OKAY! KayCyy
shot by David Feigelson.
Kenyan-American rapper and vocalist Mark Mbogo (a.k.a KayCyy) has been turning heads in the hip hop scene with a number of high profile crossovers in the past few years. He was catapulted into the limelight with a feature on the original edition of Ye’s Donda and has now worked with artists such as Fivio Foreign, Lil Baby, Lancey Foux and 070 Shake. Riding the high of the release of his Gesaffelstein executive produced TW2052 EP, KayCyy took the Gov Ball stage on Friday to deliver a high energy set filled with bangers that kept the crowd moving. I was lucky enough to talk to KayCyy after his performance: we covered his experiences working with different producers and developing his sound. Please read our conversation below and check out the new EP here.
David Feigelson: Tell me about your experience interacting with fans on the Kanye subreddit and twitter.
KayCyy: It’s dope. You get to see raw conversations because people don’t give a fuck. I love reading it and seeing what people are talking about. It’s cool to see people who have been engaged for a long time.
DF: You've worked with a lot of producers from Kanye to Gesaffelstein, and you also mentioned KAYTRANADA when you were on stage. Any dream collabs?
KayCyy: Definitely Pharrell. Dev Hynes (Blood Orange). I want to work with different people who can bring out different elements of what I do. I would love to work with The Weeknd and see what we could make together with our voices. But there are so many artists I respect and want to work with, like Frank Ocean, Rosalía, and Tyler, The Creator.
DF: Are you on Utopia?
KayCyy: I really can't speak to that. I'm excited to hear what it sounds like. Earlier on I was working on it, but Travis keeps you on your toes. Even if I was working on it yesterday, I’d still be on my toes. Nobody knows. He's a genius. I’m waiting to see what's gonna happen.
DF: Awesome. I'm excited. You’ve worked with many producers and have covered a lot of musical ground, dropping shorter projects that highlight different aspects of your sound. Do you see yourself moving in any particular direction in the future, or continuing to explore a bunch of different styles?
KayCyy: Once I lock in, I’m gonna get to a point where I'm really producing my own shit. I know what I want to sound like. But I’m also someone who wants to put everybody in the room. What I’ve seen Ye do, that has been so amazing, is get everybody involved in a way that creates the best product. So I want to work with the new wave and the older people too, just put ‘em all together and make genius stuff.
DF: Sounds great, thanks for your time.
KayCyy: No problem. Thank you.
shot by David Feigelson.
edited by Kristen Wallace.
