Q+A with Kali Paylinn

Hey Kali thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. First of all, how are you doing?

Pretty good, things have been very interesting lately as far as the challenges that help me grow as a person but I keep overcoming so I’m happy about that. 

Let’s get right into it. Your new track Fatality is straight fire. Tell us about the track. Who produced it? What was the inspiration for it?

Thanks, I was brainstorming new approaches to help keep me in people’s ears and faces while I continue to push my last song “Rain Dance” which is really well received and self produced as well. I decided I was going to release more “mixtape” type material over industry beats to keep a more consistent output easier while I work on my more involved self-produced work that takes way more time and energy. Mac Miller is one of my favorite artists and helped influence me to take music seriously while really young after seeing how far he took being a teen independent artist and “Lucky Ass Bitch” by him is a classic in my opinion so I definitely had to choose that Lex Luger produced beat to start the series of freestyles I’ve began dropping.

You’re a super high energy performer! How have you been coping with not being able to perform?

Much love for giving me that credit lol I really like to stay interesting beyond just music so that's awesome! I’m still able to perform here and there though so I haven’t really been hit hard in that area plus people tend to appreciate me and what I do enough to include me when performance opportunities come fortunately. Actually, performing is how I found out my song Rain Dance is something people really enough to take pushing it more seriously.

Ok. Let’s go all the way back. Tell us about young Kali. What did he like ? dislike? What got him into music and art?

He’s the same guy in a lot of ways just not as secure and knowledgeable on how his worth is determined by himself and his truth. I started making music in high school while doing all the things that make me myself still to this day like skateboarding, mental rebuilding/strengthening, fashion, drawing/painting, partying and designing my own look are where I found a lot of happiness. Music was what I found I could be the most creative with since there’s so many parts to it, the exposure to the music making process at the time of the internet and vlogging becoming more involved in music showed me people like Lex Luger making beats at home and becoming a producer sensation no one saw coming. It got me hooked on taking not only vocal performance seriously but producing as well. As far as what I didn’t like I’d say bad spirited and harmful intent having people the most, I didn’t have a great home or social experience growing up so it made me very aware of the terrible personalities we’re forced to share life with.

Speaking of art, you made the artwork for Fatality. Do you often make artwork for your singles or is that something new?

Yes I love making artwork lol and I’m getting more invested in it now with this plan to release music more often so I’m excited to see how far I take my creativity over time. 

Your personal fashion sense is pretty apparent in your aesthetic. How do you feel about the fashion world today? Do you have any favorite brands, inspirations, pieces?

Fashion today is just as interesting as it was when I was a bit younger which I appreciate a lot. Of course rappers wear the same clothes as each other all day for the most part so I’m not specifically looking toward many industry people as high examples of style though. Except of course the classic examples: Michael Jackson, Kanye, Pharrell, A$AP Rocky, etc.. Mostly I look toward my natural preference for wilder and big personality expressing styles so skateboarding culture which I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of my whole life and era’s of fashion more so than specific people are my style influences.

What is next for Kali?

I’ve got more single’s for my project Dark Angel on the way and am also in the process of filming the video for Rain Dance right now. I have more freestyle type drops coming in between as well to keep everybody fed with music plus some interesting social media building I plan on doing to build my brand’s visibility to the people. Most importantly though, working on my peace in life.