kAui producing music for a new artist.

kAui [Kuh-why], a singer-songwriter, music producer, and Visionaire, whose name means “Keeper of God’s Earth” has been steadily gaining public attention. His music has been featured in the hit show Empire and Comedy Central’s Broad City. He has produced songs for prominent artists such as Timbaland, Ryan Leslie, and Ryan Toby as well as up and coming acts like Mike Classic and Jake&Papa. He now spends his time continuing to make timeless records and has released a new single, “Old Habits”. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What does a music producer do?

I am the person who, when an artist wants to work on a song or album, spearheads the whole thing. Whether that be, producing it — actually making the music, or bringing in other people who can create the musical landscape for the artist. On top of that, I’m the person who helps steer the vision for whatever the artist wants. There’s a difference between a music producer and a beatmaker. The beatmaker is simply somebody who makes a beat. The producer can also be somebody who makes a beat but the producer doesn’t always have to be. Say for instance somebody like Rick Rubin; he makes beats but he also is the person who is the organizer of the project. He can be like, Oh, I like that sound, we should add this,  turn that up, take that out. 

So, the producer is all of that. A producer is a person who has a vision.

What was it about producing music that drew you in, in the beginning?

The first thing is that I always grew up listening to a bunch of different music and the producers that stuck with me were producers like Timbaland, Pharrell, Rick Rubin, Q-Tip, and J Dilla who also listened to a lot of different music. These were people who, you know, were categorized in a certain type of genre, but they made the genre progressive because of the way they fused different worlds of genres together.

So, for me, I got into producing because I kind of wanted to be like them, and then on top of that my father was an artist and producer as well, so I wanted to be like him. When I was younger I would watch him and be like, Damn, I want to produce stuff too!

Which song from one of your favorite producers that if you heard now would take you back to a particular moment in your life?

Good question. I’ll say The Neptunes. The Neptunes track “Grindin” takes me back to middle school when I would go to the lunchroom. It was your staple lunchroom beat. Everybody would be banging on the table. People would wait for their food, wait for their friends to come to the table, or just sit with people who were already at a table. And then, you know, you eat your food and now you’re just wasting time. That’s when you’re like okay let me just make a beat. Let’s freestyle. Then you start making the beat by banging on the table. (Singing aloud—) boom, ba-boom, ba-boom, boom, Grindin. Everybody starts to join in. People just sitting there like oh yeah it’s time to freestyle or they start rapping the actual song. It was a beat that was so different. The way it was structured. It made people feel like, oh, I can do this if I just bang on something.

What is your goal each time you create music?

It’s to make someone feel something because I felt something when I made it. I want to kind of translate that feeling through the music as pure as I can. I always want to make sure everything that I create has some type of intention behind it. I want my music to be accepted in a worldly sense where anybody can gravitate to it, resonate with it, feel something from it. Whether it’s making you feel good or whether it makes you cry.

Do producers get enough credit for their work?

No. Most times, producers, like the ones who really produce, are like the coach for a Basketball team or any team. When you’re watching a basketball game or any sports game, is the coach the one getting the MVP or holding the trophy? It’s always the most valuable player. There’s no award for the coach who was basically telling the players, yo, we gonna run this play or you gotta do it like this. They have the vision already, they’re watching the game, the player can’t watch the game, they play in the game. The coach, 9 times out of 10, like a music producer, they study. They have studied for a very long time, closely. Either they played an instrument themselves before producing or played basketball before becoming a coach. They never get their full credit. Every single time it’s usually the star player so they don’t always get the credit. Sometimes they do, but it’s not enough though.

Who is the best music producer working in the industry today in your opinion?

Me.