K. Roosevelt is not your average artist. From singing to songwriter to producing to playing multiple instruments, the Los Angeles native spends the majority of his time locked in his home studio creating and making music that not only sounds good, but resonates with anyone who chooses to listen. Read more…

Exploding onto the scene with his single “Do Me Now” featuring Hit-Boy, real name Kevin Roosevelt Moore II continues to perfect his craft and unleash records to vibe to, with Def Jam on his side. Last year, he unleashed his self-titled EP K. Roosevelt, and recently shut down the stage at The Basement in downtown Los Angeles.

For those who don’t know, who is K. Roosevelt?
K. Roosevelt is me. I am Los Angeles-based born and raised producer, songwriter, whatever you wanna call it. I make music.

How has your sound evolved since “Do Me Now”?
My sound has evolved as I evolved. We all get older. You take those lessons you learn in life and add them to how you deal with things. I’d say the same thing has happened musically.

I feel like sonically, your music is so eclectic. How would you describe your sound?
Eclectic is good. That’s always a hard question to ask. It depends on the moment. It’s open. I don’t try to pigeonhole anywhere. My sound is R&B-ish, but it’s based on a lot of the other stuff I came up listening too as well. Other influences like West African music. I grew up playing a lot of African-type, Afro-Latin drumming.

Where’d you get that from?
The people I was hanging out with that were drummers in high school, so I just picked it up.

What part of LA are you from?
I grew up in Mid-City, then I moved to Slauson in middle school.

How does that play into your life and career?
Being in LA in a big thing for sure. I always hear people from outside of LA say that they don’t meet a lot of people from LA, but there’s definitely a big group of people that grew up here. It’s 100% affected the way I create. It’s a big influence for sure.

How important is it to come to LA as an up and coming artist?
I don’t know how important it is these days, there’s a bunch of internet out there. All that stuff just depends on what you’re trying to do and who you’re trying to do it with.

At what point did you realize this music thing was forreal?
I’ve always played music. I’ve been lucky. My dad’s a musician, so he used to take me out on tours and stuff when I was a kid. I’ve never even second-guessed music. My goal in life was to be a drummer playing in bands with people, then I ended up writing and producing on the way.

When did you pick up the K. Roosevelt?
‘Cause Twitter. I was gonna go by Roosevelt, but Roosevelt Twitter was taken, so I put K in front of it.

You dropped your self-titled EP last year. Talk about the creative process & how long it took you?
The project probably took me a couple months. 4 to 6 months, something like that. It’s hard to say because it wasn’t straight through, but not that long. I made all myself mostly except for one track. It’s self-produced and I co-wrote everything. That’s how most my projects have gone. It’s the next step in evolution I guess.

I was watching the “Blinding My Vision” video. Talk about what goes behind your visuals.
This time around, we worked with a guy named Sean Brown who directed all of the videos. He helped put together the vision in a really cool way. Beforehand, some people and I made mood boards for some of the visuals. Sean brought them to life. Others were his idea completely, but this was a collaborative process.

What is it you want fans to get from your story?
I like making music that people enjoy and can appreciate in their life, because that was something that I never expected. The way that I’m doing it now, it’s fulfilling. I enjoy bring joy to people, so that’s my goal.

Talk about your decision to sign with Def Jam.
Def Jam has been dope. My boy Noah Preston has worked there for a while and he signed me. That’s my brother from another mother. Def Jam’s been super cool and supportive. It’s been great.

What’s your take on the music industry?
It changes all the time.I try to just keep up and try to do stuff that’s interesting. By interesting, I mean doing stuff that one personally thinks is interesting. Staying true to yourself, that always translates.

You write, produce, and record all your music. Talk about doing it all.
I usually start with the beats 90% of the time. Because I started off writing and making music as a producer, so it’s easy to go that direction. Sometimes, I make a full track. Sometimes, it’s just an idea. Then I write to that and finish it musically, unless I’m writing with somebody else.

3 things you need in the studio?
Internet, ‘cause I don’t like to work straight through. Podcasts, shows, etc. Some instrument to help out, and my 2 little dogs.

Do you smoke or drink?
I invibe from time to time.

Since you’re introverted, how is it to perform in front of a big crowd?
I like music and I like executing that. I’m introverted and don’t necessarily seek attention, but I also enjoy the other thing. That helps me compartmentalize with 2 things.

Do you want to be more seen or build your brand more?
Yeah, I like being an artist in terms of the creative side of making music. You can’t be a hermit, that’s unrealistic. Of course, but I am naturally introverted.

What do your parents think?
My parents are great. My dad’s a musician and my mom’s always been super supportive. They’re super stoked on everything.

What did you do with your first advance?
Regular stuff. I just lived. Nothing fancy, I didn’t ball out or nothing.

What are some goals yourself as an artist at this point of your career?
Just growing it. Getting better, always wanna get better personally. Spreading it out. Spreading the love and giving people positivity.

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing music?
Maybe engineering or a mechanics type situation. Fabrication of some sort. I’ve never done that but it sounds interesting.

Favorite song to perform in a set?
Depends. I like “Adrenaline.” I like performing “Do Me Now.” I like “Feelings Don’t Change.” I like them all.

What does it mean for you to perform at The Basement today?
I’m just excited to be here. There’s a lot of people here. It’s a good crowd. I’m always excited when anyone invites me to perform somewhere. I’m looking forward to playing some music. The other people on the bill sound dope too. Friends are here, it should be fun.

What’s the best encounter you had with a fan?
Getting recognized on the street, that happens from time to time. I don’t really ever expect that. They usually say really nice and positive things about my music and how it affects them.

Dream collab?
I have trouble answering this because I always say my friends, but Pharrell or Andre 3000 would be dope.

Anything else you want to let us know?
Check out my EP K. Roosevelt if you haven’t. I’m working on another EP now and got some other ideas.