I am sitting here with my homie out of West Chicago Kris Warren of Galaxy Media Group and Kris Warren Productions.
Damo: Tell us about your visit to St Louis.
Kris: As always I enjoy my time in STL. It’s like a second home for me and I have met some good people out here. The main focus of the last trip was to shot a video titled “BLOW UP.” My flight got delayed so many times and I didn’t make it to the hotel till like 11 at night and still had to change. Thank God the people I was working with (Dancing Shoes Productions) were still down to shoot at 1200 AM midnight. We shoot into early in the AM and then the next day also. I had an early flight the next morning so the entire trip basically revolved around the video.
Damo: You have an new album that’s been released called "Just My Thoughts Vol 1: MIDDLE CLASS HIGH LIFE". Brief us on this project.
Kris: Basically the entire album touches on everything I have been thinking about and experiencing the past couple years or so. When I say everything I mean everything. LOL. From my life in Corporate America, gold digging women, government corruption, drug abuse, falling out with people who I thought were friends, my life growing up, my dead beat dad, chasing dreams, positive things that happen on the journey of life and just a lot of other things that help people get to know me as a person
Damo: As I listened to the album, you have a number of features on the album. Was that the plan for the album?
Kris: The features I have are female vocalist on the choruses. I wrote all the songs with the exception of LIGHTS that was co-wrote by me and my home girl from New York Ashley Jamison. All the verses on every song are me. And all the hooks were originally me too. After I record a song, I then decide if I want someone else to do the hook to make the song more diverse or just to add a different feel to the song. The album is 20 tracks and I have female vocals on 12 of the hooks. I wouldn’t say that was the original plan, but I just go with the flow. And if I like how the song turns out with someone else doing the hook I keep it.
Damo: Which songs from the album are being pushed and which ones are the most requested?
Kris: I just did a video for “BLOW UP” that I am about to release soon, and I already have official music videos on YouTube for the songs BOYFRIEND GIRLFRIEND, WEEKEND, LOVE ME KNOW, JUST MY THOUGHTS, SUCCESS, and MISSED AGAIN.
I just don’t make one genre of music so a few songs are getting pushed in different markets. Honestly, the songs I get the most feedback about are MUSIC IS MY THEREAPY, BOYFRIEND GIRLFRIEND, LIGHTS, BOYS TO MEN, and ON MY SH**... Not in any particular order though.
Damo: What’s the next step for "Just My Thoughts Vol. 1"?
Kris: Basically continue to promote the project is the main focus for now. I definitely will be touring in May and doing some select cities in February, March and April.
Damo: What is your take on the music industry now and what direction do you think it will be taking in the next 10+ years?
Kris: The music industry now has a lot of unique artist. The reason why some people don’t know this is because they are not exposed to anything outside of traditional radio. There are a lot of independent online radio stations and satellite radio that play good music that has meaning to it. As far as the music industry in 10 years I think it will be the era of the independents. We see signs of this now with some major labels consolidating and others completely shutting down their distribution operations in the past 5 or 6 years. I see the major labels eventually becoming solely sales and marketing companies.
Damo: The hip hop industry is now over saturated with artists that are trying to be the next artists with that big hit. What mistakes do you see a number of the up and coming artists make these days?
Kris: Honestly, I just focus on my mission and what I need to get accomplished. Hating on the next person doesn’t make me money. And what is wrong for me might be right for them. To each his own, you know.
Damo: What's most important to you when creating tracks or an album?
Kris: What mood I am in and what I am currently going through in life (or just went through) is most important first off. That’s basically what I talk about in my music; my experiences and the way I view the world. When you talk about situations you know about or experienced you never have to force anything. And if you feel like you are forcing it just stop and wait until another day when you are feeling a similar emotion and finish the track. Every song isn’t a onetime process. I do the tracks, listen to them, and a lot of times think of something to add. Before anyone hears the final song I might have done it a couple times already or made changes to the original
Damo: The internet has created many avenues for musicians, but do you still think it's important for your name to be in the street of your city?
Kris: The internet sometimes gets your music to the street so to speak. But, it’s some people in your hometown that will support the music and it’s some that will hate. I really don’t care either way. I just find that a lot of people catch on when they see you making moves outside the city. It’s easy to tell who naturally supports you and who just popped out of nowhere supporting you because now they see the bigger picture. Rather bad to some people or good to some people my name is my name and I am going to continue on my path and create the music I want to create.
Damo: Off the subject of music. There have been multiple issues with the collection of dolls based on the characters of the movie "DJango Unchained". What is your viewpoint on the dolls?
Kris: I actually have more than one perspective on that. From a business standpoint it is smart feed off the momentum of the movie and to sell merchandise, soundtracks, and any type of memorabilia that relates to the film. On the other hand I can understand how some people do not think it is good for these dolls to be around children because of the negative connotations associated with the dolls. But, you can’t erase history. So rather than moan and groan about it, why not educate the young people about what happen, how far we have come since then and where we are headed. But hey, that’s just me…
Damo: What is your take on the shooting in Connecticut? And do you think the gun control policies they are trying to enforce will work? Why or why not?
Kris: Like the old saying “GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE.” If you take away the guns then the next person will use chainsaws, or maybe they might just bomb the place. It is a million ways to kill somebody so I don’t think taking away a gun is going to stop someone if they already have their mind set on killing a person. It baffles me that all these organizations try to give their two cents and “play” the people when they have their own hidden agendas. That’s kind of weird with all this stuff happening that people actually want us to give up the guns. I say buy more because you never know when one of these crazies is gonna come knocking at your door…
Support Kris Warren Listen To his album here and download for free http://www.kriswarrenproductions.com
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