laugh and a smile Kidd Kidd replied, you know what, we gonna have to start calling it A COLD HOUR.  That’s how long I been doing this, A COLD HOUR.”  I got it instantly.  I been following Kidd Kidd since his Cash Money days and that wasn’t even his first entry in business.  Lil’ Wayne’s The Carter III, which featured Kidd Kidd on “Mrs. Officer” was released in 2008. But the New Orleans native, Kidd Kidd has remained consistent and now eight years later as a member of G-Unit he continues to play his part.  Last year he appeared on an episode of the Starz hit show Power performing the single, “Ejected” (Power Season 2, episode 4).  His mixtape, Fuk Da Fame created a nice buzz as well.  But there’s still no album release date so the grind continues.  It takes a lot to be consistent in this music industry,  that must be respected.  Especially when you been consistent for a “cold hour.”  My Kidd Kidd interview…

Parlé Magazine:  What keeps you motivated in this here rap game?
Kidd Kidd:  Every day life. I rather be out here doing what I love to do then to be out here doing nothing or doing something worse.

Parlé:  What was the point where you realized Hip-Hop was the path for you?
Kidd Kidd:  I had to be young man, had to be like 7 or 8 years old. Just watching TV, watching videos and stuff like that. Rapping always came to me, but I never thought that it could happen for me. But certain things are just meant to be and this just showed me that, because no matter what was going on in my life, I always rapped about it. I was rapping about it and then I finally got my break. Here I am now.

Parlé:  What’s the first big break you remember having?
Kidd Kidd:  Man, the first time I ever went to the studio. This dude named Dizzy from around my way, he was the neighborhood rapper, and I was just a little dude around the way, but everybody in the hood knew I rapped. They was telling Dizzy, ‘you nice man, but Kidd the truth.’ He was like, well we gon’ see. First time we went to the studio, I got in that booth and I just fell in love with it. From that it was on.

Kidd Kidd interview
Kidd Kidd ‘Fuk Da Fame’ album cover

Parlé:  Your latest project, Fuk Da Fame, talk to us about that new mixtape?
Kidd Kidd:  Fuk The Fame is the newest tape that’s out now. It’s just a full body of work. You can listen to it from top to bottom. If you listen to every song, what I wanted to do was attack the energy first from the intro. I call it a full body of work because I’ma fuck with your head for a minute then I’ma attack your heart when I give you some real shit. Then I’ma give you some shit to move your legs. And I’ma give you some shit to make you sit down and listen. If you actually sit down and listen to it, you can run my joint from track 1 to 14.

Parlé:  Like you say, on the tape you cover a bit of everything, including getting shot.  I want to talk about a couple of those topics.  Let’s start there, when did you get shot?
Kidd Kidd:  That happened about 2 years ago, right in front of my momma house. I look at it as something you gotta go through and make it out of. A lot of people don’t make it out of that, for real. I got shot six times, it only take one bullet to kill you. So to make it out of that situation it really made me wake up and realize how blessed I really am. And that I really had a future out here. After coming out that situation I had just met 50 Cent and he took me out that situation and started taking me around the world. I talk about that deeply on a song called “Still Here.” It got 50 Cent on the hook and my artist, Tyson on the last verse. When I did that song I was fresh out the hospital and Tyson was with me, he got killed right after that. He didn’t even get to hear the finished product of that song, he didn’t get to hear 50 jump on the hook or none of that. Rest in peace to Tyson.

Parlé:  You talk about your city on the tape and people hear about it on television and some folks make it out there once a year for Mardi Gras or Essence Festival, but what’s it like growing up in New Orleans?
Kidd Kidd:  Man, it’s crazy brah, cause we limited on a lot of things. So growing up out there you don’t feel like you can make it as far. Like I said, being where I’m at now musically, it’s still unbelievable to a lot of people. Cause I still go back to the same block, hang with the same people. We limited with jobs and we limited with opportunities. In New York if you trying to rap, you got all these buildings, right there, down there we don’t have those outlets, so we do our music for us. Down there if you trying to get money either you gotta jump on the porch and sell drugs or you gotta jack somebody who do got money. That mentality is still down there to this day.

Kidd Kidd interview
Kidd Kidd hanging out on the balcony at the G-Unit offices

Parlé:  First single of the mixtape is “Ejected.”  Not your average club record but still a different look from Kidd Kidd…
Kidd Kidd:  Yeah, “Ejected” is not your average club song, but I don’t want people to be fooled. I didn’t really want it for the single, I would’ve went with “Still Here” as a single cause it’s more real.

Parlé:  I get it.  Folks from New Orleans always seem to hold each other down regardless of the position. What’s it feel like to do tracks with dudes like Lil’ Wayne, even after the Cash Money situation didn’t work out and still connect with dudes like August Alsina?
Kidd Kidd:  I ain’t gonna lie, it feel good cause I’m always rooting for the home team. It’s good to see where all these people at right now. When I first met August, he was just August Alsina from the city trying to do his thing. He reached out to me to do the song [“Downtown”] and it turned out to be a blessing. Shout out to everybody from Louisiana doing their thing. Shout out the homie Kevin Gates, I got Gates on the tape. They always call us crabs in a bucket, but instead of pulling each other down, let’s pull each other up.

