Earlier this year k-os hit the States with his fifth studio album, BLack on BLonde. A double-disc LP that featured one half hip hop (BLack) and one half alt-rock (BLonde). Being a fan of the Toronto native for quite sometime now I wanted to do something special for the release and decided to have him share some insight behind some of the tracks featured on the first disc. With features including Black Thought, Travie McCoy, Saukrates, Shad, Corey Hart and Emily Haines, k-os offers a brief look into his latest creation.
LIKE A COMET f. COREY HART (prod. DJ KEMO & HAZEL)
As a teenager Corey Hart’s face was plastered all over every high school girls locker. In all honesty I started to listening to him to get close to a girl named Helen in my science class. Now – a lifetime later – he appears on one of my songs. Life is amazing.
DIAMOND SKY (prod. RICH KIDD)
Rick Kidd threw me the beat like a month after I got off tour with Drake. I feel the song captured exactly how I felt at that moment.
NYCE 2 KNOW YA (prod. T-MINUS)
When I was 19 I was in a rap group with my dood Sheldon/Graphic. It is he who laces the background vocals of this track. He connected me to this song produced by T-Minus — another of Toronto’s finest and like Boi-1da hails from my Burrough of Durham. Big UP!
ONE TIME f. EMILY HAINES
Emily Haines from Metric tops my favourite females list. So happy she’s existing in ghostly form here. I also played drums and guitar on this track on a lazy Vancouver afternoon. Very proud of it. The Beastie Boys meets Massive Attack.
TRY AGAIN f. BLACK THOUGHT (prod. DJ KEMO & VAGO)
It took me from 2005 till now to get Tariq on a track. He is illusive, enigmatic and a genius. The Roots changed my musical life. Nuff said.
MTV (prod. DREAM TEAM & DOC MCKINNEY)
In rap everyone is always seeking the throne. Rappers become King Midas turning everything into gold. When that happens – is the art still alive? Or is it simply just made up of gold human statues. #wacksmuseums
SPRAYING MY PEN f. SHAD & SAUKRATES
Saukrates is a Canadian legend ppl need to check for. He was the first Canadian rapper to really par with American emcees like Common, Heltah Skeltah and Pharoahe Monch. The homie Shad’s got Next. Watch out for this kid spraying his pen!
C.L.A. f. TRAVIE MCCOY (of GYM CLASS HEROES)
I lived in LA for a bit. I met a girl. We broke up. Travis related. We wrote a song about it and here’s how it goes.
