GET FAMILIAR: Kasuke
Photo by Grace Brissette
Big thanks to guest writer Humble Among
Kasuke reached out to me last year to record a song and as I am always open to collaborate with other artists, I gave him my email. I was pleasantly surprised by the track he sent me. It was dark and had a lot of energy. I recorded a verse and it became the song “RAP ARMAGEDDON” from his EP “BRAINDEAD.”
Since then, we shot videos together on the same day; “Paranoia” and “Empty Summer” were both crafted by the renaissance man known as Vego Harris, on the same date and in many of the same locations. He also released his first full album, “Dark Village”, and most recently, I directed a video for the song “Off Me” from that project. I see a lot in the kid. It was easy for me to accept the assignment of interviewing him.
Q: What got you started rapping/making music? Was there a single moment that you can recall?
Kasuke: I’ve been writing rhymes since about the 3rd grade actually. I didn’t record any of my stuff until about freshman year when I dropped a track called “Fuji” on SoundCloud. I recorded it with two tracks, one for the instrumental, and one for vocals. It was terrible! Ever since then, though, I’ve had a passion for dropping tracks.
Q: What/who are some of your artistic influences outside of music? (This can be movies, directors, cartoons, TV shows, whatever.)
Kasuke: I really started liking music in general when I first listened to Eminem at a very early age. As time went by, I started fading out of rap and started listening to rock, post hardcore, metal, deathcore, and all the little sub genres. That is the stuff that inspires a lot of my darker music. KoRn, Slipknot, and Marilyn Manson were some HUGE inspirations. I didn’t even really get back into listening to rap heavily until I discovered SESHOLLOWATERBOYZ, $uicideboy$, Lil Peep, and XXXTENTACION in like 2014-2015. They changed my life and I probably wouldn’t be rapping still if it wasn’t for them. Nowadays I listen to everything and try to use all art as inspiration, but outside of the music world I would definitely say sports, pro wrestling, video games, and anime/comics are some of the biggest inspirations. You can definitely hear it in a lot of my bars.
Q: Your new project “Dark Village” is very personal and seems to be a reference to the town we live in. What made you decide to make an album about Bellows Falls?
Kasuke: It definitely is a reference to Bellows Falls. The reason I made the album is because of how big of an impact this town has had on my life. It has brought me some good, but it has also brought me A LOT of bad. It’s like the place is cursed. That’s the feeling I tried to channel on the album. I tried to break it into 3 parts. One part to show the good, one part to show the bad, and one part to show me overcoming it all. Anyone who lives or has lived in BF knows it’s VERY hard to make it out, but I hope the album can help inspire people to still chase their dreams and get out of here!
Q: You recently played your first show at Spanky’s Dive Bar. What was that like?
Kasuke: One word. AMAZING! Such a good atmosphere, such great people, and such a passion for music. Spanky is a great dude and I’m very excited to perform at the next hip hop show!
Q: What are your thoughts on the Vermont Hip Hop scene?
Kasuke: My honest opinion on the Vermont scene is that it needs improvement. I will say though, the community is amazing and everyone works together, but a lot of people are on the same wave. Until we learn to grow and accept new kinds of rap instead of pressuring everyone to do the same boom bap hip hop style (which is still a great style) the scene won’t progress. That’s why I respect artists who do their own thing around here.
Q: Being from a younger generation, how do you feel about the “old heads”?
Kasuke: Same thing that applied to the last question applies here: MUSIC NEEDS TO EVOLVE. I can’t tell you how many old dudes message me or comment on my stuff trying to tell me I need to do it THIS way or THAT way. The funny thing is though, is when you click on their profile and they are recording with an old android with terrible quality and bad recycled bars. Just BE YOURSELF!
Q: What is your creative/recording process like? Do you write to a beat? Not write at all? Write verses and rewrite them compulsively? What’s your method?
Kasuke: My writing style changes all the time depending on what I’m working on. With Dark Village, I planned literally everything before the beats were even made. Before I wrote the lyrics I had an idea of what I wanted each song to be about.
Then I would get the beat and write. With EPs and random singles though, it’s usually beat first, then write. The mood/environment I’m recording in also plays a lot into the music that I make.
Q: You’ve been making beats lately. What has it been like to put on a different rap hat? Are there any other areas of creative space you would like to explore?
Kasuke: I decided to make my own beats because when you have the creativity to do whatever you want with the instrumental, it opens up so many doors and can give you so many different ideas. In the future I would definitely love to experiment with other genres. I’ve always loved metal and punk, I’ve just never met anyone around here into the idea of a band, but who knows what the future holds.
Q: What are some goals you would like to accomplish in the next year? Any new projects on the horizon?
Kasuke: I definitely want to try making noise outside the Vermont area. I want to spread my music and message. I also want to try to hit up more 802 artists for collaboration.
As for projects, I’ve been making a lot of stuff with DEF-I$IT who makes amazing beats so I highly suggest everyone checks him out. I also have a few EPs in the works, and the only thing I can say about them is that I produce a lot of the work on them. I’m always open for working on new projects though, so who knows what opportunities will present themselves to me.