New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Kenyon Entertainment) The story of KC Gift's life reads like a movie script. But not even the craftiest and most imaginative of writers could create a work of fiction with more heartache, danger, intrigue and redemption than the real life drama that has characterized KC Gift's journey. A native son of Kansas City, MO, the 27-year-old emcee pours his heart and soul into his debut CD, "Hard on the Streets." The CD is an honest depiction of KC Gift's life as a child and teenager - a life often beset with poverty, crime and, - mately, triumph.
By the time he was five, an age when most kids are learning their ABCs and primary colors, KC Gift had already begun to experience life in a way that few live to talk about. "I grew up in a dysfunctional household," he recalls. "I remember the first time I saw a police car come to my house. I was five years old. I remember staring at all the lights." For him, the die was cast. "As a teenager, I started running the streets," he says. "I started selling dope and going down the wrong road." Despite the many opportunities that were laid at his feet, KC Gift said street life called him back time and time again. But there was also another voice beckoning to him in the distance. It was the voice of a kindred spirit known to the world as Tupac Shakur.
Gift was 13 when he first saw reflections of himself and his life in Tupac's music. "When stuff was rough I used to listen to his music and it made me escape what I was going through," he says. "I identified with him because it seems that we were going through the same things. He talked about a lot of stuff that I could relate to, like growing up poor, with a single mom, being a part of the dope game, being young and black, being in the street trying to survive." It was at that same age that Gift first found himself in trouble with the law. "I was stealing bikes, stripping them and selling them. It was me and four other kids but I was the only who that got caught because I had the bikes in my garage."
As punishment for his crime, Gift was sent to a youth detention center for 24 hours, placed on probation and given 3,000 hours of community service. But even after that, Gift didn't change his ways. "I didn't think I was doing nothing wrong," he explains. The next few years would find Gift being sent to - and getting kicked out of - military school, landing back on the streets selling drugs, becoming a teenage father and - mately getting sent to prison for armed robbery. "I was sent to a boot camp, sort of a 'scared straight program'," he explains. "They told me if I didn't complete the 120 day program I would have had to do five years." He did the 120 days and ended up back on the streets - selling drugs yet again.
Suddenly, after seeing his own father grapple with drug addiction, it hit him: he was destroying lives. "I didn't realize that I was selling drugs to my dad's friends. They were getting high right alongside my dad." Still, it was hard for him to give up the money and the lifestyle that the drug game afforded him. Finally, his probation officer threatened to throw him back in jail if he didn't find a real job, so he buckled down and took a gig at a local maintenance company. "I would cut grass, wash cars, and clean buildings for eight hours and at night I would go and sell dope," he says.
Eager to help their son get his life on track and put his talents as a rapper to good use, Gift's parents drove him to New York to shop a demo, but the trip was a bust. Execs who heard him told him he wasn't ready and Gift returned to Kansas City dejected. Not long after he returned home, Gift's mother, who had not only been the primary breadwinner for their family but was also Gift's source of inspiration, was involved in a car accident that left her unable to walk or talk. "That was a turning point in my life," he said. "I knew someone had to take care of my little brother and sister but I didn't know if my mama was ever going to be able to do anything again and my dad turned back to drugs. I went to see my mom and she took a piece of paper and wrote 'go to New York'." Gift followed her advice.
Gift and two friends made a demo and headed back up north. "I called information and got the address for every major label in New York," he says, "and my homeboys and I went and stood out in front of them with a boom box, rapping our hearts out. We were there for about five weeks. Nothing was going good. We just wasted money. I had it in my head I could just come to New York and get a deal and everything would be good but it don't happen like that."
After awhile his friends were ready to leave but Gift was determined to stay. It was then that he remembered his former employer talking about a friend he had in the music business. Gift got the man's contact info and set up a meeting with him. The man Dan Dunn, was so impressed by Gift's story and his heartfelt desire to turn his life around that he hooked him up with several producers and launched Kenyon Entertainment, the label to which Gift is currently signed.
With all of his legal troubles behind him, Gift walked away from the streets and focused on making music instead. But the dope game and the kids whose lives were marred by violence and crime were never far from his mind. Through his music, KC Gift speaks to all of them but is most concerned about one in particular: his younger brother who, unfortunately, followed in his footsteps and wound up in jail for possession of a firearm. "I use my music to talk about my experiences," he notes. "I talk about things that happened to me. Having a rap career has changed me. I can't carry myself the same way, can't hang with people I used to hang with - not if I'm really trying to be somebody and do something with my life."
Gift's music comes from a place that he knows well; a place where parents and their kids sell drugs and carry guns; a place where kids end up "locked up like animals instead of going to school and making something of themselves." The title track for his debut CD, "Hard in the Streets," which is produced entirely by Bo McKenzie (Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige), finds Gift painting a vivid picture of what it's like for many young people, while at the same time sending them a message of hope and survival. The artist is a bit more autobiographical on "Superstar with Scars," an ode to his life and his parents that segues into a commentary on street life. Through these songs - and his music in general - Gift emerges as a voice of urgency for his generation, a street poet who has truly lived the life about which he speaks and has the scars to prove it.
Other standouts include "Mr. Camera Man," where Gift introduces listeners to his alter ego; "I'm On One" - a stern reminder that he is on a mission to be successful and stay positive and the self-explanatory "Kansas City Anthem."
Today as the father of three, a grateful son who hopes to someday help the underprivileged in his mother's native Liberia, and an artist on the verge of greatness, KC Gift knows that everything that life has thrown him has come with a price - and a reward.
"I feel like God puts you through experiences for you to become who you are supposed to be," he said. "I saw so many of my friends end up dead. I'm just blessed to be here. God spared me for a reason and I intend to make the most of the gift that he has given me."
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The KC Gift
Video: KC Gift (Feat. Stevie Diamond) - Hey Lil Mama / She Wanna Get Rich [Unsigned Hype]
https://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh6qkuuq2ve65B0Qha
YouTube - THE KC GIFT EPK
https://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video800.php?v=wshh6qkuuq2ve65B0Qha&set_size=1
