Talking to: Kay Young

We’ve been loving London based artist, rapper and producer Kay Young here at The Everyday ever since we came across her in October opening Dot to Dot Festival in Bristol. We were promised one of the most exciting new Black British female artists on the scene at the moment, and she really does live up to that moniker.

Making music in her home studio, Kay caught the attention of Jay Electronica on Instagram in 2019, and once he passed some of her short beat videos to friend and collaborator Jay Z shortly afterwards, the rest, as they say, is history. Before she knew it she’d been flown out to LA and signed to Jay Z’s management company Roc Nation. She is in complete control from start to finish of the songwriting and producing process, effortlessly moving between tight rapping and soulful, strong vocals - always thoughtful and uplifting, sometimes playful, whilst exploring dance, jazz and soul.

She has just released a new EP ‘This Here Feels Good’, written during lock down, exploring themes of familial legacy and cultural relations. For an artist who is yet to release an album she is really getting noticed right now, and if you listen to her music and what she has to say you can see why - she is brimming with talent and surety in her chosen path, whilst remaining refreshingly genuine and true to her South London roots.

We caught up with Kay Young recently and talked about her journey so far, the importance of keeping creative control and learning your craft inside out, especially as a Black female in the music industry, and why Adele would be her dream collaborator.

So Kay, where are you at the moment? How's life going?

Life is going good! It’s kind of gone quick, I’ve been doing music all my life but it’s just mad how it just takes a moment and things just start moving so fast and you can never really prepare for it. But I cannot complain, I have a great team around me, I’ve got creative control, which is something I’ve been fighting for as well, I’ve always stood for that. Musically I'm in a good place, ideas just keep coming to me you know? It’s great.

In your own words, what is the music you’re creating at the moment?

I’m only going by what people tell me because when I’m doing it, it’s hard to say, but it’s refreshing, honest and I’d say raw. In terms of genre? Hip-hop, soul and dance. it’s quite eclectic, it’s like a big melting pot of all the things I’ve been raised on.

So, you’ve always been making music?
Always. I mean I come from a musical family, my dad’s a musician, he’s still on the road now touring and stuff. I grew up watching him practice and go to rehearsals and I saw the dedication and I knew the importance of just working on your craft, I understood that from early on. My mum was a backing singer as well, so I saw it around me, it’s part of my DNA. Then going to church, being in the choir and the band; it was embedded in me. No one had ever shown me how to play the drums or make a song on a computer, but I was able to do it.

It was never forced on me to do music, it was something that I saw the power of and the effect it had on people. Especially with Michael Jackson, his fans would just be in awe and would be crying – I’m not saying I want people to cry over me – but I love how good it makes people feel, and how good it makes me feel as well. So, first and foremost I kind of do music for me, it’s therapy for me, but it’s a bonus knowing how it touches people and inspires people.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in London, South London.

Is that where you’re based now?

I'm still based in South London, through and through! So, currently in Brockley, I moved here at the age of six and have lived here ever since.

So you’re not going anywhere else any time soon then, no?

No, London is home. I mean, I’ve done a bit of travelling but I just love the raw energy of London, I love how honest we are, we’re very just straight with it, you know? Musically as well it’s just authentic, there's just rawness in it.

Who are your heroes and influences?

Kendrick Lamar - I love his versatility. Then you've got Kanye West - I love how he’s forever breaking boundaries. And then Janis Joplin - I always heard her music along the way through my dad and stuff, but when I went to college, I remember watching a Woodstock festival and I just remember being blown away by her, her raw energy and how she wasn’t afraid to be ugly. I mean that in a sense of, however she was feeling, it would come out through her voice, her facial expressions, and she just put it out there. I love how she’s just not conforming to be a typical fluffy-duffy singer, she was just about being herself and being raw. I remember seeing her and thinking, 'Jeez, that’s a bit of me. I’m gonna show you who I am, I’m gonna bring you into my world'.

And then, goodness... Missy Elliot - I'm a massive fan of Missy Elliot. Just how again, she was the same, she didn’t conform, she wasn’t your typical female artist, yet she brought people into her world and she knew how to put on a show. So, everybody I’ve mentioned, there’s a sort of raw energy about them and authenticity. That’s what I kind of gravitate towards.

You said earlier that you’ve been fighting for musical control - do you feel that you’ve got that at the moment?

Oh my gosh, yeah. There’s nothing worse than not, I mean I’ve never been in that situation, but I think it’s a blessing for me being able to produce my own music. I’ve got my bedroom studio and if I hear an idea I can just record it, I don’t have to rely on anybody.

Creative control is a massive thing, I don’t have all the money in the world, I’m still scraping by, still struggling, which I don’t like to say, but as an independent artist it's hard, it’s difficult. When you gain creative control, sometimes that means just taking what you need financially, no more than that. You've got to budget every minute, but I’d rather that than not having any creative control, having a load of money yet people telling me what to do.

