Download/Stream Here.

“The song with Daytona is that tomorrow shit, the kid is definitely ahead of the game and talent like that keeps me on my toes.”
- Bun B

“The track definitely grew over time.  It all started with the one bar loop.  Then I had my man Iakov play some guitar.  Then I added some drums on top.  The last touch was the Fender Rhodes line I played in the hook.  Me and Tona were flying off the Flor De Cana and I was just going through ideas.  My fingers kind of accidentally hit that trill and we both knew that was what we had to run with.  Overall we just wanted to have that creepy sound.  Definitely influenced by the RZA a lil bit on the track, and a lil bit of Organized Noize too with that souther flair which prolly explains why Bun sounds so good on the track.  All in all, one of my favorites.”
-6th Sense (Producer of “Air Born”)

Thats fucking right, fresh out of the studio and on fire. We have one of my favorite tracks off Tona’s album exclusively right here along with a pretty extensive interview with the kid himself after the jump. Mark my words The Kid Daytona’s Come Fly With Me is going to be one of the best collections from any artist this year mixtape/ep/album/whatever.

illRoots.com: Tell me how you feel about your album?

The Kid Daytona: Basically, I am to the utmost satisfied with my album. I’ve listened to it maybe around 10 times and each time it’s like I’m not even listening to myself, it’s like I’m starting to be a fan of myself. Which is kind of hard for me to do because I feel like I can always improve and get better. I’m always striving to out do myself. This time around I can’t even put into words how excited I am to start promoting this project and start to let everybody see what we did, me, 6th, everybody on the album. It’s crazy!

iR: Out of every track, what do you think is going the standout song?

KD: The standout song? It depends man; from track one to 14, it’s a different vibe on every joint. My favorites are really personal, like those are the ones true to my heart. “In The Wind,” is very personal to me you know? It’s all four verses speaking about things that were going on in my head as I’m writing. “Air Born,” “Just Fly,” those are some of my favorites. Then I got a crazy big record on there with Kardinal that I think could really crossover for me and do some things outside of the east coast and even the nation.

iR: True, I listened to this bitch probably about 15 times front to back.

KD: Wow [Laughs]

iR: That shit sounds dope as fuck, and not to sound bias…

KD: Yeah you’ve been there, since day one almost. Before I even talked to you or had any kind of report with you, you was fucking with what we was doing.

iR: Honestly, people hold a lot of information, and if you surround yourself with a lot of cool folks then you can make a pretty good cold front.

KD: Yeah. [Laughs]

iR: [Laughs] Explain the process from just starting to now for this project?

KD: The first record that I cut was “Flava Season” with Double O. I met Kidz [In The Hall] like November of 07′ and we started to get really cool throughout them finishing their album and we would just chill like all the time before they went on the road. Before I wrapped up the “Tribe Called Fresh” project I went in the studio with Double O and we came up with that record from scratch. I was like I want to do Flava of the Month but in like a crazy new version and we just came up with this. He sped up the drums and the James Brown sample and I just went in. Originally I had a rhyme already written but the beat was too fast so therefore I had to chop my verses; call and respond to myself so that’s how the record came about. I had to lay them in two different parts and it’s just crazy how it came out like that, he was like “Yo on the third verse just go in. I’ma just slow down the beat, and you just do ya thing,” so we did that in two sessions.

iR: That’s dope. I think one of things that makes the album so fresh is that a lot of folks from the jump are going to fast forward to the Bun B track or the Kardinal track, but once they listen to some of the other tracks they standout just as much, maybe even more. Not saying the “Air Born” track isn’t dope as fuck but it just seems like the tip of the iceberg. Like the joint with Mickey [Factz], he kills that verse.

KD: Yeah, I’ll tell you a story with that too. We recorded that joint in Harlem and that was the second joint I recorded. I did that in like late October. At first I tried to get Q-Tip on the record but that never came about so I was like fuck it, Mickey is my dude and I know he would sound dope on it. So I called Steve-O and sent him the track and then he hit me back like “This beat is so crazy, we are going to get Mickey to go do it.” All I wanted was a 16 from Mickey, he heard my first two verses and he just went in for the whole rest of the beat. He did his thing and that shit came out crazy. It’s just fresh, you’re not hearing records like that, people are lacking creativity and it’s just like as far as bringing that too the game. I definittely look at when I started to fall in love with Hip-Hop, everyone had their own thing that they did. Everyone sounded fresh and they had their own steez. I think it’s about time for that shit to come back around.

iR: I think right now is the golden era for Hip-Hop, for the main reason that the love for the culture and the music itself is coming back around.

