The multi-talented rapper, actor, and model’s fan favorite song “Out Fuh Blood” was recently featured on the premium & iconic basketball video game, NBA 2K22. The Chicago born and bred bonafide rising star has already started off this year with a spring to his step with the Bambino World-produced “Letta Go”.
Having a placement on a globally transcending artifact of culture such as 2K was the cherry on the cake but not the final cast of the stone to his potential, as he had previously been casted on Season 7 (2020) of drama TV series such as Chicago P.D as “Gang Member” and later 2021’s Faithless.
Currently, he is among the integral faces serving looks and endearing men to self care as an ambassador of award-winning men’s grooming product Shea Moisture Men’s 2022 campaign, where he is a figurehead for men’s hair wellness – another one of his multiple talents being capitalized to good use.
The deep-voiced creative hailing from West Chicago continues to apply himself in different forms of art, and playing his trade with intention & alignment as he becomes a staple in the music and entertainment industry among others.
Remixd Mag caught up with the legend in the making on how he manages to be as great as he is, and what are some of his near ambitions we can keep tabs on. Enjoy:
What city are you from/ Where are you based now?I’m from Chicago. Westside/Woodside. I’m still based in Chicago at the moment.
What is your artist name? What is your real name? How did you get your artist name?My art name is Kay Eye. My government is Will Nicks III. My artist name, I chose myself.It means “Soul Vision/Soul Sight”. It came about back in 2017 when I was going throughthe process of rebranding and changing my name. I used to go by K.I.D Will, but I hadmade it to a point in my career where I felt like I had outgrown that name. It just didn’tresonate with me anymore. I went through a couple different name options before “KayEye” hit me right in the face. I pulled it from a combination of my spiritual & historicstudies. It’s a mix between Egyptian, Spanish, and English language. As soon as I put ittogether, it felt like the perfect fit for me.
How would you describe your sound to readers who may not be familiar with you?I would describe my sound as unorthodox. Limitless. Unbounded by genre. Sharp lyricalraps infused with imprinting melodies.
What’s one reason you are passionate about music and what inspires you?I’m passionate about music because it was my first love. Looking back on my life, musicpulled me out of all my darkest moments. It gave me a tool to create and express myown world free from outside opinion or judgements. “What’s next” is what inspires me.The fact that there’s still elements of my potential that I haven’t tapped into yet keepsme going. Knowing that I’m capable of much more that will unfold as I continue downmy path fires me up. I’m not stopping till I touch the heights of what music has to offerme.
Who are some of your main musical influences?– Some of my biggest musical influences from childhood are Tupac, Michael Jackson,Prince, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Bone Thugz, Outcast, Kanye West, & Ludacris. As I gotolder and got into my teenage years, I got heavy into Lil Wayne, Jay Z, Drake, KendrickLamar, Rick Ross, Nipsey Hussle, and J Cole. I know that’s a lot of names but I belistening to hella music lol. Always been this way. I used to come home from school anddownload every song that had released that day no matter who the artist was. I justwanted to hear everything that I could. I got more too, but I’ll just leave it at those. Longstory short, my main influences come from Hip Hop/Rap, R&B, and Neo Soul.
What’s one project you are most proud of?My most recent project is entitled Thelostseries:lostTime. It’s the first installment of afour-part series. lostTime is the first timePiece installment of thelostseries.masterPiece. The inspiration behind this project was my perception of time. I had gottento a place in my life, where I wasn’t satisfied with how I was spending my time. This ledme to realize, that even though I was using my time to pursue the things that I thought Iwanted in life, I was ignoring my blind side. It was time for me to open my eyes to thebigger picture, redefine all the things that I truly wanted out of life, refine the way Imanaged my time, and most importantly identify the things I thought were a waste oftime and remove them. Just like that, lostTime was born, along with the rest of theseries that I won’t jump into until it’s time for the second timePiece. But I came up withthe whole concept for each installment at the same time.
What is this project about in your own words?This project is about TIME. More specifically, my relationship with it. Some of mypersonal experiences that have shaped my view of time. Some of the ways I’ve utilizedtime, and some of the ways that I’ve let it take over me. The gains, the losses, the wins,and the lessons that I’ve lived through the hands of time.
What’s next for you? Are you working on any upcoming projects we should be on thelookout for? Include some dates if you have them.– What’s next for me is the rest of “thelostseries” masterPiece. Before I get into thatsecond installment though, I have an EP that I’m working on called “timeEnds”. Thatalong with some singles that I have in the vault to bridge me over into the era of thesecond installment. I won’t say any concrete dates yet, but things will be kicking off thisSpring.
What message do you hope fans take away from your music and from this project?Overall, from my music, I hope fans take away the idea that anything is possible throughthe mastery of self and thought. Every experience happens to teach us if we’re openand willing to learn, and to guide us to where we’re ultimately meant to be. I wantpeople to hear my music and be motivated to achieve their greatest potential and havefun while doing it. Conquer your fears and continue to evolve. As for this project, I wantpeople to take away the message that you can’t beat time. It was here before you were.The best route to take is to figure out how you can work together with time, becauseit’ll be here after you’re gone too. The key is to change your perspective of time fromnegative to positive.
Where can we follow you on social media?– Kay Eye Dot Com (Website): https://kayeye3rd.com/ – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayeye3rd/ – Twitter: https://twitter.com/KayEye3rd – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy63T4MTwTMPsbOW-Nc4MnA – TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kayeye3rd – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kayeye3rd – Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kay-eye/386858155 – Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ylvsDWlf3Zz15CcOqWRNS?si=9j2GLdt1TT-IfJYWXAQpAQ– SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kay-eye3
