Have you ever wondered how an 18-year-old independent artist navigates the challenging world of music? In this episode, we introduce you to the dynamic duo - Michelle and her son Malachi, also known as Kai Uriah. With an impressive following and millions of music streams, this talented young artist produces, records, and mixes his own music. We'll explore his musical journey, starting from band practice in fifth grade to mastering multiple instruments and establishing his unique sound. All the while, he maintains a firm grasp on the business aspect of the music industry.
In the second chapter, we reveal Kai's realities as a young artist striving for perfection in his craft. Balancing school with a burgeoning music career and overcoming self-doubt are just a few of the challenges he encounters. He shares how he maintains a growth mindset and the vital importance of choosing the right circle of influence. You'll learn how this enterprising artist copes with obstacles while continuously improving his artistry.
Kai's creative process is as intriguing as his music. He compares his style to popular artists like Drake, Justin Bieber, and Bruno Mars, providing an insightful look into his musical influences. The conversation concludes with the importance of parental support, with Michelle sharing her perspective on nurturing young talent. Whether you're a parent of an aspiring artist or an artist yourself, join us as we uncover the world of Kai Uriah and his inspiring journey in the music industry.
Look up, and let's elevate.
Have you ever wondered how an 18-year-old independent artist navigates the challenging world of music? In this episode, we introduce you to the dynamic duo - Michelle and her son Malachi, also known as Kai Uriah. With an impressive following and millions of music streams, this talented young artist produces, records, and mixes his own music. We'll explore his musical journey, starting from band practice in fifth grade to mastering multiple instruments and establishing his unique sound. All the while, he maintains a firm grasp on the business aspect of the music industry.
In the second chapter, we reveal Kai's realities as a young artist striving for perfection in his craft. Balancing school with a burgeoning music career and overcoming self-doubt are just a few of the challenges he encounters. He shares how he maintains a growth mindset and the vital importance of choosing the right circle of influence. You'll learn how this enterprising artist copes with obstacles while continuously improving his artistry.
Kai's creative process is as intriguing as his music. He compares his style to popular artists like Drake, Justin Bieber, and Bruno Mars, providing an insightful look into his musical influences. The conversation concludes with the importance of parental support, with Michelle sharing her perspective on nurturing young talent. Whether you're a parent of an aspiring artist or an artist yourself, join us as we uncover the world of Kai Uriah and his inspiring journey in the music industry.
Look up, and let's elevate.
Hey, it's Jen, the Builder, and Corey, and hello everyone and welcome to the elevator. Yeah, so we just got over Thanksgiving week. Hope everyone had an amazing time with their family and friends. We last week, Corey, we did sessions on table topics because it just reminded us of Thanksgiving and family and friends talking about whatever comes up at the table, right?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I got a chance to sit out for part of that episode, so it was interesting to be a spectator this time around.
Speaker 1:Yes, but we're shifting and I'm going to say that we're elevating this episode. We have a very special person at the table, actually two very special people to us, and I'm going to give you the honors, corey, for introducing these two, because I know we are equally excited, but this is something that we agreed you would take lead on?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. But before we get started, I have a couple announcements that I'd like to make, because we're going to be doing some special things coming in December, so I have my first book read coming up Jen.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:I really do.
Speaker 1:You've got three of them in December.
Speaker 2:I do. The first one is going to be in Victorville on December 2nd. I will be giving details on social media and then I'll also announce it as it gets closer to that time. But yeah, I just wanted to put that out there because if you're in the Victorville area, it'd be great to see you come out.
Speaker 1:For sure. And since we're here, I just want to say thank you to our family and friends for the support.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:We hit our first milestone way before the date that we planned as far as the book getting some good feedback. I have heard from parents, though, that they've had to read the book a couple of times to get the rhythm, so it's been a great challenge for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's been one of the questions Like why does it rhyme like that? And I said well, you know, I was in my rapping stage at that point, so for sure. Yeah, that's how it came out.
Speaker 1:For sure. So what I love about artistry is that it is deep and it runs wide in the family.
Speaker 2:Yes, it does.