KD: Hell yeah! This class is just like what I was saying, everyone has their own style.

iR: There is also a huge divide, like you said there is a class. There are folks who are used to success and are still seeing some mild success and then there are newcomers who are making waves but have yet to see the successes that once manifested themselves in the early 90s. People who were here last year aren’t here anymore obviously.

KD: Nothing against anybody that’s not here from last year, but for me, as not only a fan but a consumer – what separates some of these artists from one another? Like Jay-Z is the king of his style so anyone else in that lane will have to obviously compete with him for sales if he decides to put a record out. Why try to duplicate what he’s doing? Be creative, be yourself.

iR: I think this is what really kills our industry is the fact we mimic to the point of exhaustion. It’s almost like once things go mainstream why would you want to do that? Like Jay-Z pointed out when Wendy’s used autotune on a commercial then he knew that it was over for that. I just hope for our sake that the Taco Bell commercial where the chick is battling the dude in the car over the intercom doesn’t end battle rap.

KD:I feel you man. It’s just because everyone wants to be a rapper. I feel like no one else can be The Kid Daytona unless they listen to my album and try to word for word mimic whats going on with me. Everything I say on a record is true. This is what it is, like it or leave it alone, basically.

iR: What projects do you think will survive this year, album sales wise?

KD: I think the people that are at the top like Wayne are going to do well. I’m skeptical of the Rebirth album. I don’t think people are ready for him to go that route, he was already the Rebirth with The Carter 3 and that Wayne is so different from the Lil’ Wayne of 99′ with the Hot Boyz. People want to hear more Wayne going in opposed to his rock and roll side. KanYe’s coming back around so that looks real good and I think Jay will do good with the Blueprint 3. Drake is the hottest artist out right now.

iR: He may sign independent though.

KD: Yeah, but he’s going to sign with a major.

iR: So the production on the album is crazy.

KD: Everyone on there is an up and coming producer. 6th [Sense] did like 8 tracks on the album. If you look at “The Groove” track, that’s my homie Deputy. I’ve known this guy since 2004 and he just signed a deal with Roc Nation so he’s working with numerous people from Beyonce to you name it. I’m saying, he’s definitely someone on the come up. You obviously should know Double O and the new Kidz In the Hall record is sounding crazy, he switched up his whole producing style and it’s sounding way iller. He’s coming away from the samples and they sound crazy. Even though the joint we did has a sample he had someone come in and replay the bass line and added his own drums. Ill Bomb did the “Fly Shit” for me and did the “Lately” record with Amanda. Jet Audio has a project coming and nobody has a sound like that kid. The Government, they fuck with Harlem’s Cash and I’ve known them since 2002. These are all people that I have relationships with and we’ve watched each other grow in the game and it’s ill that we can just come around and make something happen like that.

iR: So the entire album was done organically is what you’re saying?

KD: Yes the whole album was done with people who are really my friends. The only person that I really didn’t know or don’t know like that is Cook Classics but he has a relationship with Outasight and 6th Sense and those are my family right there so Cook is kind of like extended family. He blessed me with some incredible shit.

iR: The chick he had singing on that track is crazy.

KD: Avriel is so sick. That record right there is me just being honest to the 9th power. Every word in that song is fucking true, I ain’t have a job since summer youth, sitting in the car with no fucking roof. I done hit the same chicks your favorite rapper wifed. All that shit is true, that beat brought all of that shit out of me. Shout out to Cook.


[Click Image to Download Tape]

iR: So basically this is going to be a free project dropping on the 30th, which is crazy to give this away for free.

KD: Yeah I know, as we were recording this 6th was telling me like “Yo you should sign with one of these digital labels and blahzay blah.” I started out with “A Tribe Called Fresh” and that got people’s ears, then I dropped the “Daytona 500″ and that got peoples ears. Now with this project I need you to peep the physical, like “I fucks with this kid, and I’m going to ride out with this kid throughout his career.” “Come Fly With Me” is like a flight with me throughout life and throughout my career in music.

iR: One thing that I find fascinating is that people all love the independent route but they want major success, so at what point is this considered indie?

KD: Exactly and that’s no disrespect to any independent labels but I’m not trying to go that route. I’m not trying to come off like these guys are wrong for what they do and also that a major label could even do what I want for my career but I feel like I’ve been in this game for a little while. I got my first deal straight out of high school, I was signed to Atlantic Records and I was in a group. We were called The Aces. It was me, Harlem’s Cash, Loaded Lux and we just thought that we were going to sell 10 million records out the gate and then you learn the politics of everything and the whole industry. Like me being around Busta and me being around Ciph just soaking up all of this knowledge, it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. If I know that at that level it isn’t working, why would I sign? I will keep on grinding, I know what I want out of this situation and I won’t stop until I get it. I was speaking with my homegirl that works at a major and she was telling me “People are seeing you, and your work ethic, but don’t stop what your’redoing because once you sign to a label they will try to stop all that shit. They don’t get giving away free music yet, they don’t get the blogs nor understand it fully.”

iR: These are conversations that myself and several others have had, if I were to start a label I wouldn’t want to be at an independent level. With all the respect in the world to companies like Duck Down and Tres but I would want major level status.