It comes from experience, it comes from just listening to those who came before us, like Prince fought for creative control, he said it early - own your stuff. You just have to be patient and say, 'You know what? This is only gonna be like this for so long. I’m just gonna ride it out until I get a big break and it will all be worth it'.

Just not selling out to get the cash, basically?

That’s it. It's enticing, so enticing, and it's so available. I had a conversation with someone and they said ‘Why don’t you quit your work tomorrow and we can get x amount of money in your account?’. I'm thinking that it was so easy to get that, when you get something so quickly it's normally a bad decision. Because it was so easy and available I thought 'No, that’s not a good thing, things don’t come quick like that'. You have to work for it, it’s a race. So for me, it’s just holding onto that creative control for as long as you can. It depends on what situation you’re in - sometimes people can’t financially do that, so I’m not beating anyone down for taking that route, but if you can just ride it out for as long as you can, it will be worth it in the end.

I wanted to chat to you about something that came out in the news earlier this week, Black Lives in Music recently published a study which shows there's a huge disparity between how black and white people are treated and what they’re paid across the industry and how much creative control they have as well, especially black women. Does that reflect how things have been for you or do you see something different?

You know what, my story is different. I’ve heard stories, definitely. I think, first and foremost, yeah, there is a problem. Just in terms of being seen, like we’re just as good but we’re hardly seen if that makes sense. We’re not put at the forefront, and you have to fight for that and it takes us women of colour coming together just to fight and get our voices heard, and that’s happening now.

I think for me, I haven’t had to rely on many people because I’ve been able to do things myself musically. So I think I haven’t experienced certain things because of that, I haven’t really had to answer to anybody, but I do know of black female creatives that have, and it’s been difficult. They’ve been in the same rooms but haven’t had a voice to speak up and say their thoughts or it just gets dismissed. So, I definitely think we do have to work a lot harder and it is conversations that we do have amongst ourselves – because at the end of the day, I’m not going to to lie to you, I’m going to be very real - if it wasn’t for black music, music wouldn’t be where it is today,

It’s just so frustrating. Its conversations that we are having in terms of 'how are we gonna combat this? Is it a matter of just pulling our music and just being silent?' I mean, to be honest I haven’t read that article, but it’s known, we’ve always known this.

It sounds like you know that having the ability to do everything from start to finish yourself gives you that bit more of control against those forces in the industry.

That’s the thing. I think as women as well you have to learn your craft as much as you can. If you’re a songwriter but don’t know how to produce or anything, if you’ve even got a bit of money, buy a computer, buy the music software and just figure out certain things. Or when you go into a studio, you know exactly what it is you wanna hear, don’t have anybody dictating to you. The amount of money you spend in studio time you can buy a laptop that’s like £200 and learn the basics, so you have some level of control when you’re walking into those meetings and studios. Hold your own, don’t let anybody tell you what to do.

If you’re up and coming and you don’t care, then go for it. If you just want the money then go for it. But you need to have a certain level of knowledge in what it is that you do, learn as much as you can. You need to be pushing when people come to you and say, how can we help you. So you know that you’ve set a foundation for people so they can’t step to you like that because you know a bit too much.

Did you teach yourself music production?

I walked into the music block in school, I think I was eleven, it was only for thirteen year olds and upwards, but I snuck in and the teacher said to me ‘What are you doing here? Do you even know how to use this stuff?’ and I said I did and I had no idea, no idea! I just remember opening the software and thinking that I was going to get into trouble. But I remember seeing the transport bar, the play and record button, the rewind, the pause, thinking that this was like a remote control. So, you’re telling me if I pressed the record, it's gonna record something, and I made my first beat. No one taught me these things. So I learnt how to produce by myself and then I went to college after just to learn musician shit - playing with live bands, the drums were my first instrument. For me college was also more learning the business side of music more than music technology, because I knew how to do that already. Sorry, long story short – yeah, I taught myself!

So you sneaked in there off your own back and taught yourself!

Do you know what I hate? Not even hate, it’s a cultural thing as well, I don’t like that feeling of having to depend on anyone, or people letting me down. That’s why I think I am where I am, I don’t want anyone to let me down or tell me I can’t have the studio time. I’ve always been like that, I’ve been so self-sufficient because of that.

You’ve recently been picked up by Roc Nation, so things have changed really quickly for you. When did you get signed by them?

It was May 2019 when I officially signed the management contract and even now I’m still trying to process the whole thing, I don’t think I ever will because of how it happened. But yeah, it's been amazing. Again, they’re just letting me do my own thing, which has been great.

How did you get picked up by them?