Speaker 1:But we're not taking credit for the talent that we're about to talk about today. No, way. No way, we wouldn't do that, so I just want, let me. Let me start here. My cousin Michelle is at the table. What's up, michelle? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hi guys, she's so cute.
Speaker 1:So everyone that has followed take the elevator. This is Michelle, mom of Eden. So Eden is the one who we've given a shout out to a couple of times, I think our youngest listener, so this is her mom. I, of course, grew up with Michelle and I don't. I think Michelle, we're like 12 years apart. I didn't even know that. Yeah, isn't that just so sick, like I can't believe I'm 12 years old and you, but I remember so with Michelle when she was younger. I would ask her to sing songs and she would.
Speaker 2:So I think it's only appropriate that she sings Okay.
Speaker 1:No, I think the talent from Michelle and her creativity has definitely shown in her kids and just her dedication and how passionate she is about life. So we are so honored to have the second right, Malika, you are.
Speaker 4:The second.
Speaker 1:The second the number two number two.
Speaker 2:Number two is not bad. I'm number two as well.
Speaker 4:It's good to be the number two. Absolutely, you don't have to work as hard to be number one. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:So we have today at the table. I call him Kai Malika I don't know what the name name is, but we got him at the table and, guys, let me just roll it out a little bit. This is a very gifted and talented young man and he's going to never take the credit that he deserves, so I'm going to give it to him before he gets to say, nah, that's not it, no, no, no. Malika is a what we call in the music world, 100 percenter.
Speaker 2:What does that mean? That means this guy can go on the studio and he can record himself, play all the instruments, produce it, put it all together, mix it down and put it out with no help at all, and that's very, extremely rare in this day and age. People need help to do this. It's impossible if you don't know how to operate all the tools inside of a studio. So I just wanted to say this is a talented man and he's gonna be giving us some knowledge, because I'm gonna squeeze and squeeze until I get all the knowledge out of him. So we wanna welcome you to the table, thank you, thank you Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So just for reference, malachi, your name on Spotify and social media is Kai K-A-I and then you're Raya, you are I-A-H and you know I'm sitting here looking at you and, as your auntie, I really don't know the full story of you and how this came about, like just you in general.
Speaker 2:Like where'd you come from?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was like all of a sudden. I'm like wait, kai produces music.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I just thought popping up in social media, you know your mom's low key, y'all are very humble people and so it was a surprise to me the level of you and your talent and just everything you're working on. Take us back to when this started and how you knew this is what you're gonna do.
Speaker 4:Day one Okay, so a lot of people tell me my mom and a lot of my family members tell me like ever since I was little I used to like to like mess with my hands and make beats with my hands when I was a baby.
Speaker 4:But you know we fast forward to where I actually got introduced to music, like musically. Fifth grade I joined the band and I've played trumpet and so that seeped into middle school and high school freshman year, where I was in marching band. But in middle school I would always catch on myself Whenever I went to bed. It's by. It's weird. I would go to the iPad section and for some reason the only app on the iPad that actually interested me was GarageBand and so I would go on GarageBand and then I'll make these, like you know, subpar beats and stuff like that.
Speaker 4:So at first it was producing that I was really invested in. That was taking much of my time. Then, freshman year, spring semester I believe quarantine hit and I was like I'm bored. I was like I wanna go back to producing. I actually learned how to build this craft a little bit more. And then, you know, during quarantine that only lasts for so long. So my interest started running out and I was like why don't I buy a mic to make some songs? And you know, initially obviously you grows from something and so, like, looking back, obviously I think the songs are pretty bad, but you gotta start somewhere, you know. So after that I just constantly got better during quarantine and then I truly believe, like around junior year, senior year was when, like I started to learn and grasp the craft a little bit more and you know, ever since I just been growing and trying to learn more about that sort of industry and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:So so tell everyone what it is exactly you do, because I don't think we laid that down.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I basically write music from my room. Write music is probably like a humble way of saying it, but I produced and I master and I write songs and I put it out on like all streaming platforms and stuff like that. And so ever since I've been getting a little bit of traction from there, going a bit of fan base and stuff like that. So yeah, and ever since I met people through social media, that has helped me grow in my craft and my artistry. Specifically a lot of people from LA that I love and I call family now, and also to even my friends from here that actually give me honest feedback and stuff like that. So that's actually helped me grown as a person and also as artists.