Parlé:  How did you end up linking with 50 Cent and G-Unit?
Kidd Kidd:  50 heard about me from a song I did called “Betta Walk” because I had got the beat and it had him on the hook already. I think it was a song that he had gave to Freeway or something like that, I don’t know but I did it, and I shot a video for it and everything. His first reaction was like, ‘oh I’ma shut this shit down,” but he gave it a listen and was like, ‘oh, this little nigga killed it.’  He reached out to me and it’s just been on.


Parlé:  
You’ve been part of the last two G-Unit projects, the EPs, The Beast Is G-Unit and The Beauty of Independence, how does it feel to be part of this whole G-Unit resurgence?
Kidd Kidd:  It feels legendary man. It’s amazing being able to make music with people you grew up listening to. It’s not a moment I’m around these dudes in the studio and I don’t get star struck.  Like, ‘I can’t believe I’m in the studio with Lloyd Banks, I’m bout to do a song with Lloyd Banks, I gotta step my bars up.’ Or ‘nigga this is Young Buck!’ These is dudes that already did what I’m trying to accomplish. They done already went platinum, they done already made millions of bucks. They done did everything I’m trying to do and more. So I gotta work just as hard as them and even harder for myself.


Parlé:  
What’s the best advice 50 has given you?
Kidd Kidd:  Shake the pressure. Don’t fold under the pressure, apply the pressure. For real. They all humble cats, they accepted me as they own, they treat me like family, so I just go by that. But they always schooling me about everything, whether it’s about groupies, or whatever else, cause like I said they done already been through this game and they vets at it. If the see me about to make a mistake, they pull me aside and they like naw, I can’t let you go down like this. I respect all my bros for real.

Parlé:  Is there any frustration on your part knowing how much time you’ve already put in the game?
Kidd Kidd:  There’s no frustration. Frustration comes from the people that’s around you, because a lot of people don’t dream the same dream that you dream. It was a time where there wasn’t no money coming in from rap, and I done left the streets alone so I’m just broke, but I’m rapping. So the frustration came from that cause I’m a man and I got a family also. So when you just out there doing that, they don’t see or they don’t understand that I don’t have it. You know what I’m saying. That’s the only frustration I deal with.

Parlé:  A lot of people might not remember, but you first jumped on with the, “I’m Kidd Kidd/My face on every wanted poster,” on the “Mrs. Officer” record with Lil’ Wayne…
Kidd Kidd:  I mean to be real with you that ain’t even when I first got on. I mean it is, in terms of being all over the radio but we had the group, Sqad Up (Kidd Kidd, Gudda Gudda, Dizzy, T-Streets), we put out like seven, eight mixtapes with that. We even put out a tape when Drake first came out. I got songs with me, Wayne and Drake.  Some of the most popular songs out right now, I’m on the originals. For example, the “Forever” track, with Wayne, Drake, Kanye and Eminem, I was the first to be on the song. It was me, Wayne and Drake song at first. You can go back and hear all those joints.

Parlé:  Why didn’t it work out with Cash Money?
Kidd Kidd:  It’s not a thing about it didn’t work out, you know what I’m saying, it’s just that you grow apart. Like I said, at the time there wasn’t no money coming in for me from that. And I was a little knuckle head nigga that didn’t understand the business aspect of everything. And I had a family to feed so my first priority was that. So I was on my, fuck it, I gotta get money. Music always been my first priority though, don’t get it twisted. Even when I was going through all of that I was recording, recording, recording, that’s how I ended up with the song that caught 50 attention. There was never no paper work involved with Cash Money, it was based on friendships, being around him for so long. But it was still a blessing to be on one of the biggest singles, to be nominated for a Grammy and everything. I drove 26 hours to go to L.A. to go to the Grammys… by myself. I didn’t drive by myself, but I went in The Grammys, by myself because my friends I was with ain’t have no tickets.

Kidd Kidd interview
Kidd Kidd


Parlé:  
What’s next for Kidd Kidd?
Kidd Kidd:  Right now I’m all about promoting Fuk The Fame. I got so many projects that are already done, but I’ma keep dropping visuals for this project until I release my next tape.

Parlé:  No plans for the album yet?
Kidd Kidd:  Yeah, of course, but I want to make sure I have everybody attention first, make sure I have everybody ears before I drop the album. I know the material I’m bringing to the table is crazy, but I want to make sure everything is right.

Parlé:   Any upcoming releases with G-Unit?
Kidd Kidd:  We been recording, so you can look forward to a new G-Unit album coming real soon.


Parlé:  
Any final words you want to put out there?
Kidd Kidd:  Make sure ya’ll follow me on twitter @itskiddkidd Make sure ya’ll follow me on instagram @KiddKiddRG I just started a snap chat, still don’t know how to work it but follow me there at @itskiddkidd5