Basically I did a 30 day beat challenge on Instagram towards the end of 2018, and not long after that Jay Electronica started following me. I freaked out, at first I thought it was a prank, because me and my friends always prank each other. I messaged Jay Electronica and I said thank you for following me, I’m a big fan! He just responded with a hands up emoji, nothing else - so elusive and I love him for that! Then after that he just kept on watching my stories and I was thinking 'Gosh, he’s stealing my ideas! I’m a small fish, it would be perfect for him to do this! Little old me, South London, you know?'.

Then towards the end of February he messaged and said ‘if I show you something, promise not to put it on social media and just show the people closest to you.’ It was a screenshot of a conversation he was having with Jay Z. So, Jay Electronica was sending Jay Z my beat videos! Jay Z said ‘She’s dope, I'm finding her right now’.

I kept on saying thank you, he kept on saying don’t thank me thank God. In the end the only way he’d receive my thanks was by me saying I’m gonna thank God for using you as a vessel for choosing me! He asked if anybody from Roc Nation had reached out, I said no, not knowing that emails had been coming into my junk mail. Within fifteen minutes somebody called me, she's managing me now - big up Kate! Kate called me and asked to meet. Bearing in mind as well this is just one minute clips they’ve seen on my Instagram. It was less than an hour after me sending her some proper music and she says her boss Tyty wanted to fly me out to LA as soon as possible. I thought this was too much, I didn't know if I wanted to do music anymore!

I can only imagine!

I was so overwhelmed. That Monday I was flown out to LA. I met the team and I'm nervous thinking they’ve made a mistake, chosen the wrong person. I had to bring my brother with me too because I doubted myself so much, I became very fearful. They took us out for dinner and when we got to the restaurant I really couldn’t eat. It was Tyty, Jay-Z’s best friend was there and then A&R. My brother's at the table eating the bread, just comfortable. He was like, 'Kay, you’ve worked for this. You have every reason to be at this table'. So he’s relaxed because he saw this coming. Anyway, they were an amazing team, I didn’t need to audition, I was in. This was March 2019, I signed the contract in May, so between March and May, it all kicked off. It’s been mad, a rollercoaster.

Have you been back over to America since? Are you being pushed over there as well?

Not yet. They want to keep it at home for now. At the moment I'm doing great in Australia and in America as well. But I went back to LA in January 2020 for the Roc Nation brunch, which is a pre-Grammy brunch, just before COVID. I got to meet Jay-Z and I thanked him, I don’t even know what I said but I said thank you, like, twenty times, gave him an awkward hug and did a pat on his back, it was just so mad. It was an amazing experience just to meet him and be surrounded by so many amazing musicians.

Can you tell us a bit more about your EP ‘This Here Feels Good’.

It was originally an album. I created it last year in lockdown over eight months. My manager said she didn’t think I should put out an album yet, it's still building momentum, let’s put out another EP. I was mourning for the whole night, but she was right, it’s just music, it’s not my best work, I’m not trying to dumb it down, but no, I know I have more great music to come, so we split it into five tracks.

Throughout making it I just remember how good it made me feel. Bearing in mind I made this throughout lockdown. There was so much going on, COVID, George Floyd, the world was on fire. But when I came into my studio it felt good, nothing else mattered. It was my escape and it just felt good and that’s how I got the title ‘This Here Feels Good’. It sounds good as well, but I personally think music is more of a feeling than a sound.

Which track has a really special place in your heart?

I would say ‘I’ve Got You’, I wrote that for a friend. Sometimes you can sense when there’s things that are not right with your friends - I remember calling her and she said she was going through a rough time and then I started making the music for ‘I’ve Got You’ and when I was writing it just came out, it started flowing. I thought, this is for her.

I was listening to ‘I’ve Got You’ yesterday and it does have that feeling, it does make you feel like somebody’s got you - you feel cushioned and cocooned by it, with a nice house beat as well!

That’s it, the contrast is mad, it makes sense. You know what? I love speaking to people like yourself because it really does give you insight into the stuff you make. When you’re in it you’re just subconscious, almost like an out of body experience. But talking to people like yourself, it gives me insight.

What’s coming next then?

So, more shows, I’m hopefully going on tour soon and am waiting for confirmation on that. But more music, I’m working on a new EP now so I’m excited about that. I’m hopefully releasing that early next year. I want to make music for animation and films, I want to do big things man, I really want to do big things musically. Collaborations too.

What is your dream collaboration?

I really want to compose something for Adele. I think Adele is amazing, she’s so big, she’s big enough to take risks musically, I want to be that for her, I want to accompany that. I really want to make a project for that woman - I think she’s a cool person.

She sounds like she’s another woman in the music business who’s fully got control of it as well.

We have to take control, we have to! Just take that control back and own it.

The EP This Here Feels Good is out now to buy and stream.

Kay Young is supporting Joel Culpepper at The Thekla Bristol on 13th November and performing at the Women in Jazz Festival in London on 17th November.

Find Kay Young on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.