Speaker 1:Nice, nice. How important is that, the honest feedback, right Cause usually when people leave you, they'll be like oh, that was so great. Oh, you know what was the first feedback you received, if you can remember where they were like that wasn't that great.
Speaker 4:It was from my Uncle Greg, actually it was actually from him, so I would send him like a bunch of files during quarantine. This is when I was first starting and you could just tell from a text message that they're saying something indirectly, but just not direct.
Speaker 1:And yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:And there's not like nothing, like I needed that. You know people need that to actually grow, Because if someone's telling you that this thing is good the whole time, like you're never going to grow from that.
Speaker 4:So yeah, he told me, and I was like I was like just staring at that text message, I was like yo, this guy thinks it's bad. And I was like maybe I just got to do something about this, and so even to even till this day, like I have friends from school that will tell me like this is good, but there's potential that could be grown from this track, and so I think it's truly honest, like honesty is a great thing, it's called tough love. That I truly like.
Speaker 1:That's the type of feedback I want so thank you, uncle Greg, for that.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 1:Shout out to Uncle Greg.
Speaker 2:So, kai, I got a question for you that I hope you're prepared for this. We know where it started. Yeah, what's the limit? How far can you go? How? What can't you touch? What can't?
Speaker 4:you do. So for me, like what I know about myself, is I always I never like to put a ceiling onto things. I kind of like like to like do something, grow upon it and build off of it and see where it goes. And so for now, like I think my definition of success, what I would want for myself, like to where I realized like yeah, I kind of made it in this industry is I just really truly want like to build a sick fan base to where I could tour to major cities and stuff, like maybe not even a world tour, even if it's still in the US. That to me, is probably like okay, we're doing something with this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so your music. Let's talk about your music for those who aren't familiar with it, one could say it's very positive messaging. It's very motivational, faith based. How would you describe your music?
Speaker 4:I would describe my music as I try to be relatable as possible.
Speaker 4:You know, I never like to sugarcoat things. Also, like you said, bringing a positive message, because there's some music nowadays that kind of like you know, give off a bad a rep to some people and, you know, promote certain things that I wouldn't say is a good thing to promote to society. But, yeah, I definitely give a positive message, definitely relatable, because I like to be vulnerable with people, I like to keep it true, I like to keep truth in it and I just like to be inspirational sometimes, like having little dibbets in there, that lyrics in there that keep it very, very vulnerable and that people could relate to. So, yeah, that actually helps me with the songwriting and all that stuff.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it, but I'm going to double back because I didn't hear everything that I wanted to hear and I know there's more Okay. So you do your own video for some of your own videos.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so that requires you to act.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it does. And it's almost like scoring a short film. There's a lot of sound design, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to go back, okay.
Speaker 4:What's the limit?
Speaker 2:What can't you do? How far do you really want to take this thing?
Speaker 4:I like to, I think of myself as like a tree with a bunch of branches.
Speaker 4:Okay, Artist editor, mixer, producer and then, hopefully one day, when I start getting into that run performer. I just like to be like, I'm going to be like, I just like. You know, for me, as an independent artist, you obviously you have to do everything yourself, and so where's the limit? I really don't think there's a limit right now, Right At the end of the day, I really don't. I think I'm what I'm really trying to do is just soaking as much information and learn a lot of stuff with my craft, and you know what I'm doing with this piece of art you know, how I will affect people, how I speak to people and how it will you know, impact people.
Speaker 2:So and the reason why I'm pushing that so hard is because for the people in our generation, the people in the generation right beneath us and even the people in your generation, they don't get it. They don't see what's all going on. They don't see how much you're putting into this. I'm looking at the dates of songs coming out and I don't know when you actually did them, but I know it was one on the 10th one, on the 13th one on the 17th one on the 25th, and I know that's like mad time that you've put into there, yeah.
Speaker 2:So how much time are you really putting into this?
