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A name that is quickly becoming known throughout the music fraternity and the public, young KAYO, sometimes referred to as the golden child, is undoubtedly the epitome of rap perfection in St. Lucia. The young home-grown rapper has surpassed many of his counterparts as he blesses St. Lucia with professionally written and delivered tracks. Working with many producers and other artistes, KAYO has brought the most highly acclaimed genre of music closer to the hearts of St. Lucians. However, this extremely talented young artiste has credited all the persons he worked with and the “good times” that he has had in the past for his success.
KAYO, alongside many other mainstream artistes recently performed at the annual NCF Telethon in April 2007, to a well receiving crowd of old and young folks alike – an event that was held to assist the less fortunate nationals. He graced the crowd with the same level of delivery that he gives on the studio recorded tracks. KAYO has performed at many concerts and on many stages, from TALFEST to St. Lucia Jazz and recorded songs both with local and regional producers. With a rapping style that many consider to be a fusion of JAY-Z, NAS and 2-PAC, many want to know where this golden child came from.
“I got the name from my cousins during my childhood days and it just kinda stuck to me,” he answered when asked where the name KAYO came from.
DANTESDESIGNS: As we know… tell us about your music, what makes your music unique?
KAYO: “It’s my life. I first started writing to express whatever emotions that I may have had that I couldn’t get to express. I use it to express emotions that I have. So um, basically, when you listen to my music, it tells about my life. That and I guess my style and delivery, it keeps evolving.”
DANTESDESIGNS: Many critics who have listened to your music have identified a level of mastery … how did you get such mastery?
KAYO: “I’ve been writing steadily for about four (4) years now, so it’s almost like as I go along, I sought of master my own mastery.”
With no doubt, this young man is showing the country and the Caribbean that the young people of St. Lucia are starting a musical revolution that is already taking St. Lucia throughout the Caribbean and even to the international scene. KAYO said, “I am very impressed with the quality of music by the local artistes. We are improving and that’s what is important.”
Nonetheless, as we all know, the present infrastructure and resources available to our artistes in Lucia are not enough. Artistes don’t get enough airplay and the atmosphere is not the best. These challenges were not enough to deter this young man. He admits that it is hard work, but determination drives him to do what he does best.
KAYO has collaborated and worked with many other artistes such as SISTERHOOD, SHANE ROSS, TRICH, RONALD BOO HINKSON, SEXY-J, NICOLE DAVID, DANEL FOSTIN, DUPES and many others, and he admires their talents.
In one of the tracks that many St. Lucians are hooked to (Good Times) which featured his close friend Danel, KAYO explored the power of his lyrical poetry as he reminisced the good times of his school days.
He says that he has had many friends who have come and gone, and on the track, he is showing the love and expressing the fact that no matter how many friends you may lose or part ways with temporarily, “your true friends are always besides you, just a phone call away.” He has many other hot tracks namely; Let it Rain remix, Not You it’s Me, Vibe with Me and I Know, amongst others. With a St. Lucian crowd dubbed as the most difficult to please, KAYO said, “Once you please a Lucian crowd, you can please any crowd.” So this young man is set on perfecting his art hear locally before he ventures outside. And for many locals, he has more than satisfied the craving for Hip-hop that many St. Lucians crave.
And with so much controversy about the industry today in terms of the message conveyed, KAYO gladly expounded on what he does: “I am not a gangster rapper, but with all due respect for the people who use that type of music, that’s the lifestyle that they were brought up in and they are doing the exact same thing that I am doing which is putting their life experiences in their music. Mine is different, so I won’t be talking about those things.”
His track “Vibe with Me” is another masterpiece where he pays respect to the great JANY and asks persons to pay a closer look at what is happening in life today, even in South Africa.
A writer who did an article on him described his entry into the music arena:
Upon entering the hip hop arena, he started recording a minor mix tape with another local artist Cory Wildchild Raggie.
The mix tape was entitled The Streets Is Here Vol. 1 and was originally intended to be a showcase of a number of St. Lucian artists. However it ended up being a solo project since no other artist approached him with the caliber of lyrical quality that he was looking for.
The mix tape was never released due to some distributional and legal technicalities which he overlooked when working on the record.
The mix tape was shelved, but there was still a lot of curiosity about who this Kayo kid was since some of the freestyles got leaked into the streets. Later on he was introduced to a producer just as hungry as him through a mutual friend.
Upon meeting, Kayo and producer Jano James got into the studio immediately to again burn up the airwaves with music unmatched locally and unheard of international. Together, they established a music production entity known as Flawless Productions.
Kayo is most recognized for his unsurpassed flow and his lyrics which make you almost see his very emotion; the reality of this cold world through the eyes of a child in a third world country.
Of course, this young man comes from Ciceron, being the youngest of five (5) children to parents; Gilbert and Venetia. To many, he his St. Lucia’s Rap Ambassador, with an age tag of 18 years. Yes! He is only 18 and is on the same level as many artistes of different genres who have been there long before. One thing that keeps him humble and different is that he respects all the other artistes out there doing what they believe in.
KAYO is currently a student at the A’ Level department of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College situated at Morne Fortune. He is doing studies on Sociology and Economics and although admits that sometimes it’s hard to simultaneously handle both school and a music career, he has been able to perfectly balance both as he performs greatly in both.
With so much to say about this young man and so many questions to ask, DANTESDESIGNS brought the questioning to a close with this question:
DANTESDESIGNS: Where do you want to see yourself in the next five (5) years?
KAYO: “Five 5 years from now I wanna see myself on my second album. If I get a deal, St. Lucia will benefit. Many people will benefit, even those that I have collaborations with. With which ever label that I get, I wanna be in the position to negotiate so that I won’t be so much a product of the label, but of St. Lucia.”
This young man here is definitely a perfect example of YOUTHPOWER.
Check out KAYO's profile at myspace.com to learn more about him. Click here.
Written by: S.A.Dantes
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, local rap phenom, Filbert KAYO Salton expressed his views on the matter which coincides with our own views. “You have to pay homage to those persons there before you who set the way for you… It’s all about togetherness.”