Rochester | #W2TM

Kidd Called Quest is a producer from Rochester, NY. His team consists of Azariah & Jae Hussle. He recently blessed us with two projects to end the year. Be on the look out for more music from the Young Black & Gifted Team.

( TM ) How did you & Azariah initially link up?

( Kidd Called Quest ) We actually met back in 2005 though our man Euphony who I met and build with at a show. Me and Euphony linked up the following week, that’s how me and Azariah ended up linking up from there we started working together. I started sending him beats for his first album “Subject To Change” from there we just kept working to built a music relationship and friendship.

( TM ) How did YBG “Young Black & Gifted” come about?

( Kidd Called Quest ) It was an idea I had came up with I wanted to get a movement started. We was going by the name “Living Proof” but there was someone who already had that name I found out later and there was the group “Actual Proof” that was starting to make some noise I ain’t want people to get confused get us mixed up. I decided to switch our name to “Young Black And Gifted” from there we rolled with it and build it up and dropped the first album “Longtime Coming” then later on I started working and doing other projects under the “YBG” name to continue to push and build up the brand.

( TM ) Is this just a group name or also the label?

( Kidd Called Quest ) At first it was just a group then recently I decided to scrap my ”NeweraBoombatt” brand and make everything focus on the “Young Black And Gifted” name and brand. I came up with the idea to do “Young Black And Gifted Music” just keep everything simple and straight to the point.

( TM ) The Black gift was a dope project bars & production & how it faded out on the last track was the perfect ending. Was it a coincidence it dropped Black Friday or was that planned?

( Kidd Called Quest ) It was kind of planned out that way because the drop was around the holidays but it was planned to keep the attention of both the “Reflections” album and “The Black Gift” project feeding off each other exposure.

( TM ) Other than Azariah & Jae Hussle who else is under the YBG team?

( Kidd Called Quest ) Right now just them I really didn’t want to bring no one new aboard until everything else is built up and situated.

( TM ) How long have you been producing? Also have you done any work with artist’s outside of the Young Black & Gifted team?

( Kidd Called Quest ) I been making beats since 2000/2001 around 7th and 8th grade. I’ve done a lot of work with artists outside the team. Big Shug, Trife Diesel, G Fisher, Reks, Avrex and many more. I also have a few complications out with a lot of people I worked with on those.

( TM ) Who would you say the core fan base is that you aim your music towards?

( Kids Called Quest ) Honestly I aim it at everyone I learned over the last few years to not just limit my reach to one group of people that like a certain sound . Because there’s people out there like myself that has a open ear to everything.

( TM ) In my opinion your production on Jae Hussle “Reflections A Story Of My Lifetime Vol. 1 shows how diverse you are as a producer so many different sounds. What type of feedback have you been getting from that project?

( Kids Called Quest ) Dam man Hussle been getting nothing but positive feedback from that album. People from all over love that album and sharing it. I think the reason why everyone loves it is because the album is so well put together like I always do with every project. I don’t rush and just give a artist just any and everything in my library. My main focus is to produce and give the artist the perfect production that fits them just right. The fact that Jae Hussle is a dope versatile artist and a creative writer and not afraid to showcase his versatility just took everything to that next level for the project. We are planning a re release for his album next year with a few more songs added to it so that’s something you can look out for next year.

( TM ) What’s next for Kidd Quest?

( Kidd Called Quest ) At this point I’m working on fixing and making a few changes to keep “YBG” going but I’m just going with the flow of things just letting everything take it’s course and let the process work it’s way.

( TM ) Did you exceed your expectations musically for 2019 & what can we expect from YBG in 2020?

( Kidd Called Quest )Actually we kind of did but unfortunately somethings don’t work out how you want it to go so at this point I really don’t know what 2020 will be like for “YBG” but I do know I will continue to focus and push just go from there. I know there was a lot of good things planned but like I said it’s unfortunate things don’t always go as planned.