The Philadelphia artist simply known as Kir has been putting in work lately with his recent mixtape and video releases.
The 23-year-old is focused and passionate these days, working with some of Philly’s hottest names including PnB Rock and Jahlil Beats just to name a few.
The grittiness in his music stems from trials, tribulations and struggles of his life experience.
Amazing how an artist can turn pain into something meaningful. A prime example is Kir’s single “Broke Again” where he expresses how he’ll never go broke again.
Riding the wave of his new Legendary mixtape, and motivated by his 3 year-old son, Kir’s determined to live out his dream of success while urging others to do the same.
We chopped it up with him recently to discuss his love for music, his favorite personal project, and keeping his cool around celebs. Read on for more.
1. Meth and Hov helped him love this rap thing
Kir: “The first album that made me fall in love was Method Man‘s Judgement Day and Jay Z‘s Reasonable Doubt. I didn’t buy their CDs but my brother used to keep a rack of CDs in our living room and I always used to play through them and pop them in the CD player. I thought those were the best albums out back then, you couldn’t tell me different. Of course I grew into listening to more of their music but I followed Jay Z’s path more as I got older.”
2. He really dug Hip-Hop in the 90’s
Kir: “Hands down, my favorite music from the 90’s was Hip-Hop. I wasn’t around any other genre. When I was young, everyone wanted to listen to Mobb Deep, Jay Z, Biggie, Tupac, and Scarface. I really think that the 90’s has a big influence in my lyrics today. Back in the day, there was no choice but to be lyrical, rather than today when the beat makes a song more than the lyrics. I am a lyrical artist and my lyrics effect my audience more than the beat at most times.”
3. He treats his first like his last
Kir: “My favorite project from me would be my latest mixtape, Legendary. It’s like that every time I drop a mixtape though. The last mixtape will always be my favorite only because as I grow, the music gets better. For instance, my last mixtape was my best and the one before that was the best and so on. I put my all into my music and it seems like the deeper I get, the better the music seems to turn out. Many memorable things took place on my last mixtape. I made most of my songs from my point of view so they were things I experienced in life.”
4. He used to love it
Kir: “I grew up around XXL magazines mostly. I always seen one of my friends or family members with one of their issues on the table or something like that. In this era, I don’t think magazines are getting played out, however, I do think digital marketing and entertainment are getting more popular so magazines don’t grasp the same amount of attention as it did.”
5. He heard the Harmony live
Kir: “I’ve been to a couple of concerts but my best one hands down would have to be when I went to a Bone Thugs & Harmony concert. It was way too live, and the fact that I was backstage made it even better. Growing up on their music and then finally getting to kick it with those guys was real. There’s other concerts I’ve been to that have been live but that by far was the best.”
6. He only watches the real
Kir: “I love to watch shows like Power, Atlanta and Ballers. I can watch those shows all day. I can relate to them so much, whether it’s a street, music or sports concept. I’ve been through it all and all of them have a political aspect that outsiders wouldn’t understand. These kind of shows inspire me to want to make something of that nature in the future. Great shows like these can give you ideas.”
7. He keeps his cool around celebs
Kir: “One thing I’m big on is that I can accomplish anything any celebrity can do so I’m not really big on crying when I meet a celebrity. I am definitely influenced by some celebrities accomplishments but I don’t over-exaggerate and cry, that’s just not me. I mean it would be good to meet a celebrity that has accomplished the things I am trying to accomplish so they can give me some type of knowledge and encouragement from their experiences.”
The Dope Show 