Hailing from Calgary, Kuzi Cee brings forth a unique, emotional, and energetic mix of R&B, Pop, AfroBeat, and Hip Hop. He constantly incorporates his personal experiences into his music, whether that be the various hardships he faced growing up, the euphoric feeling from a night out with friends, or navigating the roller-coaster of emotions that come along with love and heartbreak.
Kuzi Cee has garnered some major successes over the last few years. Some of these accomplishments include selling out his first headlining show, opening for R&B icon Roy Woods, and performing at the CEBL (Canadian Elite Basketball League) semi-finals halftime show. “Did You Find Love” is the lead single off his new “Butterflies and Roses” project that’s expected to drop in March 2022.
Mixed with melodies and messages, Kuzi’s new single stems from the question “How Did You Find Love?” The song encapsulates the feeling of trying to find an emotional connection in a world of physical love. It’s told from the perspective of someone who’s been broken and hurt so many times in the past, that the thought of love itself brings no excitement.
With help from producers @HossyBeats and @LouXtwo, and engineer @SheaMichael, Kuzi Cee has created a soothing yet ramped-up anthem for the clubs. “Did You Find Love” is a soundtrack for those moments where you don’t have a care in the world, down to go wherever the night may take you.
Listen to “Did You Find Love," available on all streaming platforms.
Can you give your listeners a bit more insight into the inspiration behind the track?
The inspiration behind this song came from times when I had to address what I wanted in life and went through that "I gotta put myself first" phase. The song encapsulates the feeling of trying to find an emotional connection in a world of physical love. It's told from the perspective of someone who's been broken and hurt so many times in the past that the thought of love itself brings no excitement. It stems from the question, "How did you find love?"
This song touches on a variety of personal experiences. Was it tough to be so vulnerable and open on this track? How do you hope that listeners will resonate with your lyrics?
I feel like the best music comes from a place of being vulnerable and open. I try to do with my music to stay true to myself and describe how I am feeling. To me, as a listener, I love when I hear music that I can relate to, and the artist conveys all their emotion into the song. So that's what I try to do with my music. I wouldn't say it was hard being vulnerable on the track, but it is difficult to put yourself out there for the world to judge. Now it's not just a song. It's a part of me being judged.
Your love and passion for music and performing are extremely apparent in your music. Do you remember where your love for music all began and who your major influences were growing up?
As a kid, I grew up listening to mainly R&B with a big influence from the early 2000s sound. I had a lot of influence from artists like Michael Jackson, Usher, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, The Dream, and T-Pain. It was during this time that I started getting involved in a church choir, and school talent shows where the idea blossomed of becoming a musician. Unfortunately, it was cut short because I started playing sports, and, like every other kid, I thought I was going D1 then going pro, so I sidelined the artist dream. It wasn't until the end of high school that I came back and started making music. I've been singing for as long as I can remember, but when I finally started making music, I was rapping. It took a while for me to gain the confidence to sing on my songs, but I think it clicked somewhere in 2018, and ever since, I've been more focused on the R&B side of my art.
What sort of atmosphere and vibe did you want the instrumentals and production to give off in "Did You Find Love"? Who helped bring the sonics to life?
I wanted the song to be relatable to a wide range of individuals. The older generation gets the Usher, falsetto style of the chorus that came with Confessions, while my generation gets the afrobeat infused R&B sound that we grew to love.
For the instrumental, I wanted it to be very open and soothing but have that ramp up to give it that club/late night drive vibe. That's primarily why I fell in love with the 808 and drum pattern. They brought so much energy into the song, and paired with the vocals, it gives the song the ability to tell a story but keep you engaged.
However, the song is structured for clubs; specifically, that moment at 2:00-3:00 am where you don't know what time it is, you don't care what's going on, and you're just feeling the vibe and flowing with it. Big shout out to the producers on it, @Hossy Beats and @LouXtwo knocked this one out of the park. In the first seconds of listening to the beat, the "How did you find love" lyric came to mind. Then I jumped in the booth, and it was a wrap. Gotta show love to @Shea Michael as well for helping out with the mix and master. He really brought this song to life.