Speaker 4:So, if I'm honest, I know my mom's on this podcast, but I would actually like she would always ask me when I come home from school last year when I, before I graduated, you know, are you doing your homework? Yeah, but I would actually go in my room and homework would be the last thing I do in the day. So I probably staying up till like 1am and I'm working on this music stuff just because of the fact that I know that one day this is what I want to do full time and this is what I love to do, and so, like, when you do something that you love, it doesn't feel like you're working. So I didn't really mind putting in all those hours and stuff like that to write songs, to produce it. Even those days where I had writer's block, I was still right, even though those songs may not be put out.
Speaker 4:And so definitely a lot of time, even now, like now I'm a freshman in college and so between my classes I'm driving back home, not even touching the college work, and then I'm doing music again. So it's it definitely. I definitely sacrifice study. I wouldn't say I study not one test in senior year. I just kind of threw a prayer up before I walked in the classroom. But yeah, that's just the amount of time I put in, hey, but I graduated though.
Speaker 1:So that is. So what are you majoring in?
Speaker 4:I'm a business major. I actually wanted to do music business.
Speaker 2:I love, love, love it Go go.
Speaker 4:I love, I wanted to do music business, but either way, what I do really respect, though, about my majors you can actually correlate a lot of stuff back to the industry. So one thing I also learned along the way, especially from people I'm surrounded with that are kind of like working in this industry, is that it's 80% business and 20% talent. So it's good to know. Even if you know you may not zap some person, may not have a degree in it, it's still good to know for yourself how the business operates and how yourself as artists operates, because you are the image, your name, is the brand, and so you know what's good PR. You know what's like the return on investment for you from streams, from publishing. You know you're investing so much videos and time into. You know your craft, so it's definitely good to know.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes and yes. So this thing is called the music business, and he's absolutely right when he talks about the ratio of effort that's put into the business and the effort that's put into the. And when I say the effort, what I'm actually saying is that you can be the most talented individual on the planet, but if you don't handle the business right, guess what? You won't be heard, you won't be seen, you won't even get to record, because most of the time, people that don't handle the business can't move forward in the game, and so you hit a dead on the head. As a matter of fact, what I was thinking when you said that is you could make a million dollars off of this alone Because you're teaching valuable lessons and they call it game. So I'm blown away. If I was 18, 19 years old and had that much music savvy, I would have been much, much further along. So I can just imagine where you're gonna be 10, 15 years from now. Congratulations, thank you, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I wanted to ask that because, yeah, thanks for bringing that to light. Kaia is 18, gonna be 19 in December and you are just growing. I love the analogy of the tree and all the different branches. Like that Speak to me. It's so good. The visual is amazing. Do you ever have self-doubt, any kind of imposter phenomenon going on in your mind? Cause it's so amazing how quick you do everything.
Speaker 4:Yeah, doubt is definitely like a daily battle. That's something I don't express, even to my mom and stuff, my family. I kind of make it seem like this is the road I'm headed, which it is. But don't get me wrong. There's definitely thoughts in my head like what if this doesn't work out? This is definitely a risk. Why don't you just get that degree, guarantee yourself that good job, that good salary? But also too, at the end of the day, is like I don't wanna end up 10 years later now, like looking back and like actually like thinking like, dang, could have this been something that I actually could have done, like I'd rather not live with regret but I would rather do it, work on it simultaneously and see where it goes.
Speaker 4:But that's just constantly something that I feel like every artist, no matter who you are, you're just gonna deal with it, and I think you also build a lot of grit off of that. You know just building off of perseverance and stuff, and so that's like a great attribute you build as an artist, cause you will hit bumps, even if you're on the top of the mountain. When you are a music artist or a musician, you're just gonna be. Definitely you're not no, not everyone's gonna like you and what you do, so you gotta build that strong mindset and stuff like that. So that's what it helps me. That's what helps me, like, build that sort of attribute. Definitely it's tough dealing with the doubt, but you know, at the end of the day I kind of have to accept it. That's just normal, I'm human, and so it just builds a lot of character.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and go ahead.
Speaker 1:Corey and I are looking at each other like, no, I want the mic, no, I want the mic Cause your wisdom and just how you're speaking is not anything that I would think that would come from an 18 year old Like I am mesmerized by you and I wanna know your routine and how you're developing this growth mindset.
