Rich Kidz Official Interview

Brandon Harris : What was it like being in high school and preforming all over the place? 

Skooly: We started when I was a freshman in high school. It was tough balancing school and music. We come from a tough working-class neighborhood. We learned that you gotta hustle to eat. So we adopted that work-ethic and used it in our music career. Kaelub: I was a senior when we formed the group. So performing was a way for me to see new places and figure out if this was a career or a hobby. Things became successful so fast we decided to pursue it as a career. Brandon Harris: Not to many young performer’s think about their education, where did you guy’s get such a good set of ethics? Kaelub: Our parents. We were interested in music as a career, not a hobby. We were surrounded with a good management team early. They allowed us to grow. Although we were offered a record deal each year we were determined to both finish high school first. It was hard to turn down record deals year after year. Skooly is the youngest, so once he graduated we signed to Columbia Records, the same day. Skooly: I was so young when the group started, I was 14, my parents made it clear they wanted me to finish high school. We were offered a few deals and they were considering them but our management team believed in our talent and told us to take our time. That gave me the space and time I needed to finish school. Brandon Harris: Your marketing plan blew your music up twice as fast, who came up with it? Kaelub: We didn't really have a marketing plan when we started. We were a group of high school kids with an interest in music. Atlanta has several rap groups. We just felt it was time for some younger acts to be heard. We started passing out CDs at school and in the neighborhood. Then on to MySpace and YouTube. We just put the music in places our friends and followers could hear it. Skooly: They liked it and it began to spread around the city. Next thing we know we have 1M MySpace plays, 1M YouTube views and the songs are on the radio.

Brandon Harris: Nun else to do was a great track, who did yall come up with that? Kaelub: We were just vibing in the studio. Skooly was writing his part. I was writing mine. I had a line, "My whole team ball, no NBA. All I know is money, it's in my DNA". Then Skooly added his part "Ain't Nun Else To Do" and it just felt right. Skooly: Once DJ Spinz started building the beat around the hook we knew we had something. Brandon Harris: What’s the difference for your career and your life style? Kaelub: The music business is so demanding it becomes your lifestyle. Everyday we are either writing songs, listening to beats or working on our craft, going out to clubs etc. Skooly: Music is my life and my lifestyle. Kaelub: That's what the Rich Kidz brand is all about. Creating a lifestyle for yourself that will enable your kids to be rich. Rich Kidz describes our ambition that our kids be rich, not just us. Brandon Harris:What is the next big thing for Rich Kidz? Kaelub: Fist single released by Columbia Records later this year. Skooly: Working on this album. Preparing for more touring this spring and summer. This is our year to blow. Brandon Harris: Hitting Chicago anytime soon? Kaelub: We have had so many shows in Chicago cancelled, I hope so. We've been trying to get there since 2010 when the song "I See You" popped off. We've been to Milwaukee a few times but not the Chi. Waiting on the promoter from Adrianna's to have us come turn up. When Ratchet ft. Chief Keef and Future blew up I thought we would come to Chicago but right as the song popped Keef had other issues to deal with and we never got to come to Chicago. Skooly: Excited to perform in Chicago. We have lots of fans there who reach out on social media. We haven't made it yet but it is definitely on the list for 2014. 

