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dopeFUTURE: So KB The General, tell us a little about yourself, where your from?
I am from Uptown, Washington D.C, two blocks from Georgia Avenue around the corner from Roosevelt High School. I developed a love for music at an early age because I was introduced to a wide variety of music from different cultures throughout the world. My parents were heavily influenced by African culture. As a result, my siblings and I explored different types of music growing up. I played samba drums in middle school and that helped my timing and rhythm when it came to making beats later on in high school. My high school provided a basic piano beat machine which I started using to develop my own music while simultaneously rapping along. After I graduated high school I went to college to study communications. While I was in college I kept working on my craft. I got my hands on some better software called “Fruity Loops”. I began making better quality beats and took rapping more seriously.
dopeFUTURE: When did you first become interested in music? When did you start rapping? What prompted you to make a career out of rap?
Since I can remember music has always been apart of my life. I've been listening to music and repeating lyrics in the carseat growing up before I even knew how to form a complete sentence. I guess its fair to say i started learning how to structure lyrics at the age of 13. By that time I had been already started studying music from the chorus, to the verses, to the bridges, but i was especially focused on the beat and how it was orchestrated. My brother and I would sit and listen to music pointing out sounds and other aspects of the song we thought know one else was noticing. Thats when i decided I wanted to be a producer. After I got my hands on a music program, I started making beats. The only problem was I had no one who knew how to rap on them. So thats what started me rapping. I had to show people the beauty of my beats and they couldn't hear it unless i painted to entire picture for them to see.
What prompted me to make a career out of rap was that fact that i always saw myself doing something in the entertainment word and music was second nature. Not to mention i enjoy creating it and see how it affects people differently. Outside of family and friends; music is the only thing i can see myself staying attached to for the remainder of my life.
dopeFUTURE: Why the name KB The General ?
KB came about from my first name being Kubasa, meaning "one who has much to be thankful for." It was a nickname given to my by a friend of mine inn high school that didn't really stick until I went off to college. The General came about off the strength that my grandfather was in the army and all of his close friends referred to him as the General even tho he wasn't officially a General in command. When i went off to school I ended up creating a group that eventually started performing and throwing events becoming more and more popular. After a couple years the name stuck. My grandfather passed away a couple years ago now i carry the name on in his memory.
dopeFUTURE: When it comes to your lyrics, what inspires you?
Everyday life inspires my lyrics. The bad the good and the ugly. I get motivated by the idea of creating something that will resonate with my listeners. Seeing the conditions of a situation will inspire me to write about it in two different ways. One of the ways I will write about how to over come the circumstances or just explain the circumstances. Every now and then I will combine the two. I hope that makes sense to you. lol. But anything on any given day can inspire me to get in the studio and create a new master piece.
dopeFUTURE: What do you consider your biggest accomplishment?
My biggest accomplishment is being able to preserve regardless of what i was going thru or facing in my personal life. The fact that i taught myself just about everything i know as regards to this music game, from writing, to being able to record and engineer my own tracks, to learning how to shoot and edited videos from start to finish. Nobody gave me a blueprint for the music industry but I have managed to figure out how to copyright music, book events, and network on just about every level with anybody. And the best part about it all is i am learning more and more and getting better and better.
dopeFUTURE: What do you look for in beats you’re selecting?
Thats a good question. For me there is no real method to finding a beat. It all depends on what kind of mood im in or what type of song im trying to create. However sometimes i will go and check out a couple of producers that i like and see if they have anything new im feeling. Finding a beat a like is sometimes the hardest part for me.
dopeFUTURE: What’s one artist you would want to work with and why ?
One artist i would want to work with is Chris Brown. I would love to write for him and have a song featuring him or him featuring me. I enjoy writing R&B music and i know if i write for the right person the door will swing wide open.
dopeFUTURE: Where exactly do you see yourself at 5 years down the road ?
5 years down the road i see myself making my dreams come true and having a prosperous career. I see me getting paid to do something I love to do and being able to feed my family and elevate the lives of the people around me near and far.
dopeFUTURE: What are your thoughts on how things are going in the music
industry right now?
Right now I try not to listen to the music coming out. Don't get me wrong i do appreciate the talented new wave of artist. But now I feel like everybody is chasing the same exact sound down to voices, cadence, delivery, and song concepts. Since I shoot music videos and study the game I do watch and listen to some of it but im very selective. I listen and watch different things for different reasons. For instance I might watch an entire video of a rapper I don't care for because the visual is really dope. Even when the song itself does nothing for me and can find the beauty in the production or engineering side of things.
dopeFUTURE: Any new projects coming out soon ? & what can we expect from this projects?
I recently release my "Best Of The Best" project. I am currently working on my next project which is about 70% done. I haven't put a title on it just yet. But in the meantime i am still shooting videos from "Best Of The Best" and will probably re-release it on the mixtape circuit with some additional songs because its only on Spotify, Itunes, Googleplay, Tidal, Amazon, etc. On this next project you can expect some of my best work. Although I still feel like my "Hook King" mixtape was amazing and "Best Of The Best" is solid im loving how this new project is coming together. For this next project I went back listening to all my old music as well as the greats like 2pac, outkast, biggie, bone thugs n harmony, and couple others to remember why I fell in love with music to begin with and the emotions it can bring about. So make sure you stay on the look out for my new videos dropping and new projects coming out. Be sure to follow me on all the social media sites and lets network!
