Hailing from Darlington, England, the flashy Hip-Hop Artist, and Rapper Khaki releases his atmospheric bop, "Devil's Kiss (feat. Baby Goth)."
What intrigued us towards Khaki's brand was how he challenged North East England's music industry by overcoming the "crab mentality" where if one person can't have it, neither can someone else.
By collaborating with various notable acts like Asian Doll, Swae Lee, Juicy J, and Baby Goth, Khaki's industry knowledge has expanded to deliver the freshest of vibes.
With his latest single "Devil's Kiss (feat. Baby Goth)," we're left drifting through the song's celestial Hip-Hop production alongside Baby Goth's intriguing and melodic vocals. Not to mention Khaki's irresistible flow, he portrays this devilish flair that keeps our ears peeled the entire way.
"Devil's Kiss (feat. Baby Goth) begins with an atmospheric Hip-Hop beat through softened celestial keys and airy trap drums. As Baby Goth begins serenading us in a sultry and inviting tone, the track's atmosphere is instantly set through her overall vibe and nature.
Once Khaki begins rapping, there's truly no turning back. He begins painting this dominant scene where he has his eyes on the prize while delivering his bars in a quickly-paced manner that perfectly amplifies Khaki's immense talent. We can hear authenticity exude from each lyric he delivers, easily giving listeners something to get down with when the sun goes down.
Be sure to experience the sweltering atmosphere Khaki has delivered with his latest single "Devil's Kiss (feat. Baby Goth)," and keep your ears peeled for more notable features to come.
We love the overall tone and atmosphere you've provided with "Devil's Kiss (feat. Baby Goth)." What pushed you to create a song that delivers this dark yet heavily intriguing tone?
The process was really natural and such a quick learning curve with this song. I and Baby had talked about working on a track right after I dropped one of my earlier singles “Drip” and she released her single “Afterparty." I still remember the first session working on the beat for Devil’s Kiss so clearly. I don’t produce beats myself so linked up with a local producer Tom Heath who had previously made a remix to one of my earlier tracks “Like That” featuring Bre Musiq. This was where the learning curve really began for both of us. Tom has always been heavily focused on House and Club-style music, and I have only been into the mixing and mastering side of the music rather than the producing. We talked about the feel we wanted and the atmosphere, with the focus of the song wanting to be dark, gothic, and almost stormy to match both mine and Baby’s sound and style. You can actually still hear the thunder that Tom created and underlaid behind the main beat which was really what set the whole tone of the track. After we had the stormy backdrop to the beat Tom was able to work with Baby Goth’s vocal and create a soft side in the instrumental. This changed the vibe to something we really fell in love with, from what was originally more of a Metro Booming inspired hard-hitting instrumental with its reverbing snare hits and heavy bass drops.
Could you take us through your songwriting process for "Devil's Kiss (feat. Baby Goth)," what sort of message did you want to get across with your deep and dominant bars?
My verses on the track were the last part of the production of Devil’s Kiss. This is my usual process as the beat for me is what takes me to that zone and really helps me write the track fluently. When it came to me writing my verses, the beat and Baby Goth’s chorus had already been 90% finished. I had the chorus on repeat in my head all day from the nights spent producing the beat with Tom and I had been freestyling different intros to it as we were making it. Because of this, I was really excited to get into my home studio with some free time to start working on my verses. I sat down at the computer with no topics written down, just the excitement of wanting to hear the final thing and inspiration from all of the things I am currently working on in the music and have lined up. I had some personal issues I was going through at the time, these added to the darkness of the track and can be heard towards the end of the first verse. But along with this, I had been traveling a lot at the time, for both work and also to see friends overseas I have met through the music. This really filled me with confidence that we are pushing in the right direction with what we are doing. The ending to the second verse particularly:
‘I’m surrounded by stars like I’ve been dreaming Freebandz on call, money meeting Flying to Lloret De Mar, ‘cos the team need me Late nights chilling in the car, I got a speed demon’
This part of the song came so effortlessly. I had just finished talking with the team over in Atlanta at Freebandz (Future’s Record Label) about upcoming releases and projects. Hence the line ‘Surrounded by stars, like I’ve been dreaming’. I really felt like this had to be a dream the number of people I look up to in the game that I am now in circles with making music!
