KTwigz – Q&A Interview

Tell us a little about yourself. Where you are from? How long have you been making Hip Hop?

I’m KTwigz. Alot of people call me KaZ from my first name. I am originally from Orange County, California and I moved to Japan when I was 15.
The first rap I wrote was when I was in 6th grade but I never showed it to anyone until I started making my own beats which was in highschool.

What influences you in making Hip Hop?

The legendary rappers who dedicated in outputting their true thoughts using the profession called rapping.
And the desire inside me write to down my everyday thoughts as lyrics.

Describe your music, and what separates you from other MCs?

One thing that might be different is I don’t try make myself bigger or try to exaggerate in my raps like the trend of this industry. I always try to be real with myself. We all live differently so I thought I’d rap about the things that only I can rap about, which is my actual thoughts and what happened in my life. I guess some people try to follow the trend too much and forget what actually happened in their lives.
Music wise, I play guitars on my own beats and I try to mix aspects from other genres. I compose, record, mix, master, and design my own stuffs and I have experience in playing instruments in many bands which might be different from most of the MCs.

Who have you collaborated with? Who would you like to collab with in the near future?

I’ve collaborated with Yanosuke and wakathug from the Hip Hop band, Afro Parker, a several times now.
aanrii made me a beat and helped me mix some of the songs on the album. These three guys are all a member of the crew, Illmodest.
I became friends with Akim the Funk Buddha from Zimbabwe Legit and we did this little collab at his party which was super fun.
I’m planning to do a collab track with Akim soon.
I’m also willing to collab with Momoe T. and DJ ?!!!??! again.

Your definition of “Underground Hip Hop”?

This is difficult but I think it’s about being true to yourself. Some people try too hard and fake themselves in order to go mainstream. In fact, I don’t think big promotion and being famous is a bad thing at all except when people start lying to the public to make themselves look better.

Production wise, who are your influences? Who does your production?  And who would you like to work with?

I was influenced by many genre. Hip Hop, Funk, R&B, Rock, Metal, and etc. I try to mix the influences together to make something original. I can’t really name all of them here but definitely the legends that pioneered the era back in the days. I would also love to work with people from outside of Japan.

Any current or future projects you are promoting?

Yes, first, I am trying to make Illmodest into somewhat like a brand or a project to introduce the street culture to the Japanese culture. I’m planning to do some cross cultural Hip Hop events and street fashion collaborations with other artists later this year. Please keep checking http://www.illmodest.com or @KTwigz for more info.

Second, I’m joining this new band called Umber Session Tribe @rojoufunk and gonna start rapping in the streets of Tokyo. Check Twitter for when and where we will be performing.

Can you give us a brief description of the creative process of KTwigz “ILLmodest” ? Also/ what was the idea or concept description about your Album Art Cover.

At first, I was just trying to build this crew with my friend who shoots videos and we named it Illmodest. Then I decided to name the free album the same to promote the name. I tried to focus on collaborating with the talented people around me. I also focused on the roots of my life.
The album cover is a picture of me looking over a staircase where my friends and I used to skateboard all the time back in the OC days. I went back there for vacation recently and re-recognized the “Roots” of my life. That is why I used this photo.

Where can we find your music and info?

http://www.illmodest.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/illmodestube

Free Album DL
【Pt.1】http://www.audiomack.com/album/ktwigz/illmodest
【Pt.2】http://www.audiomack.com/album/ktwigz/illmodest-1

Twitter
@KTwigz

Please give us a brief description on how the Japanese Hip Hop differs the U.S.Hip Hop scene. How do they embrace Underground Hip Hop & Being from the O.C., compare the local Hip Hop scene over there to the Local LA, O.C. scene over here.

The biggest difference I felt was that people in OC were more fond of Hip Hop as in a way of “Rapping”. I guess rapping is like a major hobby now in US and a lot of people do it for fun when hanging out with their friends. But in Japan I think the people around me are more interested in the musical aspects of Hip Hop and the other Afro-American music. I guess that’s why there are a lot of dope Hip Hop bands and beat producers out here. But you don’t usually see people forming circles cyphering in public in Japan. The local Hip Hop scene is mostly formed of people performing in clubs. I feel the rappers here are more concerned about performing locally than trying to achieve something on the internet. I try to do both.

Any shout outs?

Shout out to my homies in OC, My fellow Illmodest guys, Akim the Funk Buddha, the people that helped me on my album, and the people who read my long answers:)