When Krizz Kaliko hits the stage, his charismatic presence freezes the crowd for a split second before it erupts into a frenzy of excitement. Along with Tech N9ne, the Kansas City, Missouri rapper has built an impenetrable empire under the imprint Strange Music, Inc. Their lives shows are some of the best in the business. Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko's performance at 2008's Rock the Bells had the crowed going nuts, screaming for more. It's this work ethic that has made them two of the most successful independent hip-hop artists in the world. Krizz Kaliko released his debut solo album in 2008. Titled Vitiligo, the album was like an open diary written about who Krizz Kaliko is and what shaped him into the man he is today. Fast-forward to 2015 and Krizz Kaliko is still murdering the microphone. He has four more solo albums under his belt with a fifth, titled Illuminated, scheduled for a 2016 release. In Part I, Krizz Kaliko took a break from recording in the studio to talk about his work ethic, live shows and his stage philosophy.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): I read you guys recently expanded Strange Music.
Krizz Kaliko: Yes, it's expanded to three buildings now. We have a big studio and video department. Then we got another building for merchandise.
You've come a long way.
Yeah, we sure have.
I've been interviewing Tech N9ne probably since 2005 or 2006. Watching your progression has been very impressive. Where does this work ethic come from?
I always had a job. I didn't think music was going to be a career of mine so I always kept a job and even while I was doing this. The last job I had, I had to be at work by 5 a.m. and I got off at 2 p.m. then I was in the studio by 3 p.m. until about 1, 2 or 3 in the morning then go home just long enough to take a shower and get right back to it.
That's insane.
One, we always wanted it really bad and two, we didn't come from turning in a demo to anybody. We came from actually having to work. We'd play every restaurant, picnics, little bitty engagements. Anybody that would let us play, we would play. If it was six people there or if there were 600. In the beginning, when we got 150 people, we were happy, just thrilled. It came from us really having a blue-collar mindset.
Right. You weren't going to get anything handed to you.
We started this in Travis's [O'Guin] basement. He had a basement office and a secretary…in the basement. When I first heard Drake's "Started From the Bottom," I really felt that way. No diss to him because I don't know where he started from, but we came from very humble beginnings. We are still humble to a certain extent. But deep down, we don't say it a lot, but every now and then we say it in a song, 'y'all can't mess with us.' We got a song called "No Can Do" and that pretty much says it. We feel like nobody can fuck with us for real, but we're still humble guys. We just know what we do and what God has given us.
I know what they can't mess with.
What?
Your live shows. I saw you and Tech at Rock the Bells at Red Rocks years ago. You ignited the place with the high energy and choreographed dance moves. Do you put a lot of time in rehearsing for your live shows or is it pretty much like second nature now that you've been doing it so long?
It's both. We pretty much make up stuff. Maybe during the first couple shows of the tour, I'll start doing something Tech will pick up or he'll pick up something I'm doing. We also do rehearse because now we have a band, too. We rehearse for about a week before the show. We coordinate a lot of it. We did a lot more choreography in the beginning, now whoever's doing something, we just join in. It looks we have done that particular move forever, but we might have just started it last Tuesday [laughs].
It looks so natural.
Me and Tech are really in sync with each other a lot. We're around each other more than anyone else in the world so I gotta know his tendencies. That also came from him. He's the one that said, 'We murder everybody.' When we get on stage, our philosophy is we want it to look like anybody else on the bill is subpar when it comes to getting on the stage with us.
You did it.
We don't want them to look bad. We just want to look the best. Our show and the music is what made everybody love us. We didn't have a big radio or TV presence.
Krizz Kaliko: The RAPstation Interview - Part One
When Krizz Kaliko hits the stage, his charismatic presence freezes the crowd for a split second before it erupts into a frenzy of excitement. Along with Tech N9ne, the Kansas City, Missouri rapper has built an impenetrable empire under the imprint Strange Music, Inc. Their lives shows are some of the best in the business. Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko's performance at 2008's Rock the Bells had the crowed going nuts, screaming for more. It's this work ethic that has made them two of the most successful independent hip-hop artists in the world. Krizz Kaliko released his debut solo album in 2008. Titled Vitiligo, the album was like an open diary written about who Krizz Kaliko is and what shaped him into the man he is today. Fast-forward to 2015 and Krizz Kaliko is still murdering the microphone. He has four more solo albums under his belt with a fifth, titled Illuminated, scheduled for a 2016 release. In Part I, Krizz Kaliko took a break from recording in the studio to talk about his work ethic, live shows and his stage philosophy.
RAPstation (Kyle Eustice): I read you guys recently expanded Strange Music.
Krizz Kaliko: Yes, it's expanded to three buildings now. We have a big studio and video department. Then we got another building for merchandise.
You've come a long way.
Yeah, we sure have.
I've been interviewing Tech N9ne probably since 2005 or 2006. Watching your progression has been very impressive. Where does this work ethic come from?
I always had a job. I didn't think music was going to be a career of mine so I always kept a job and even while I was doing this. The last job I had, I had to be at work by 5 a.m. and I got off at 2 p.m. then I was in the studio by 3 p.m. until about 1, 2 or 3 in the morning then go home just long enough to take a shower and get right back to it.
That's insane.
One, we always wanted it really bad and two, we didn't come from turning in a demo to anybody. We came from actually having to work. We'd play every restaurant, picnics, little bitty engagements. Anybody that would let us play, we would play. If it was six people there or if there were 600. In the beginning, when we got 150 people, we were happy, just thrilled. It came from us really having a blue-collar mindset.
Right. You weren't going to get anything handed to you.
We started this in Travis's [O'Guin] basement. He had a basement office and a secretary…in the basement. When I first heard Drake's "Started From the Bottom," I really felt that way. No diss to him because I don't know where he started from, but we came from very humble beginnings. We are still humble to a certain extent. But deep down, we don't say it a lot, but every now and then we say it in a song, 'y'all can't mess with us.' We got a song called "No Can Do" and that pretty much says it. We feel like nobody can fuck with us for real, but we're still humble guys. We just know what we do and what God has given us.
I know what they can't mess with.
What?
Your live shows. I saw you and Tech at Rock the Bells at Red Rocks years ago. You ignited the place with the high energy and choreographed dance moves. Do you put a lot of time in rehearsing for your live shows or is it pretty much like second nature now that you've been doing it so long?
It's both. We pretty much make up stuff. Maybe during the first couple shows of the tour, I'll start doing something Tech will pick up or he'll pick up something I'm doing. We also do rehearse because now we have a band, too. We rehearse for about a week before the show. We coordinate a lot of it. We did a lot more choreography in the beginning, now whoever's doing something, we just join in. It looks we have done that particular move forever, but we might have just started it last Tuesday [laughs].
It looks so natural.
Me and Tech are really in sync with each other a lot. We're around each other more than anyone else in the world so I gotta know his tendencies. That also came from him. He's the one that said, 'We murder everybody.' When we get on stage, our philosophy is we want it to look like anybody else on the bill is subpar when it comes to getting on the stage with us.
You did it.
We don't want them to look bad. We just want to look the best. Our show and the music is what made everybody love us. We didn't have a big radio or TV presence.
