ADRIAN MA, HOST:
As a musician, Leven Kali has spent loads of his profession behind the scenes. He is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who’s made music for lots of big-name artists…
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “VIRGO’S GROOVE”)
BEYONCE: (Singing) Come over.
MA: …Like “Virgo’s Groove” from Beyonce’s Grammy-winning 2022 album “Renaissance.” And lately, Kali’s additionally produced for the likes of Drake and Skrillex.
LEVEN KALI: Seeing, like, , the best way that actually nice individuals put collectively a venture and the quantity of intention that goes into it, it actually, , impressed me and gave me a blueprint.
MA: A blueprint for his personal flip within the highlight, a brand new solo album titled “LK99.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BREATHE!”)
KALI: (Singing) Simply breathe. Nothing left to do however go deep. Simply breathe. Nothing…
MA: I do know some musicians hate to be requested to explain their sound. So…
KALI: Yeah.
MA: I provides you with a alternative.
KALI: (Laughter) OK.
MA: Inform me if you wish to describe your sound to anyone who’s by no means heard it, or if you need, I may take a crack at it.
KALI: OK, I am curious what you suppose, after which I will inform you what I believe.
MA: (Laughter) OK. If I needed to provide you with a label for what I am listening to, it might be dream funk.
KALI: Whoa.
MA: And I used to be getting little whiffs of different artists that I actually love. Like, one form of jogged my memory of “Earth, Wind, & Hearth.” I acquired some Sly Stone, some Frank Ocean, perhaps. Even somewhat little bit of Daft Punk.
KALI: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “GRAB IT”)
KALI: (Singing) If there’s one thing else you need, go forward and seize it.
Yeah, you killed it. I find it irresistible. I have not stated dream funk earlier than, however I like that time period. Yeah, I imply, I might say undoubtedly funk is what it’s. It is soul music. It is funk music. However it’s now. It is right now. It is tomorrow. It isn’t – , I strive my hardest to honor my inspirations however not copy them, ? Like, I do not wish to ever actually, like, do a full retro factor. You understand, every little thing is like – it is for right now and tomorrow. And it is – , there is a form of, like, a reaching again and a reaching ahead on the identical time.
MA: However despite the fact that Leven Kali says he is pushing ahead together with his music, I additionally needed to dig a bit into his previous.
(SOUNDBITE OF LEVEN KALI SONG, “SLEEPWALKING”)
MA: Music was not the profession that you just had at all times deliberate to pursue. I learn that you just had been truly a Division I golfer in faculty.
KALI: Yeah, that was the plan. I imply, in highschool, that was undoubtedly the trail that I used to be on, and I used to be enjoying in tournaments and getting scouted by colleges. After which I – proper across the time that I dedicated to go to high school to have fun that accomplishment, I instructed myself that I might, , take a second to get pleasure from my senior yr and, like, , do one thing to get my thoughts off of golf earlier than I went totally into it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SLEEPWALKING”)
KALI: (Singing) I have been sleepwalking and daydreaming, daydreaming, daydreaming.
I, , began engaged on recording music with my pals, and I had at all times been round music, however I hadn’t actually been across the recording facet of it, like, , making beats. And I simply – , at one level, I used to be like, man, what am I doing with my life? That is what I am speculated to be doing.
MA: Leven Kali went on to varsity and performed golf significantly, however he nonetheless could not fairly shake the sensation that music is what he needs to be doing. And so he switched gears. And, truthfully, we should not be stunned as a result of he was truly born right into a musical household.
Your dad and mom, I perceive, are musicians. And in keeping with Wikipedia, you had been, quote, “conceived” whereas they had been on tour…
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “PIECES”)
KALI: (Singing) You wish to make love. You wish to get excessive. You wish to make love.
MA: …Which makes it sound such as you had been actually a tour bus child. Is that true?
KALI: I used to be undoubtedly a tour child. I do not know if I used to be a tour bus child.
MA: (Laughter) OK. Simply to set the report straight.
KALI: However – yeah, to set the report straight. However yeah, I believe my dad and mom had been – , they had been in LA after which, through the being pregnant, traveled to Europe, and my dad had some exhibits occurring. My mother would sing with the band typically. And I used to be born in Amsterdam in a city referred to as Blijburg outdoors of the town.
MA: You had been born there, however you actually grew up in LA.
KALI: Precisely.
MA: Do you’re feeling a connection to the Netherlands in any respect?
KALI: I do.
MA: Inform me about that. Like, how does that present up in your life or in your artwork?
KALI: I imply, first off, I’ve traveled there a bunch. So I imply, going again and spending time with my godfamily on the market. However, , I really feel like anyone, when you’re a baby and you are like, abroad, and also you’re simply soaking it up, cultural variations, it simply – it impacts you within the deepest approach, I believe. And it is undoubtedly affected the best way that I see the world.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “RAINING SUN”)
KALI: (Singing) Can you’re feeling it, child? Can you’re feeling it, child?
I believe that, , within the Netherlands and, like, in loads of Western Europe, there’s, like, an enormous, like, love and respect for funk music and possibly in a stronger approach than in loads of locations within the States.
MA: So the Dutch – funkier than you’d have thought?
KALI: The Dutch are funky. They’re funky musically. You understand, they seem to be a very, like, curious and mental and artsy individuals, and so they’re additionally actually freaky and, like, wild, and so they’re very enjoyable, and so they’re smiley. And I believe that it is a enjoyable place to be. It is – and so they love funk music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “RAINING SUN”)
KALI: (Singing) The audio system blown, nowhere to cover. We hit the pink line.
MA: Since you could have accomplished a lot writing for different musicians, is there a approach wherein writing for your self now could be so much totally different from writing for different individuals?
KALI: For certain. I believe it is simpler to write down for different individuals. After which if you write for your self, , the ego kicks in, the satisfaction kicks in. You wish to be certain it is precisely representing you the way you wish to be represented. And, , typically it is a lesson in, like, deliberately letting go and being like, if I did it like this, that is how I did it. I am not going to vary it.
MA: Properly, give me an instance. Like, is there a track on this album that looks like, solely I may have written this for me? Yeah, I believe “Are U Nonetheless.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ARE U STILL”)
KALI: (Singing) Speak to me. Are you continue to in love like I’m? You continue to, you continue to, child, are you continue to, are you continue to, oh.
The way in which the track strikes form of like an R&B track that turns right into a funk report, however the transitions between these R&B and funk sections is form of this rocked out, intense second. And it is simply one thing that, , I can take heed to that and level out so lots of my inspirations simply in that report. And I can even, like, hear myself and my voice and my groove so clearly. This looks like authentically me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ARE U STILL”)
KALI: (Singing) Vibration. They converse to me. Vibration. I really feel that, vibration.
MA: Leven Kali’s new album known as “LK99.” Thanks for speaking with us.
KALI: Thanks a lot to your time, man.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ARE U STILL”)
KALI: (Singing) Nonetheless hear your appears like a ghost inside. It is just like the howl of the wolf at evening. Nonetheless hear you sound like a ghost inside. It is just like the howl of the wolf at evening.
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