Speaker 2:But before he answers that, let me just and I have to do this because what you're gonna find out is as more actors, musicians and artists come on the podcast. This is the mindset. They understand what they have to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's also habit, Like there are things that you can get at that moment and you think, okay, either I'm gonna run with this or I'm not, so I wanna know what it looks like daily for someone who's growing the way you are.
Speaker 4:So a regular day typically and I'm incorporating school with this because I like to think-.
Speaker 1:You better cause mom's sitting right here, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:You can be honest.
Speaker 4:No, I am, but I like to think of this now that I am a business major. It keeps me in a business mindset. I like to think of it, that I have to run a business. So with that, obviously, realistically, you're not gonna be working on this thing 24 hours out the day. So even if Sometimes, yeah, sometimes, and high school I was definitely doing that.
Speaker 4:But for sure for a fact, when you're doing this thing, especially when you have school, it's definitely tough. So you have to create somewhat of a schedule, and for me, what that looks like is I go to school, come back, or maybe work like two, three hours, go back to school, come back, and maybe the rest of the day I'm working on music. So, for me at least, I'm working like three to five hours on music, whether it be writing a song, producing it, or whether it be shooting content to promote and market a track that I put out, and so that's just also, too, what I'm learning from other people that I surround myself with. That's something that I got connected with through social media and stuff like that. So they've definitely put some wisdom into me. So, if I do truly believe, if I haven't had met them and have met the people I've met like, obviously by now I wouldn't know certain things, that's right.
Speaker 4:But it's definitely good to network.
Speaker 1:So what I really picked up on in that, in the few minutes you just spoke about, is who you're surrounding yourself with, and we've talked about this many times on this podcast. Like, you are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with, and so it sounds like you've got some really creative, wise, smart, wisdom-filled kind of people, so that's pretty awesome to see and hear about.
Speaker 2:So I'm gonna give an example of something that I've done and you tell me if this is kind of what you've done or even if it sounds totally opposite. So what I started realizing is that I was the smartest person in the room and I was feeling good about that because I was like, oh, I can run circles around these people.
Speaker 2:But then I was challenged because I realized that nobody's gonna grow, nobody's gonna get better, because if I'm the smartest and I knew how smart I was, then I wasn't that smart. I said I need to find people that have this, this, this, this and this and I started naming it off like what I needed to be around. And then I started picking those people like hand picking, like I wanna be around this guy, I wanna be around that girl I wanna be. And when I said girl, I mean like business woman got her stuff together. Is that kind of what you've done or is that total?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so for me also, too, out of all the people I met, it's similar very much to what I do. So I kinda know, based off how I see a work ethic, whether or not I'm gonna learn something from you Right, but I do keep a lot of people that I have learned a lot from close to me, close relationship and also, too, like we've built like a genuine friendship out of that too. So it's nothing, like it doesn't feel like a business when I'm talking to them or like when we're working on stuff it's more like a friendship and they're giving me wisdom.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 4:And it's not like a transaction type of love. It's all genuine and all authentic.
Speaker 2:Right, and I'll cover all the bases, because that doesn't mean that you don't connect with the people that you feel like aren't doing that or giving that. You still connect with those people, but those aren't the individuals that you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's not my core group, right.
Speaker 1:Okay, I wanna go back to something like something you said over 15 minutes ago. You had said that there was certain music that artists are bringing out and you're different, like you're actually kind of opposing or giving another perspective. So, let's just be blunt. You have a song called Proverbs 31, a song about women very different from songs that are being put out about women. Say more about that.
Speaker 4:So when I had wrote it, I believe I would like to say I was either junior or sophomore at high school. And this was when, like, I was kind of making that turning point, because I incorporate a lot of my faith in my music. Even if I don't say it bluntly, I'll try to incorporate it no matter what. And around that time I was just reading Proverbs, if you don't know, the whole book just filled with wisdom. I got to this point, proverbs 31, where it was talking about what a great wife looks like, what a godly woman looks like, and I was like dang, I need one of those, sign me up. Yeah, I was like dang, I need one of those. So I was like you know, high school me, young high school me. I was like yo, we'll be tight to write a song about it.
