Femcees of the Week: Kin4Life

How long have you two known each other and how long have you been making music together?

Nor: We’ve known each other for 16 years. We’ve been making music together for the last 11 years.

When is the new album or mixtape, I love Kin4Life coming out?

IQ: That’s actually the name of the album and we’re shooting to get it out the end of the summer. We’re shooting for August.


Who are some of your influences?

Nor: My main influence musically was my mother. She put me on to music and taught me how to write my first rhyme. As far as artists that are out there now currently I would have to say Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Missy Elliot. I always looked up to her being that she does the production, the writing, and the singing like we do.

IQ: One of my biggest influences was Notorious B.I.G. In terms of females coming out when I was younger and showing me that I could be in the game, I’d have to give that influence to MC Lyte. I love RnB music. So Mary J. Blige is one of my biggest RnB influences.

Is there anybody that you’d love to work with right now?

Nor: We’re open to work with any type of artist. We’re actually working with a few artists right now. We’re currently working on Monifa’s new album. We’re working with Aneesa from the Real World and we’re working on Babs Bunny’s project. So we’re just trying to stay active. We’re open to people who are creative and are willing to get in the studio and get it done.

IQ: I think a dream collaboration would be with Kanye because he’s so cutting edge. He just does whatever he wants to do. I think he’d love to rock in the studio. Even working with a group like Black Eyed Peas would be awesome, in terms of their live show. We take pride in our live show.

What made you decide to move to Atlanta, GA?

IQ: I truly wanted to get myself out there and we wanted to buy some property. We just ended up buying a home in Atlanta. The housing market in Georgia is a lot easier to get into than where we are from which, is Westchester. We’re in a down term market where the median house is a half a million dollars. We moved into a house that’s a half a million dollars. So that’s it.

Most people that I talk to tell me that Atlanta is a really good spot to be for artists. How has the experience been so far in Atlanta?

Nor: We haven’t really delved into the lifestyle yet as far as music is. We’ve done shows but, these are shows with people that we’ve already had relationships with. Basically, it’s just allowed us to do music full time. So I’ll say musically for us and on a personal level it’s been great. We’ve upgraded all of our equipment and our sound has been taken to another level. I’m sure we have some more going out to do and getting involved to make a full attempt on knowing how it really is.

A lot of people know you just as artists but, not necessarily as Record Label executives as well. What made you decide to start Noriq Records? And when did you start it?

IQ: The record label was started and incorporated in 2002. It just came from the necessity,the need, and the want to be able to own our music and be in control of our own destiny. We realized that as the creators of the music, the composers, the writers, the producers; why wouldn’t we make sure that we put some type of ownership and mark on our craft.

You just signed a new artist, Kay Smith and you’ve also been working with Monifa. Can you tell us a bit about those projects? And also is Monifa going to be signed to Noriq Records or are you just writing and producing for her?

Nor: We met Kay Smith a while ago. She’s was about 15 when we started dealing with her. She started out as the head of our street team when we were in New York. She put her work in and it took us about 2 years before she even let us know that she was an Emcee. One day she said, “Yo I got some flows”. We were like, “what”. So she came and started spittin’. Her voice is ridiculous. I would have to say that is she is like a female Biggie when I heard her talk. Not in the sense of her voice but, in the sense of her voice being different. She’s been with us for about 5 years. We’ve been developing her and working on projects. So she’s now ready to drop a record and come out to the world. Look out for her tune. Her single will be on Itunes this summer. It’s called “Come Back to Me” which is a crazy record. It’s a love joint but, she definitely spits. We have some good joints following up with that.

As far as Monifa is concerned she’s not signed to Noriq Records but, we’re definitely doing a lot of production and writing with her. Her project is coming together and we’re just trying to give her a new sound and bring her back out to the world.

How do you balance running the record label and still creating your own music?

IQ: To be honest that’s the great thing about having a partnership. They’re two of us here so when one has to focus on one thing the other one focuses on that. We have a pretty good balance. We also have to shout out our amazing Senior VP, Destiny Brown. She’s handles a lot of the business and bookings. As of yesterday we just actually signed a new management deal. So shout out to Artist First Management. Hopefully that takes us to the next level. Also shout out to our road manager Awesome Mike. So it’s just not us. He drives us around and Destiny makes sure business is taken care of. So we’re able to do multiple things at once with a nice team behind us.

Some people only know you as rappers but, Nor sings and IQ (I’ve heard you singing on a few tracks too). So can we expect a full Rnb album from you two any time soon?

Nor: It’s something that we’re playing around with. We definitely have enough songs to do a couple of RnB albums between the both of us. As of right now the songs that we do write most of the time we are pushing them with other artists. There is a demand for it and a lot of people loves the RnB that Kin4Life does. So definitely in the future you will see a record where it’s just pure RnB.

IQ: You never know it may come sooner than you think but, right now we just want to make sure we focus. The public, our fans, and our supporters have been asking for this album. So we want to focus on the “I Love Kin4Life” album. You will hear some RnB influences and if not a full RnB song on “I Love Kin4Life”.

You two have an incredible chemistry. What’s your process when you guys lay down tracks and work in the studio? Do you have a set time or it just a natural flow?

Nor: It’s a natural flow, definitely. We’ll go and we’ll have tracks that we’ve already produced. Then we’ll sit down and throw a beat on it. We’ll just start messing around and whatever comes out always works for us. For instance, the track “Make up Girl” we were actually sitting in the house bugging out. IQ was teasing me that I had makeup on and she was calling me a “make up girl” (because I like to wear make up on the low). We just started messing around singing. That concept came from us just joking around. A lot of our songs come about like that. We’re out traveling and doing shows and ideas will come about. Then we’ll come back and lay it down. It’s really quick and easy.

IQ: Look out for that track, “Don’t Come up to My Room” on the I Love Kin 4 Life album. That was a little ditty I made up in the elevator in the Westin. At the end of the day we do everything organic. When it’s done if we don’t like it, we don’t use it. Nothing is forced. We just do music. Some [songs] make it some don’t.


Fly With Me - KIN4LIFE You can find out more about Kin4Life at www.Kin4life.com, www.Twitter.com/Kin4life, Youtube.com/TiffJones820, www.Myspace.com/Kin4Life, and www.downelink.com/Kin4lifeworld