KD: And you don’t think they want that? I look at my family like Kidz in the Hall. They’ve accomplished so much from being signed to an independent label but at the same time if you have a Reebok deal, wouldn’t you want to be everywhere? You know shout out to Dru Ha and Dan Solomito. That is their hard work, but at the same time imagine if they had a much more crazier budget. What would have happened? You don’t think Duck Down would want distribution with a major label? Hell yeah! As much as people want to say they want to keep it Hip-Hop, niggas want to make money out of this shit. I know at least 95% want to make money off of this.

iR: Exactly, you don’t want to be on the fry station all your life. At some point and time if the manager position is available, you better take it.

KD: Right, you don’t want to be the nigga that put salt in the fries all your life. You want to run shit.

iR: KanYe is a great example of doing it your way though, despite the major label status.

KD: That’s what I admire so much about KanYe. Each and every album is him evolving. He is a different person on every single album and you don’t get bored with him. You don’t know what to expect and I look at him and it’s mad inspirational because some artists come into the game and the first CD that you cop from them sounds like the 5th or 6th, like what else can they say? I’m going to get tired of you saying the same shit I heard you saying 6 years ago. That’s what I get tired of, emcees that do the same shit over and over and over, let someone else in, pass the torch. Not to say I’m bitter or angry but it’s the truth.

iR: Most of the game IS in their 30 and 40’s now, so that a valid point.

KD: But it’s okay to be 30 or 40 if you’re going to bring something new to the table, [but[ still trying to sound 19, 20, 21. What the fuck?! it doesn't make sense. Majority of the industry is in its 30's. It don't matter if your that old but what are you bringing to the table that wasn't there the last time you came through? That's all. People want to see growth.

iR: Look at Lupe, prime example. Him and KanYe both had ample success by doing it their way. I thought after Lupe had success doing the album his way that more people would see that, and not to say that there isn't people doing exactly what we are talking about and making strides but there is a mass quanity that is stuck in the same mode.

KD: Yeah, and I respect KanYe and Lupe because a lot of influence in the game is sometimes focused on the person that is writing that check and not for them. We need a hit record? What is a hit record? Nobody knows. The crazy shit is like I said I have alot of friends within the industry and I just had a radio conversation with a friend of mine and me just finding out all the politics about that shit. I know of the politics in the game but I didn't know to what extent. The reason why the game is so stale is because some of the DJs are afraid to play new shit. People always have this moping attitude about the game but then they are afraid to break new shit and see how the audience responds, trust your intuition DJs. I don't want to sound like I'm from a certain region, I make music.

iR: Our genre is terrible for regionalizing music.

KD: Hell yeah B. This is the only genre is music that does that. I don't understand it. It's cool to have your own slang and different mannerisms but honestly people make up their own shit anyway [laughs]. it doesn’t matter if your from where ever. If you’re dope, you’re dope. The whole internet game is crazy. The internet actually saved my life, like a year ago I was just wondering what to do. Everybody was a rapper or a DJ, the random nigga downstairs was a DJ all of sudden. Radio was so crazy and I don’t even understand why everything was the way it was. I always heard “I want to hear something new” so then when something new pops up its shunned or looked at as weird.

[Download/Stream Cheers (Ft. Outasight) Here.]

iR: The crazy thing is the internet has been around for a while. Its almost 2010.

KD: I barely watch TV anymore, besides Sportscenter and CNN. All my free time I’m in front of a computer.

iR: I could sit on this computer right now and watch Hulu and act like I just bought Season 1 of Family Guy.

KD: Yeah, it’s crazy. Blogs kind of saved my life, it’s like now I have an audience. A year and some change ago I was just in my room trying to figure it all out. All I’ve been doing for the past 10 years was making music and where do I go from here? With the whole blog thing it’s like people are starting to see and respect talent. When I did SXSW I did a show with Kweli and backstage he’s like “I really fuck with you, and you impressed me.” These are people that I looked up to in high school. Then to have Bun B recognize me and know who I was, that shit was crazy, and that was all from the net.

iR: It’s crazy how this online world is. Well thank you sir for sitting down with me and hopefully the world takes a chance to notice this album because it gets the stamp of approval from me.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.