Article: Kaysha Interview with AfroMuzik

A couple of days ago, the multi-talented, internationally celebrated, and highly accomplished musician by the name of Kaysha graced us with his presence for a quick interview session. For those you who haven't gotten acquainted with him yet, catch up; and for the rest of you who are well-aware of this artist, you'll get a proper glance of his personality, the sort of things that make him tick, as well some exciting insights on upcoming projects. And without further ado...

Hello Kaysha. Welcome to AfroMuzik. Let's start with your upbringing, where did you grow up? How did you end up speaking so many different languages?

I grew up between Kinshasa, Brussels & Paris, with stops in Abidjan, New York & Pekin, so I guess talking multiple languages was just a natural thing

When did you first decide that you wanted to do music for a living? How did it happen?

I never decided. I was learning economics at university and music has been a passion since the age of 8. But one day after a fashion show in Brussels, somebody put a microphone in my hand and put in an instrumental. Everybody loved my performance and gigs started coming in, and it never stopped

You've got your hands on many different aspects of music making (songwriting, singing, rapping, producing, etc...). Is there anything else peaking your interest these days?

The way I am is that I have thirst of something but then, when my thirst is satisfied, I get to something else. And sometimes the frustration of not finding the right person to do the job makes you go and learn how to craft it yourself. So I started with beat-making rapping, singing, all types of genres, then mixing, mastering and now I'm more into publishing, and the business side of the music business
If I don't have new interests, I don't see why I would keep doing the same boring thing all my life. Life is about getting to the next level

Of all the countries in the world that you've been blessed to perform in, where do you tend to receive the most love? Why is that?

Really, it's worldwide. I think that when you make this music out of passion and to share the love, you receive love in return

Tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind your latest project entitled "Raw Like Sushi" that you released this past Valentine's Day.

My music is a work in progress. Sometimes I release hit albums, sometimes I release intimate projects with no aim at commercial success.
"Raw Like Sushi" is just another step towards nirvana

It's really rare these days to see albums with more than 20 full tracks on iTunes. You clearly have every intention to give listeners all their money's worth. Which tracks stand out most to you as very personal?

I'm a very prolific artist. Nowadays, people want to do albums with 12 songs because they feel that most of the songs you put on your album will go un-noticed and to an extent, it's true. But the way I work makes it impossible for me to release few tracks unless I release an album every 8 months. I release a new track every month, and by the time I finish the album, I had 10 released already, so I added 12 more and I already have 6 ready for the next album "Romantik Revolutionz" but the name might change. In all my albums, the most personal track is the intro. I usually compose and record it the day before the mastering and it tells how I felt doing this album, how it reflects my life since the last time u heard about me. I can't say that one track is the most personal because they all represent moods of when I wrote them. Because you have to understand my creative process. I could a whole album in a plane of a 8h flight if I have a lot in my heart. But most of the time, I put a beat and record while I'm writing without really thinking. I just let it come out from deep down there without letting the mind interact. This is why it's raw. Like sushi

You kept the list of featured artists pretty small on this release, is it the same behind the scenes with the writing and music production?

I'm not a big fan of featuring inside of my albums, I prefer to be featured on other people's work, but I called a few friends here and there to kick on a few beats. On the producing side, I got the sushiraw family assassin ninja beat-makers on the production : LBeatz, GS pro, Malcom, Axizzle, Ravidson, TLDreamZ, myself... Writing all by me & mixing too

Many of your core fans remember your earlier hits like "On dit quoi" and "Jusqu'a Fatigué". Do you have any plans on working with beats that are little more uptempo in the future?

Yeah, I have this track "Minakupenda sana" that goes in this direction, but I decided to keep all my uptempo productions inside of my project "Grand Maquis 2" because the album was starting to go to the 28 tracks and that was too much lol
I got this killer track called "Joli bébé" but I kept it in the hard drive for now and lots of collabs with african artists

I'm all the time all around the globe so I can't really say that this tour starts or ends. It's been an ongoing tour for the past 15 years

Last but not least, what's the best way for fans to stay up to date with you?

facebook.com/lovekaysha
kaysha.com
twitter.com/kaysha
instagram.com/kaysha2201
youtube.com/kaysha2201
I try to reply to everybody as much as I can

Thank you Kaysha for kicking it with the AfroMuzik community. We shall link up again pretty soon :-)

Pleasure is all mine.

Big up