Emerging artist Kid$ixty tell us about his new single “Fell in Love”, being an inspiration to others, drug culture, and what’s to come in 2021 for him and the music industry.
@VULKANmag
Talent KID$IXTY@kidsixty
Photography by ROB ECHANIQUE @robechanique
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. So who is Kid$ixty? Where does your artist name come from?
I was born in a tiny city called Omsk, in Russia, spent most of my childhood bouncing through Europe so essentially, I’m somewhat new to America. I first touched down in LA almost 6 years ago now, ever since then it’s been my home.
Overall, I’m just trying to create music that heals, but I’m a big fan of creating different stuff every day. One day my songs can make you cry, another day my songs can heal you, another day my songs are getting you lit at a party. Just depends on what mood I’m in myself that day. I engineer most of my tracks, and if I feel like it, I’ll produce too. So, I’m kind of a solo powerhouse type thing, BUT huge shoutout to my producer/ engineer SANTALUS. He’s been rocking and helping me create and learn since day one. Also, for those that keep asking, yes, I do write all my songs, with no ghostwriter, just me in my bedroom with a beer and a notepad.
I’ve been always into art and music since a kid. Now I’m 21 and I can’t live without creating art or whatever you want to call it. I love creating vibes, vibes you can feel through the songs, even if the song is not super lyrical, the most important Is to make sure I create the VIBE.
As it goes for my artist name KID$IXTY it was a combination of using a name generator and trying to say that I always felt like a kid who lives fast. As to what the $IXTY part stands for, it’s for 60mph so feel like 0-60 every day from when I wake up to when I crash for the night. Somedays, it could be 100mph depending on the activities. I also put into consideration my legal name which is Oleg Chernyshov and that’s hella Russian so it wouldn’t sell as well as KID$IXTY.
With so many new artists and genres in the music / entertainment world, how would you best describe your music?
I’m probably going to say just “emorap” or mainly sad songs that you can vibe to on a late-night drive. Yet, as I said I make all sorts of genres, such as rap music, house music, but mainly a fusion of R&B and rap. I create VIBES.
What message/mood do you want listeners to come out with from listening to your music?
That’s a hard question. Again, it depends on which one of my songs my fans are listening too. Some make you feel sad, some make you turn up, some heal you from pain, and some make you happy. I just want my fans to catch the vibe when they hear my songs.
Please tell me of your upcoming songs and projects including “Fell in Love”.
I’m planning to end this year with my track “Fell in Love” which is essentially a sad love story. It’s definitely a big vibe, for those late-night drives. First ever track that falls more into a Pop R&B genre of music.
For 2021, I got a big list. For now can’t really speak about it, but a LOT of tracks coming as singles mainly. There may be a full 12 track project on the way…
What are some of the challenges in producing and writing?
I’d say my biggest challenge is trying to cancel out all the storm of thoughts in my head before I get to music creation. I like to just focus on how I feel and translate that into a song. Same goes for when I have days when I just produce, when I make a beat I need to be just focused on the vibe, and leave out all the “issues of that day” that are stuck on a cycle in my head. Sometimes I feel like whatever I’m feeling has no way of being written so I go and make it into a sound on one of my beats.
What has been the most memorable moment in your career so far?
The most memorable moment is probably getting placed in the TOP 5 of the Tear Drop playlist on Spotify. It was insane to see my song out there with some of the biggest artists in my genre. But there have been plenty more moments where I feel like “OH F**K” did that really just happen???? An example is hitting my first million plays then hitting four million after that. All of these moments are insane. I got to thank my fans and listeners for all this though. Without them it wouldn’t be possible.
Who would you say are some of your biggest influences and/or acts you would love to collaborate with? What inspires you to create?
I’d love to work one day with Yung Lean as he is one of the first artists I’ve listened to that got me into making the genre of music I do now. Some of my biggest influences are Lil Peep, Yung Lean, Lil Tracy, and Trippie Redd. I get inspired to create by how I feel or by something that I see or go through in my day-to-day life. Mainly, I try to listen to a lot of different genres of music and then create music based of the vibe that put me into.
What do you hope to achieve / music goals in the new year?
I really pray every day that I can buy my mom a house one of these years and get some money from this music career. Apart from that, my goals include getting a platinum plaque and going on tour.
How would you hope to influence your audience who listen to your music? Hope do you hope to inspire other artists and the music scene as a whole?
I just want to create art that heals people more than anything, not just from pain but other emotions. Say someone is having a rough day, they can feel something different that distracts them from that day just by listening to a song of mine. That’s what I really want to do for my fans. I want to be the example of how a sober life is better than the life that drugs bring you to. Especially as some of my songs are about my drug abuse, I hope people can see how I’ve evolved from that scene to where I’m at right now in life.
Mainly, I want to be the positive influence for other artists and my fans. I myself, am still learning a lot about how life can change and continuously about myself now that I got clean from prescriptions. I started releasing my music when I was 17 so that really tells you of my evolution, as being young and dumb, we all make stupid decisions. Now, being older and pretty much a different person from when I was younger, I think that my biggest battle with myself is to make sure I can be a good and positive influence in people’s lives. Someone they can look up to.
Where can we find you on social media/keep tabs on you?
Instagram @kidsixty
https://www.instagram.com/kidsixty
Twitter
https://twitter.com/kidsixty
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1vj4r2a8STRlJfZpD4Mkd0?si=NzQtSUWbRiKnJF3nvLybBA
Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/realsixty
Apple Music
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kid-%24ixty/1249487703
