14KT - The Golden Hour Interview '09

14KT, hails from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and represents 1/7th of the Athletic Mic League, as well as 1/4th of the production team, the Lab Techs. Music has been instilled in 14KT since an early age, so it is no wonder that he has gone on to become an extremely talented MC, DJ, and producer. He's done extensive tours and put out numerous albums within his crews and features on other artists' albums, but 14KT is finally getting his chance to shine with his most recent instrumental opus, "The Golden Hour Soundtrack." With this album, 14KT tells his life through his music & offers us all 60 minutes of healing & soothing production. "The Golden Hour Soundtrack" was rated amongst my top albums for '08 and if you don't already own a copy, you definitely need to cop one! This first track I'm gonna share with y'all is called "The Inside," and I'd imagine this track means a lot, b/c it takes you inside his mind & lets you get a glimpse of what he sees and wants to express through his music. Enjoy...

14KT - The Inside


14KT was a finalist in last year's Red Bull Beat Battle, which definitely showcased his talent to the world. I wasn't fortunate enough to make the portion of the battle that was in NYC, but many people approached me about 14KT, letting me know he had some heat & that I should reach out. After hearing the CD, I already knew I wanted to interview him, but that sealed the deal lol. 14KT & his whole camp is just filled with good people, so it was real easy to set up the interview I'm about to bring y'all. He has a good head on his shoulders & gives us all some real insight into his craft, his musical background, religion, Dilla & his love for making music. Its a must-read! One of the last tracks on his album is a tribute to J.Dilla, called "Without Donuts" & its the last song I'm gonna share with y'all, so please check it out while you proceed to read the interview, which gives you more info than I could ever write in this intro lol. Peace & Love.

14KT - Without Dilla (Donut To Dilla Feb. '06)


01. Can you give the readers a brief introduction to your musical background and how & when you decided to really make a career of making music?

14KT: I started off singing in the childrens' choir at church when I was very young. Then I took up piano for almost 3 years until I was 10. After that,in middle school, I played violin and double bass (1st Chair!) in the orchestra and in jazz band. Then I was stupid and quit playing instruments, but picked up a rhyme book and played basketball. I eventually put 1 and 1 together and became part of one of the greatest Hip-hop groups, Athletic Mic League. When I got accepted into the League, that was really the point when I wanted to make a career in music.

02. The Athletic Mic League is quite possibly 1 of the strongest 7 member crews in Hip-Hop, what can you tell the readers about how the crew formed, how everyone has expanded into solo work, forming into the smaller Lab Techs crew and just the overall continuity within the crew?

14KT: AML naturally formed. We are a family first. We all really linked up together in high school. Some of us knew each other before high school, but we were all friends just hanging out together. We all played sports and were big fans of Hiphop along with music in general. We started rhyming together, kept at it, and were just as competitive with the music as we were in sports. The Lab Techs were formed out of necessity. We needed beats to rhyme over and we got tired of rhyming over other cats beats. So four of us (14KT, Tre Styles, Vaughan T, and Haircut) dabbled into making beats and discovered we had a love for that as well. As we all grew as artists, we grew as individuals also. When you’re in a group, it’s hard to get all of your individual creativity and personal thoughts out, so that’s what our solo projects represent. Some people thought AML broke up because of the solo moves we were making, but that’s completely FALSE. There is a New AML album in the works right now.

03. You've worked with a wide range of artists from the D already, a few of which I've already interviewed on this site (Black Milk/Invincible) - what is the bond like in Detroit hip-hop? Do artists show each other love, because in NYC, artists stay beefin' with each other lol

14KT: Honestly, I still hear about little beefs around the area, but I would say that artists in Michigan have gotten A LOT better with breaking bread and showing love to each other. Michigan has been dropping tons of dope albums in the few years. If you check the albums out; you’ll see Detroit artists collaborating on almost every project. You’ll see Black Milk doing a track with Invincible. You’ll see Guilty Simpson doing a track with Buff1 and Now On doing a joint with Phat Kat. I think we are all realizing how powerful we are when we come together. Not only are we seeing the results, but now everyone outside of Michigan is seeing the outcome of it as well.

04. How do you feel that the Detroit "sound" ranks amongst the majority of hip-hop elsewhere in the country right now?

14KT: The Detroit Sound is always going to rank supreme in my book, because it’s very honest, raw, quality, and undeniably dope music. Honestly, we’re KILLING the game right now. I’m biased so I feel that the Detroit Sound is where the soul is at right now. Detroit is home to many of the DOPEST rappers/musicians/artists around. Iron sharpens Iron, so being dope is like the standard out here. It’s crazy. I can’t really speak for everywhere else.

05. Let's talk a bit about "The Golden Hour Soundtrack," because that was definitely one of my favorite releases of '08. My homie, Magestik Legend, put me on to the album and I was mad thankful! Explain the creative process that went into that project and all the details that you feel the readers need to know, including the soundtrack aspect of the album, which is clearly to your life.

14KT: Shout out to my man, Magestik Legend! Listeners of The Golden Hour really need to understand that this project truly is a soundtrack to my life. If you read the liner notes and listen to the project in that way, then it will make sense. If you try to skip around and listen to it in pieces or you are very judgmental about the music, then you probably won’t like it as much. As far as the creative process, I was trying to challenge myself to bring out the emotions in each scene of my life without using too many words and speaking through my production. If this album, I wanted to focus on the messages and the art of the music more then anything else.

06. Word is, you are already in the lab working on a follow-up project? What can you tell us about that? Will be an instrumental project, as well?

