Artist Profile: Stephen T Da Kidd

Stephen T Da Kidd

Name: My government name is Stephen Tavon Martin. My dad wanted to name me Phillip though

Stage name: As an artist I go by the name Stephen T Da Kidd, but you can just say Stephen T for short.

Are u a solo act? 

Yes, I am a solo artist, but I am also a part of a team of artists.

If yes, how would u feel if told u had to be part of a group act in order to be famous? 

If I was told I had to be in a group for success, I would ask whoever is telling me this will I still be able to get my message across.

Do you sing,rap, produce? 

I mainly rap now, but I also produce.. And singing?...I'm working on it lol

How long have you been interested in music? Apparently since I was an infant

How did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in music? As a kid I wanted to be a rapper, and then I started producing around the 6th grade and from there I knew that music was what I needed to pursuit for the rest of my life.

What would you want a career in if it wasn’t music? Well I’m actually in college now pursuing a career in entertainment marketing. Even though that’s still related to music that’s what id do if it wasn’t music.

Describe your sound
Can my sound be described? It’s a real combination of a lot of things. I'm a real diverse guy and that shows in my music. Take a middle class Black male who lives and spends a little too much time in the hood, but when he isn’t in the hood he is with some upper class whites with a father who is a low key radical and hippy and mother who remains soft spoken yet very opinionated. Now take that same guy and put him over some 90s R&B samples, rock bands, orchestras, 808s, congos, and some other cool instrumentations, and play that all through you “Dre Beats”.

Who's your biggest influence?  

My biggest influence musically is probably Rick James, he was so ahead of his time.

What do you feel is your biggest strength when it comes to music? 

My biggest strength is my creativity and that I do what I feel. I build songs and mixtapes around that. Most rappers or any musicians for that matter work with what is given or try to imitate a certain sound. Me, I create a sound. I create everything associated with my music. Even when it comes to the covers, I might not be the person who technically creates it, but I actually sketch my idea and give it to the graphic designers to create.

What do you think you need to improve on? 

I can improve on my writing skills. Sometimes I still feel like I don’t get the complete message across and some things are forced. Another big thing I have to improve is my mixing skills. Since I am recording in a home studio without a pro engineer, I need to still work on making it sound like professional quality.

What's one your favorite songs that you've done and why? 

One of my favorite songs I've done has to be song that I recorded in like the 10th grade called “Still Aint on Yet”. It was actually the first song I wrote and recorded solo. This song was really the beginning of my style and sound.

Have u performed for a live audience? If yes, where was it and how did it go? Yeah a few times, I'll talk about the last experience. It was at my school FAMU, during homecoming. A few days before the singer Miguel actually got booed while performing, so I knew it would be a real tough crowd. It was a block party and I got word I would be performing the day of. Well after I prepared my show I realized I couldn’t curse, and lets just say that didn’t go to well, so I was “removed” from the stage.

 Where can we hear some of your music? 

My music can be found on the SLVR RM FCTY website, SLVRRM.BLOGSPOT.COM or on my personal youtube page, youtube.com/STEPHENT06

Where are you from and how does that influence your sound/style? 

I'm from a small part of Miami called South Miami. South Miami and Miami as a whole is real diverse and you see a little bit of everything and that shows in my style and music. Drive through my area and you will see how one song of mine can sound so high class and artsy and the next be a street song about the hood. The lives are really that close where I am from.

 

Where would you like to be in 10 years in terms of your music career? 

10 years from now, I would like to be pretty notable and on my rise taking over the music industry on the business aspect. Possibly my major goal of being the president of a major label, or just the president of marketing for a major label. Basically in 10 years imma be doing some big shit.