After a brief tour at the start of the year, Los Angeles rapper and producer Kid Ink will bookend his 2017 with a short run of Queensland shows just after Christmas. And who says Santa isn’t real?
Kid Ink will perform on the Sunshine Coast as part of The Helm’s New Year’s Eve Festival, and will also play shows in Brisbane with Zane Jordan, Stevie Z, Mollie Rose and Five8, and on the Gold Coast with Nivi, Harley C, Freewyo, ill1 and K-Woodz.
Born Brian Todd Collins in 1986, Kid Ink has had a steadily growing presence on the rap and hip hop scene since releasing his first official mixtape, ‘World Tour’, in 2010. At the time he was working under the moniker Rockstar and when he was signed to DJ Ill Will’s Tha Alumni Group label adopted the Kid Ink persona.
Subsequent mixtapes came in quick succession over the next few years with ‘Crash Landing’, ‘Daydreamer’ and ‘Wheels Up’, but it was his 2012 debut independent album ‘Up & Away’, which featured his mainstream breakthrough song ‘Time Of Your Life’, that officially denoted Kid Ink’s status as a disruptor of the production game.
“My background producing contributes so much to my own music,” Kid Ink states in his official biography.
“I feel like I have a different ear because of that. I’m always aiming for a bigger sound and a bigger look, instead of focusing on just a verse or simply spitting, I’ll tackle the melody or harmony and build from there. Then, I make sure what I’m saying matches. There’s got to be continuity. At the same time, I like to twist everything up a little bit.”
He further solidified his position at the forefront of hip hop and rap with the release of his sophomore album ‘My Own Lane’ in 2014, and in 2015 hit the hat-trick with third album ‘Full Speed’.
Between album releases, Kid Ink maintains consistent, creative flow through his mixtape compilations as well as EPs, such as ‘Almost Home’ in 2013 and his most recent effort, the ‘7 Series’ EP.
In an interview with scenestr back in February, Kid Ink shared with us that an important part of his music is challenging preconceived notions audiences have about rap and hip hop. “People rapping now are from all different states and all different cities. Not everyone who raps is necessarily gang banging or selling drugs,” he says.
"I do want to do [music] forever and it's become a point now where rap isn't as aged as it used to be. People were getting a little bit stuck in their style and their era, and now it's a little bit more of a situation where a lot of the poppin' rappers right now are older.”
Prolific and profound, Kid Ink has established a firm reputation as a defining force among the new breed of rappers and record producers.
Kid Ink Tour Dates
Wed 27 Dec - Surfers Beergarden (Gold Coast)Thu 28 Dec - The Back Room (Brisbane)
Fri 29 Dec - The Helm (Sunshine Coast)
Sat 30 Dec - The Marquee (Sydney)
Sun 31 Dec - Metro City (Sydney)
Mon 1 Jan - Alumbra (Melbourne)