14KT: “I can’t afford to not record!”-Andre 3000. Anyways, the follow up project is about 96.4% done! It will be the first album in a collection of albums I’m presenting through the eyes of a 3-man band called Iamabeenie. The album is entitled, “The Opposite of Pink”. It is an instrumental project as well, but a little different then The Golden Hour. It’s more melodic, jazzy, but still soulful and as usual there is a message to the music as I will always include in my projects.

07. The respect that everyone has for J.Dilla is so high, so I can only imagine that he was widely considered the sound of the era in hip-hop you came up in being from Michigan!? How did that effect you as a producer, and ultimately the sound you that make today?

14KT: Dilla was a HUGE influence on my sound. You definitely can hear him in my music. I considered Dilla’s sound the sound of Detroit; the sound of Michigan. I have been listening to Dilla’s music since about 95’-96’. I didn’t realize I loved his music until around 99’ when I learned more about him through the music of Slum Village. Then I researched his track record and found out he made all the joints I grew up loving from Busta, Tribe, Mad Skillz, Pharcyde, and even De La Soul. Dilla showed me that you can make it in Michigan. He also showed me that you can create your own lane with sound and no matter what artist you work with, you can still maintain your sound and be different at the same time.

08. The readers and I love to hear about equipment, software and especially instrumentation, so what can you tell us about your setup?

14KT: Very simple. As far as software, I use Adobe Audition 1.5 to make my beats and track them out. I just recently added Reason to my arsenal. As far as hardware, Technics 1200s, Digi 002, Motif 7, a few VSTs, Bass Guitar, and some percussion instrumentals.

09. We've gotta talk about "ICU Smile" because if ever there was a track that spoke to people, that's it! Karla Crawford's voice was the perfect complement to the track and passes on a positive message/poem. Give us the background to that track, because I know there must be a touching story there.

14KT: Im a fan of smiles. I think my mother and my grandmother Maude (R.I.P) had some of the most beautifullest smiles in life. If you could hear a smile, it would sound like this. My inspiration was a picture I keep by my computer of my mother cheezing real big. The poem is called “Promise Yourself” from Christian D. Larson. I actually took that poem off of my grandmother’s wall in her house after she passed away. My homey Karla was in the lab when I was working on the song and she started reading the poem as I worked and I thought the poem went well with the theme.

10. Not too long after the album dropped, I saw that you landed a beat with Jay Electronica on that "Swagger Jackson's Revenge." When that track showed up in my e-mail with your production credit, I felt that was gonna be a really good look for you! Did that track get you a lot of attention or raise more awareness about your production outside of the Detroit scene? Have other artists come calling for beats since then?

14KT: Shout out to Jay Electronica! I was probably just as surprised as you when the track showed up in my email! Abracadabra right? That meant A LOT to me. I always wanted to work with Jay Elect and im glad he reached out to me. Since then, I haven’t really gotten that much attention or cats hitting me up about beats because of that, but I think that it silently raised more awareness about my production, so we’ll see what happens this year!

11. Aside from the follow-up solo album you are working on, what else is in the works for 14KT? Who else are you in the studio with these days?

14KT: Right now, im back in the studio working on the next Athletic Mic League album. Me and my homey Othello of Lightheaded are working on a full-length. Recently me and a producer from California name Dibiase have been working on a production project. I’m also putting some joints together with my brother AB, who is featured on The Golden Hour. I just did a couple joints for Jozeemo (Little Brother camp) and Danny Brown. We’ll see what happens tho!

12. What can you tell the readers about A-Side Worldwide? Who else are they representing and big shouts to Steph & DJ Graffitti over there holding it down!

14KT: They are the family! A-Side Worldwide is the New Model. They are a Management/Marketing firm based in Los Angeles, CA. They are geniuses and I’m blessed and happy to be working with them. They are the force behind Buff1’s albums, Now On, DJ Graffiti, Mayer Hawthorne, AML and myself. Shouts to the family!!

13. Tell the readers about Beat Battles, because I know you were a part of the Red Bull Beat Battle this past summer. Do you feel that these battles present a good opportunity to really showcase your talent? What have your experiences been like thus far?

14KT: The Red Bull Beat Battle was actually my first real beat battle. I actually don’t like beat battles cause most of the time, it’s political. I’ve seen the illest cats get robbed in battles. However, I turned a new leaf and realized that it’s an opportunity for my music to be heard so I decided to participate. Also, coming from Michigan, we don’t get opportunities on a grand scale like that, so I HAD to take advantage of it! The experience from being in that battle was GREAT. I got to meet Jake 1, Vitamin D, J Moore, DJ Premier, Sha Money XL, Illmind, and other crazy talented producers from different cities. I met so many people, learned different styles of production from different producers, networked, and got to be on TV!!

14. From past conversations we've had, I am definitely able to tell that church plays a roll in your personality and it ultimately must spill over into your music. What is that influence like and how far back is it rooted in your life?

14KT: I grew up in the church since I was born. My relationship with God plays a HUGE role in my music. Ironically, I got saved when I was 16, around the same time I really started to bloom in my love for the music and making beats. Everyday since, God is teaching me how to use my music as a tool for my purpose in life, which I feel is to inspire. I’m excited with where God is going to take me with music and hopefully I’ll be able to inspire others not only with music, but in their lives as well.

15. Alright, I'm sure I've taken up enough of your time *laughs*, so on that uplifting note, lets end this interview with any last words, updates, shout-outs or whatever else you'd like to share with the readers and thank you for building with me on this!!

14KT: Shout out to you man for taking time out to let a brother speak. Shout out to the whole A-Side Worldwide family. Buff1, DJ Graffiti, DJ Benny Ben, Haircut, Now On, Athletic Mic League. Expect a new 14KT album coming in the fall, October/November. PLEASE check out my album, “The Golden Hour” if you haven’t already and those that have supported my album, you don’t understand how much I appreciate it. You saved my career. God is SO GOOD.