Following that call, I was flying out to Lloret De Mar in Spain to regroup with some of the coolest guys I have met. These are people who originally supported me for my music and actually spot me in the streets of Spain, back when I had only just started making music videos and was on a family holiday! I have mad respect for anyone that supports and it is things like that which always inspire and motivate me to keep pushing with what I do. Check out ‘Drip’ or ‘On Demand’, two videos I have made now with the crew in Spain. These guys are some of my best friends now. Going back to the topic now, my songwriting process is to get a real feeling for the beat and write about things that are happening in my life at the time. I rap about things or people that inspire me to do better and also things that make me happy or feel a certain way and I didn’t have any shortage of these things at the time! Baby Goth had just killed the chorus on this, Tom had worked magic on the beat and I knew Nath was going to go mega on the music video. We had lined up some super talented people from Alanna Pittorino who has just been on the front cover of Playboy, through to El & Amy who have so many hidden talents I couldn’t even try to name them all! So, the inspiration for this track wasn’t an issue! My message in this song as well as a lot of my other work is to believe in yourself and what you do. Learn from the people around you. If you have positive people in your circle that believe in you and themselves too, you will all win.
Regarding Baby Goth's brilliant feature on "Devil's Kiss (feat. Baby Goth)," what made you want to feature her unique vocal stylings? What did you want to be added to the track that Baby Goth provides?
She kills that chorus. That’s exactly what I wanted from it and that’s what I knew we could create when working together! I already had her tracks downloaded before talking with her about linking on a track, so knew her voice was exactly what my track needed - all her music is so catchy. She makes Devil’s Kiss so addicting; you can stick it on repeat all day. It also makes the track much more appealing for a wider audience than I could reach on my own really. It has been so nice with this track to reach so many new listeners and especially nice to receive a lot of positivity around the release! I and my close friend Nathan (Video director and man of EVERYTHING behind the scenes) have worked together with the music from the start, and it just feels so good to put a track out and get it shared and supported so heavily across all the platforms.
We noticed that your single "Devil's Kiss (feat. Baby Goth)" was accidentally on Melanie Martinez's EP playlist. We're genuinely wondering, how do you think this accident took place, and how has it impacted the single's promotion?
That was crazy when we first saw it! At first to be honest I thought it was going to be good for new viewers, but would mean the video got lots of hate. I only thought this due to the fact we were getting viewers that weren’t planning on checking it out and obviously the general internet troll attitude we all know and love in this industry is usually at large in these scenarios! It has been the total opposite of that though. Most of the comments from listeners of that playlist so far have been so positive! I checked one and think it was one of the nicest comments I’ve ever got on my work ever which said they were listening and though it was their favorite song on Melanie’s EP! I’m just grateful it was seen and appreciated by more people as it is a great feeling after putting work into a project like this one! As for why it took place, I was contacted and it seems that Baby and Melanie Martinez are actually on the same label and they liked the song so wanted to see how it performed with them having similar followings and sounds! I am just fully grateful for that opportunity and recognition however it happened!
What has been keeping you inspired in 2020?
New music from some of my favorite artists as always, along with the awesome people I am surrounded by whether it’s family or friends! I am lucky to have a circle of people that see the positives in most things and always look to strive for success and have fun whilst doing it. Coronavirus has affected some of the great opportunities I had lined up, such as live performances at Rolling Loud Portugal and other opportunities over in Atlanta that I just can’t get to! The same has affected everyone in this industry sadly, but it has given me time to get the first recordings down for my upcoming singles and work on my album as well as create new contacts across Instagram that I am excited to work with when we get through these crazy times!