Speaker 4:And I kind of knew that that song would kind of go. You know, you get traction in that in this sort of Christian circle. That was happening on TikTok at the time and just that niche of people. Like I promoted it and it's probably one of my most streamed songs up there, for sure. But I just that aspect of the godly woman or something like that. It's different from all the love songs you hear about. You know flaunting other things, but it's definitely something that I definitely enjoyed working on. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So does it ever cross your mind like this message might be too much and not received? Well, or take me through that cause. You know we're writers too and we produce things, and there are times when I think I don't know how this is gonna be accepted.
Speaker 4:In a way of like how society was taken.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or your fan base. Like how much is based on your fans.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I would like to say, for the most part I there's not really one song where I've kind of questioned the message. I'll write it in a way to where you know it doesn't. At the end of the day too, I also like to keep truth around it, so like if it's something that's true, then I'm probably gonna say it in my song the way it is. But I do like to put like a little word scheme on it to make you actually think about it, to kind of make you like dang rewind, hold on, what did he say? And that's kind of like what I like to do. That's like my realm of navigating that sort of thing.
Speaker 2:So let me, I'm gonna ask this for the listeners, the fans, the people that follow you Are you a freestyle rapper?
Speaker 4:No.
Speaker 2:Are you a he knows that? No, no, you definitely will. Yeah, what kind of artist are you? Because I don't even like to call you a rapper, because I mean, I do know you rhyme, but at the same time I know you have this very musical song aspect to you as well.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So I would never tell someone I'm a freestyle rapper, because also too. Then they're gonna be like, oh, freestyle for me, and then I'm just gonna oh.
Speaker 2:I don't even know what to say. Turn my mic off. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:I just lied to you, I'm not gonna lie. But I honestly would kind of like if for myself, like I feel like the easiest way for me to like explain it is if I had to compare myself to another artist. And someone I do find a lot of influence from melodically and musically growing up was Drake. That's why I do like to rhyme, but also too, I do like a little bit of melody into the vocals and stuff and that sort of thing. So Drake, justin Bieber I love. Bruno Mars is a big one too that's a lot of my musical influence and Michael Jackson as well. I was like a big Michael Jackson fan when I was younger.
Speaker 3:Even dressed as Michael Jackson.
Speaker 4:Yeah, for all the ween one time.
Speaker 1:I think I remember that. Let me I know, Malachi, you're coming back, so we can't wait for that. I just want to share that. Your albums I love that your first one, I think is called the Start of it All.
Speaker 3:Yeah, is that right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well written 2022. Next year you come out with Surrender.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And the moment your mom. I mean, I follow you on social media but when, michelle, when you texted, I was all about it like instantly, and I'm like this is a lot of songs. Yeah, I'm just one album for Surrender, mm? Hmm, I have not. I'm going to be honest, I haven't had the time to really delve deep into all of it I just kind of went through it saw some videos. Can I just say so this is what I'm going to ask our fan base.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 1:Go ahead and get on Spotify, apple YouTube, kairiah, you want to get into his music because, kai, when you come back, we're going to go deeper, into just your mind and your heart when you, when you do these songs. I'm not going to put you on the spot to where. I want you to guess my ultimate favorite song of yours.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 1:But it's a hype song for me.
Speaker 4:Really.
Speaker 1:I've been known to get ready for a speaking engagement, whatever that looks like, and this puts me in a good mood and it just takes me there. Your song's so good.
Speaker 4:Oh, I kind of cuto oh my God. I was like yes, I got it too.
Speaker 2:And it's just vibes all day.
Speaker 1:I freaking love that song. So if anyone like it's a lot of songs. Let me know what you all think about. So good, Kai, instantly I'm there at a 10, like. I just feel like I can get on stage and do what I'm supposed to do, because of that song. So thank you for producing that and putting it out there.
Speaker 4:It's so amazing.
Speaker 2:Did you just groupie out on that?
Speaker 1:I totally forgot that's. That's part of my morning routine song.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know, I remember hearing it. I'm like, oh okay.
Speaker 1:Lost in it. Yeah, that's on a repeat.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Cousin Michelle, do you have any favorites? Anything that he's done that really speaks to you?