Brandon Harris: What’s the tour plan for 2014? Kaelub: We are sitting with our team now planning 2014. More songs, more shows, more videos. Skooly: Stay tuned. Big things popping! Brandon Harris: Any funny show story’s? Skooly: Too many. The road can be boring but it can also be fun. Kaelub: What happens on the road, stays on the road. Brandon Harris: What are your goals as musicians in the next 5 years? Kaelub: We have our company Rich Kidz Music Group. So we want to get a few albums out and also develop other talent on our roster. We have my big bro Sayy who has a song buzzing in Atlanta, our producer London and a few more signings we are going to announce late this year. Skooly: Our goal is to provide an avenue for all our people to shine. We got a talented team. We are just the tip of the iceberg. Gonna get Sony to give us Columbia Records South. That's the goal. Brandon Harris: When did you record your first song? Skooly: I recorded my first rap song around 11 years old. My first song singing was "Wassup" the first song I recorded with Rich Kidz in 2008. Kaelub: My first song was in 2008 too. My dad owns a indi-record store. They had a studio in the back and iI would play around but my first "real" attempt at rapping was 2008. Brandon Harris: Any college plans for you guys? Kaelub: Yeah I still have an interest in college. I may take some business classes just to be sharper on the business end. We have so man opportunities, don't want to miss anything. Skooly: Yeah I still want to go to college. Might even lear more about production to create tracks. In the studio Kaelub and I really co-produce a lot of our tracks. I need to learn how to work the boards a little better. Brandon Harris: What’s your opinion on the Chicago based Chief Keef? Kaelub: Like we mentioned earlier, we have worked with Keef and SD. But we haven't meet Keef. We just emailed verses. You gotta respect a youngin who puts his city on his back and creates a movement. Wanna get with Keef in the studio I know we would create a banger bigger than "Ratchet". Skooly: We fuck with Keef. Still want to shoot a video for Ratchet. That would be dope. We were working on a GBE/RK4L mixtape last year. We started sharing ideas and tracks but havent' finished. Keef's legal troubles slowed that project down but I still think it would be dope. Kaelub: I fuck with the Chi and the drill scene. We listen to several Chicago artists, SD, Fredro, King L, Lil Reese, Sasha Go Hard, Katie and a few more. Don't follow it too closely because we spend so much time with what we are doing. Chi has a lot or young artists so we gotta pay attention. SD came to Atlanta we hit him on Twitter and he came through with Gino Marley to RK4L Studios. We kicked clouds, chopped it up and created the song "Grammy" the same night. Skooly: Yeah I respect the Chicago artists. They seem to have a young music scene like Atlanta. We need more collaborations from artists out of Chicago, rappers, DJs and producers. We got a few unreleased songs we sent to Keef last year that we need to finish. We have a few unreleased we sent to SD too. Management was trying to get us a session with Young Chop it hasn't happened yet but we are working on it. Kaelub: We recently sent some exclusives to DJ Honorz. So we trying to build with some Chicago artists. Chi-town hit us up, Booking@RK4L.com.

Brandon Harris: Favorite Junk food?

Skooly: Soft candy, gummies and cookies. Kaelub: We are basically junk food junkies. That's the best thing for long studio sessions.

Brandon Harris: How many countries have you preformed in? 

Kaelub: Only America. Although we have had shows booked in Canada, Kuwait and Germany. We get a lot of support from the military. Passport people tripping. Every time we apply they always reject it and force us to apply again. Skooly: Yeah. If we ever get our Passports we have about five countries waiting on us. We coming!

Brandon Harris: So you're musicians and businessmen, what’s it like having your own label?

Kaelub: (Laughs) It is expensive! Yeah we have a studio, an artist and a few producers. We make sure the studio rent is paid and that the equipment is up to date to provide a place for everyone to work and get a catalog of songs completed. It also provides a good creative environment for us. Skooly: Sayy, next up on RK4L, has a banger called "Other1" that is going to put him on the map. We've released it to iTunes, Google Play and YouTube. We will really promote it when he comes out to open for us on our tours this year. Kaelub: We have a team so the new acts are their focus right now. We are concentrating on getting our album recorded. When everyone has their songs together we will think about how to promote them. 

Brandon Harris: What Are your overall goals? 

Both: Success.

Brandon Harris: NBA OR NFL?

Kaelub: NBA, no doubt. I'm a hooper. I had a basketball scholarship to college. I'm still nice. Best rapper/basketball player out right now. No doubt! Skooly: MLB. Baseball is my thing.

Brandon Harris: Anything for family and friends?

Both: Shout out to the fans and the whole RK4L family.