South Korea born, but Connecticut raised; Gun Boi Kaz is a nineteen-year-old artist meshing together Hip-hop, Pop, and Punk. He began taking music seriously after spending two years in treatment, where he used songwriting as an outlet for his thoughts.
Pulling influence from artists such as, The Kid LAROI and Machine Gun Kelly, Gun Boi Kaz’s signature sound has developed into a unique medley that bends musical genres.
Transferring his buoyant energy to an all-time high immersive experience, Gun Boi Kaz’s latest single, “9teen,” delves into the fierce persona that he owns so well. Creating vivid imagery for his audience to resonate with, Gun Boi Kaz graces his lyrical content with living life to the fullest and savoring every moment that the present has to offer. Allowing his vulnerability to drip into his messaging, he emphasizes the future as one of his biggest fears, and the focal point he drives home is not wanting to grow up.
Through the effervescent dominance that hails from the charismatic timbres that Gun Boi Kaz exudes, we hear where his passion lies, and we see his heart shining brightly on his sleeve. With the uplifting tones in the Punk forward instrumentation, teenage angst is the culprit for the prevailing resonance that takes us deep into our nostalgia. Gun Boi Kaz effortlessly emits a canvas that reflects who he is as an artist and individual. “9teen” captures a variety of components that allow this track to thrive in its environment, fueling not only the hunger for Gun Boi Kaz but for his rapidly growing fan base taking note.
Congratulations on the release of your latest single, “9teen.” With this track coming out on your 19th birthday, this also marks your first single of the year! Could you please take us into the creative process that brought “9teen,” to life?
Creating 9teen was a very "in-the-moment" process. I was sitting at my desk thinking about how I was turning nineteen soon and how growing up scares me to death. I instantly started thinking about memories with friends when life was a little simpler and knew I had to make a song, right then and there. This track was the first track that I made without writing down one word; every lyric was formed from my mind on the spot. Being a team of one on the creative side, I also mixed and mastered the song myself. From quickly finding the beat online to completely finishing it, the whole track took about 4 hours to create.
What was the studio session like when creating this track?
The studio session while creating 9teen was very energetic, passionate, and fast-paced. Although I'm a one-man team when it comes to making music, I put every ounce of emotion into my work. This track in particular has a lot of meaning to me since, while making the song, I was experiencing a lot of determination, as well as anxiety, for my future. Despite having those feelings though, the song came to me super quick. I was recording line after line and before I knew it, I had finished the track. In fact, I was working so fast that I actually accidentally recorded a whole second verse that didn't end up making it onto the song for length purposes.
How have you found yourself evolving as an artist from your first release to now?
Since my first release, I've definitely been taking music in general much more seriously. Not only has my sound majorly improved and developed, but my mindset has definitely evolved into one with more drive and direction. Before, I wasn't sure if I was going to make this whole music thing work or if I even wanted to. Now I know that I need to.
How do you allow your musical influences to speak into the music that you create?
I've definitely pulled a lot of inspiration from artists like The Kid LAROI and Machine Gun Kelly. LAROI's whole style and sound is super sick and caught my attention right away. The energy in his tracks is something that definitely inspires my own sound. MGK's style in his pop-punk tracks is also something that definitely inspires my own works, including 9teen.
What can we expect to see next from you?
I have plans to release a single with another artist in mid to late February. As of now, I'll leave the other artist anonymous, but the song is one of my favorites from the many in my "unreleased" catalog. I posted a small skit to it on Instagram Reels and it gained 300k views; so I definitely think it's time for this one to drop.