Q&A With Rising New Jersey Based Hip Hop Artist Spec Kay
Hey Spec Kay, congrats on your dope album ““XXVII: Nowhere””, a real banger of a project. So how did you find UGHHBLOG? How long have you been rapping? What area code do you represent?
I found out about UGHH through Instagram. I’ve been rapping and producing for some time now, almost ten years, since I finished high school. I come from Roselle, New Jersey, the 908.
ORIGINALITY is extremely important in order to truly stand out. What are you doing differently to make sure your as original as possible? How do you describe your sound?
I try to be as honest as possible. I think honesty is key to being original and key to being fresh. My sound takes pieces of all the different music I listen to, past and present, and forms into sounds and thoughts that convey my personal, cohesive message.
Tell us about the creative process for your new album “XXVII: Nowhere”! This is your 3rd album right?
Yeah, this is my third album. I started the process about two years ago with a collection of sounds and colors. Then within that, the writing process started to shape itself. I asked myself, “how do I tell this story?” or “how do I convey these emotions that others might also feel?” And a lot of the album also came from the aspect of how the sound would be and feel live on stage. I want to be able to connect to somebody who’s never seen me or heard my music before, so I’ve created music that can relate to my audience through the human experience we have with live music.
In 2018, what are a few things you are planning on doing differently to continue to grow your fanbase?
Try to hit as many people as possible by harnessing my creativity and unique voice and being more open with promoting the album. It’s all about taking more risks and not being afraid to share your voice. And hopefully playing more shows will connect me with more people. Never ever slowing down and keeping up the hard work with not only the music itself, but with the visuals, videos, and other media will be key. I also think teaming up with others to spread the message is a really great way for the art to continue to thrive and will give a lot more people something to be proud of and promote.
Any new projects and videos you are working on? Planning on a tour anytime soon?
Yeah, I never stopped working even after XXVII dropped. I have a bunch of stuff that I was working on while promoting this album, including other songs that I was creating during this album’s process. And touring is something I’m definitely looking forward to doing as well. I usually do shows in NJ, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.
Seems like the underground/independent movement is growing extremely fast, so many artists making huge moves not having to deal with major labels. A&R’s now are signing indie artists based on how many followers they have rather than quality music? Do you chase social media numbers or are you waiting to one day get signed?? Give us your thoughts…
Well this album and this year taught me how to be a better businessman when it comes to the music industry. I don’t necessarily chase the numbers, nor do I wait on getting signed. I’m trying to build up something that I can be proud of, that me and my crew can be proud of, and that other people would gladly want to be a part of. So with that being said, we do everything as organic as possible, as honest as possible, and we try to build a fan base as strong as possible. I keep the music going for the fans and I want to give back to the community of music. With or without a label, we just try to go as hard as we can. I’m not too concerned about chasing numbers because I know what I do is great enough to catch on in the years to come.
Out the box type question. If it came down to 1 ALBUM only, what underground Hip Hop album would you consider THE BEST OF ALL TIME!!!???……Only 1 album you can choose.
This is a hard question. Well since mixtapes are kind a like underground albums, for the best mixtape/underground album I would have to give it to J. Cole’s Friday Night Lights. I remember listening to that, beating the brakes off of that mixtape when it came out.
Our most popular Q&A question! Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?
Underground hip hop is like the CNN of rap music. It lets you know what’s coming out, what you missed, gives you a real inside look to the artists, including their stories and humble beginnings. That’s what underground hip hop is, humble beginnings.
Drop all your music and social links!
https://www.speckay.com/
Facebook @speckaymusic
Instagram @speckaymusic
Twitter @speckaymusic
Any shout outs?
LOON & Dj DarkKent for their time in the studio, my manager CJ for being a part of the whole process, Jeremy Eger for mastering this body work, and everyone else played on this album including Andrew Zee of Sundrop & Kory Burrell.