Speaker 3:You know I'm sure we're probably wanting to talk about the newer album, but I have a few favorites on the new album, but I do have a few from his old music. He probably cringes every time I talk about it.
Speaker 4:I probably will, yeah, okay.
Speaker 3:But I do love on the new album. I actually have been finding myself playing on repeat not alone and boast, and the first one.
Speaker 4:Oh, the one that I shot in the desert, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that video, I was like what happened.
Speaker 4:Yeah, when I was talking about the mountain, oh man, we actually got pulled over during that shoot.
Speaker 3:I know yeah that's actually real footage of a cop, yeah and uh, oh god.
Speaker 2:I gotta ask this guy so did you guys? Were you guys legitimate? Did you have license?
Speaker 4:No, we definitely did not have life. And it's crazy too, because that location that we shot at, I believe like a month later I was watching like Guardians of the Galaxy came out and like the end cut was where we shot that video. It was weird. So I'm pretty sure they shot that. What? Even before we shot the music video? Because they shoot movies Like two years in advance.
Speaker 4:Yeah and so I'm pretty sure when she asked for our licenses and we told her no, it was kind of like okay, like what is this going on? But you know, thank God the police officer was very respectful and she let us do our thing. But it was it was. I'm glad we got pulled over at that time because we actually had a shot list and one of the shots we're gonna light up like explosions behind me.
Speaker 4:Oh no fireworks and so like illegal fireworks, right, and so I'm glad that I got pulled over for being on top of the Jeep instead of Lighting up fireworks at night, because I'm pretty sure that fine would have been a lot.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah. So I love that video. Another video to check out that brings me to tears is grainy on. I love that. I appreciate the stats that you put out, just that the reality of 75% of divorce is simply from lack of commitment. That one of two children are impacted by divorce yeah, and I think in our society divorce is such a way of life and we forget that the impact is real and the trauma that it causes. So that video I was like how does this guy? And to me, kai, I know you're 18.
Speaker 1:Yeah but you know your family. So sometimes I say how does this kid come up with something that's so deep and so profound? And I am just so impressed by you. I remember baby sitting, you.
Speaker 2:What? No, no, no. Let's finish this, let's wrap and let's come right back and do another one.
Speaker 1:Freestyle rap yeah. So I do want to say this, though from the time that you were younger and then I see all the music that you're doing, I just couldn't believe the amount of time that went by. And then I said is Kai's voice this deep? Like it? Because it was so weird. I always seen you as this kid, and then you just grew up so quickly. And then, when I talked to him like, oh, his voice is this yeah, yeah, puberty, yeah I.
Speaker 3:Gotta say I found some old archived videos of him. Yeah rapping and his voice was nothing like today, uh-huh, and I showed it to him. He was so embarrassed.
Speaker 4:Don't remember that voice.
Speaker 1:But when we come back with you, kai, and hopefully Michelle, you'll be here. Please be here. There was a lot of things I feel like we need to talk about, kai, when you started, when you discovered this gift and this desire and passion to be who you are today. Yeah, I'd love to talk about what that support look like for mom, because equipment has that has a price tag.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's why I wanted to go ahead and rap and then we come back into into.
Speaker 1:That's a huge part of it, yeah it really is and parents listen to this podcast all the time. And what does that look like when your kid is like I Don't know, like what I want to do in life, and it's more in the art form than it is in something that's more traditional as far as education you?
Speaker 2:know, like.
Speaker 1:What is that conversation look like? How do you support Young adults, kids who have a passion for art, and not turn that down? Mmm sound good, yeah, yeah this is good. This was really good.
Speaker 4:It's better just the beginning.
Speaker 1:There's so much here. Kai's anything that you want to share as far, actually. Please put your plugins for your social media and stuff.
Speaker 4:Yeah, my tags are at Kai kai, uriah, uri. Ah, that's just everywhere too, so it's pretty simple.
Speaker 1:It is, yeah, very simple. It's all the way across board. Michelle, you want to say anything, it's an honor.
Speaker 3:Thank you, it's. This was actually really fun to do yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, can't wait for y'all to come back. Well, you know us to take the elevator. We say, look up and let's elevate. We got the bass in there.