Kaiit | FReeZA Artist of the month | Youth Central

Image of artist Kaiit sitting against a grey background.
FReeZA artist of the month Kaiit sitting against a grey background.

With honeyed vocals, fierce rhymes and a bold eclectic style to match, 19-year-old KAIIT is alluring audiences to the sweet sound of soul.

What inspired you to start making music?

What got me to start writing music was just needing a way to express myself and to help with problems in my life that I felt like I couldn't quite discuss with other people.

How would you describe your sound/style?

The way I would describe my music would be Amy Winehouse and J Dilla’s love child.

How do you come up with new material? Do you have a typical songwriting process?

I tend to feel lazy a lot because I’m not writing all the time and I don’t like forcing it, but when I manifest an idea or am going through something, I like writing to a beat.

What kinds of things do you like writing songs about?

I write about anything that inspires me, whether a situation, person or even just something that someone says.

Recently you released your debut single Natural Women, has this affected your career as an artist?

This has been the first thing I’ve ever released, so just being able to get an audience of all types of people far and wide and being able to have them relate is already affected me, not just for my career but for me personally and it’s what I love to do.

What advice do you give to other young people who want to start making music?

My only advice would be don’t surround yourself with people that are not good for you but to surround yourself with people who fully support you and your dreams.

Do you have any favourite acts you’ve shared the stage with so far?

Mz Rizk, who is the backbone of the Melbourne Hip-Hop scene as well as someone who I look up to. Having female energy on stage, especially in such a male dominated genre is very empowering.

If you could collaborate with any musician in the world, who would you pick and why?

NaS, even though I didn’t grow up listening to him; his voice is so powerful and the songs he’s done with Amy Winehouse are some of my favourite.

What have been your challenges and successes?

My biggest challenge was fully believing in myself. I had a lot of support around me but people can only help you so much; the last steps come down to you. Putting that belief in myself was probably the most challenging thing and believing in what I do and I guess that was a success in itself.

Have you been working with anyone?

At the moment I’ve just been focussing on my music and getting my sound the way that I want it to. So just a lot of in-house collaborating with my label and mentors.

What do you consider the key elements as an artist for a successful performance?

I would consider ‘eye contact’ a key element during my performance along with just showing who I really am on stage and being personal with the crowd.

What do you set out to achieve when you perform and how do you feel when you’re performing on stage with a live audience?

My goal is to be able to connect with the audience and for them to actually listen to what the lyrics are saying and hopefully interpret the lyrics in their own way and have a great time in the process.

When you’re not playing music, what other things are you doing?

I love creating things with my Mum who is also an artist, we create artwork together and do crafts, making earrings and other quirky things. I also love to spend time with my family & my friends who all love & support my music. I also love going op-shopping whenever I can.

Where can people find out more about your upcoming gigs and tunes?

You can stay connected through my Facebook “Kaiit” (https://www.facebook.com/kaiitmusic/) and my Instagram @Kaiit_isshe & my website.