Mass Musings
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Throughout his tenure in the Denver music scene, singer-songwriter Kid Astronaut has dabbled in many genres of music, starting with the hip-hop band Air Dubai before striking out on his own in 2015. His songs have been categorized as alternative, hip-hop, rap, electronic and even house, but he’s best known for his primary influence: R&B.
“R&B is my first love, even though I love hip-hop. I would consider myself definitely less of a hip-hop artist, and more of an R&B artist,” says the 32-year-old musician, who now prefers to use his professional name exclusively. He’ll join seven other R&B artists on Wednesday, February 16, at Your Mom’s House for a special Valentine’s Day edition of R&B Jam Fest, presented by Picasso Gvng and Boogie Groove Entertainment. We caught up with Kid Astronaut ahead of the showcase for a sneak preview of what to expect.
Kid Astronaut has always been comfortable mixing musical styles, describing his work as “genre-adjacent.” But he recently made the strategic decision to present himself as an R&B artist first and foremost.
“My sound goes through punk music, through hip-hop, through R&B, but my manager and I talked last year about creating a singular focus, so it’s more about choosing what’s best for the song. I like to see myself as an instrument, like a tool of music, but I put genres on it to make it accessible to people,” he explains.
While he has continued to collaborate with rappers (check out the features on Safar, his 2022 album with Ovan) and can still spit bars with the best of them (as he did on his electric single “Konami” with +Ultra), R&B will be his main focus going forward. “There are certain artists that I’ve worked with that are strictly hip-hop, and I have a lot of respect for them creatively. It’s just, I personally feel like R&B – not even just in Denver – is pushing the sound forward, the music forward, and I would really like to be a part of that,” he says.
Kid Astronaut’s stage name was inspired by his love of space and exploration, and his desire to “remain childlike at heart.”
Teagan Glass
From Etta James’s “At Last” to John Legend’s “All of Me,” many of the world’s great love songs fall into the R&B category. So what is it about the genre that lends itself to romance?
“Before R&B was called R&B, it was called soul music. When people are making something from their soul, it just comes from a place where it’s real and honest,” says Kid Astronaut. “Especially with the lyrics, and the singers doing runs with the vocals – just these amazing acrobatic tricks coming from a singer – alongside that feeling and that soul. I think it really speaks to the human emotion and heart, and that’s really what we’re doing with music: tapping into our humanity. I think R&B artists, especially, have dialed into that.”
One of his favorite love songs is Donny Hathaway’s cover of “A Song for You” (written by Leon Russell). “It’s an R&B classic,” he says. “He sang it about Roberta Flack, before he committed suicide. He wasn’t the original writer, but even in his version, you can just tell the heart and soul and emotion that goes into it.”
Given R&B’s proclivity for love songs, it’s only fitting that the upcoming R&B Jam Fest is in celebration of Valentine’s Day. Showcasing artists Jhazzy Wolf, Jae Wes, Lady Los, Crash_G x Mvrs, Wes B, Brooklynn and YasmineEmani, in addition to Kid Astronaut, this will be R&B Jam Fest’s third installment, and the first with a coed lineup (Volume One had all male artists, and Volume Two had all female artists). Although all eight musicians share the broad label of “R&B,” Jam Fest will display the sonic diversity within the genre, Kid Astronaut says. “Just from the back end of the show, seeing what people are bringing, it seems like it’s going to be a really eclectic show,” he says. “The people who come out will get a full experience with all different types of art, even though it is under this banner of R&B.”
Kid Astronaut will play a solo set with his electric guitar, but he could have some special guests join him; he’s collaborated with other artists who will be in attendance. “Jhazzy Wolf and I have a song together called ‘Lemon Kush,’ an R&B song that we collaborated on,” he notes. “DNA Picasso [rapper and owner of Picasso Gvng] and I, we have music together, but it’s not out.”
As he proclaims on his track “Konami,” Kid Astronaut has “so many bops locked up in the vault.”
“I have a lot of unreleased music. The band 2MX2, a Latin hip-hop act from Denver, their main producer DMD and I wrote a full project together. So we’ll start rolling that out, hopefully around March,” he says.
But after putting out a full album as well as several singles in 2022, he’s in no rush. “This year, I really decided to take my time. I released a ton of music last year, and now I want to market outside of Colorado and start building a real fan base,” he says.
The Denver native plans on keeping the Mile High City as his home base, but is looking forward to taking his music back on the road. He’s also been developing his business acumen in order to elevate his career even further: “I’ve been doing a lot more research on other artists, even turning my music project into an LLC and an actual business, and learning about the different taxes and incorporations, stuff that musicians don’t really think about. And I hope that other artists take their time to really learn about the business side of it too, even though it might not be as fun. That’s kind of my mission: preaching that to other artists.”
Kid Astronaut’s favorite love song from his own discography is “Finally It’s You,” off his EP Moon Theory.
Lucky Jayded
Because Kid Astronaut is well acquainted with the trials and tribulations of being a professional artist, he invites other artists to reach out to him for advice or support.
“I don’t know if it’s just because we’re coming out of a pandemic and the world has changed around us, especially for musicians, but it just seems really difficult to be an artist right now. Not even just on a local level. You hear major-label artists talk about the difficulties of touring. So I think right now, the people who are really doing it have a love for it,” he concludes. “I’ve been lucky to build a great pool of resources, even if I don’t have all the answers, so I would love to be a resource for someone else.” Now, that’s love!
R&B Jam Fest Volume 3, 8 p.m. Thursday, February 16, Your Mom’s House, 608 East 13th Avenue. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 day of show.
