STAT QUO
BILLY DREASE WILLIAMS
LIZA IRIZARRY
ASHLEY
JONATHAN DALYNN
SPOTLIGHT: KEVIN COSSOM
CHAMP MAGAZINE
The Boy Hollywood
CHAMP: What’s up Kevin Cossom. What are you up to at this current moment?
Kevin Cossom: At this very current moment man, I just walked outside. I’m at ‘We The Best’ Studios with The Runners right now. We doing three different things at once. We got Ace Hood, and we gotta do some stuff for a new girl artist that Khaled and Fat Joe actually have and trying to do some stuff for me. I’m here for a few days and trying to capitalize as much as possible down here in Miami.
CHAMP: Definitely wanna start off by congratulating you on the signing to New Age Rock Stars in partnership with Jive. How does it feel to be in that situation?
Kevin Cossom: It’s amazing bro. It’s a long time coming. I’ve been at it for about 10 years tryna do it professionally man. Being an artist is primary to me but the writing is a stepping stone and a way to get out, and also pays the bills on time. Danja and I did some music together a couple of years ago- we did four joints together and they all came out crazy. After that, it was right for us to end up doing business together.
CHAMP: How long have you been making music for initially?
Kevin Cossom: My first placement was on Lloyd Banks’ first album on a song called Karma. That was when I was like 18-19. I’m 24 now, so that was a few years ago. I started writing when I was 17 and have been making music since 16-17 years old. The journey of trying to be a professional artist started when I was 14.
CHAMP: You come from a gospel music background. At what point did you realize you wanted to break away from that genre and make the music that you actually wanted to make?
Kevin Cossom: I don’t think it was decision like I’m fed up with the gospel music and I wanted to make some devil music lol. I grew up in the church so that’s where it all started. My mom was the head of the youth department as far as the music went and she had me in it. So for a while I wasn’t even allowed to listen to secular radio until I got into my teenage years; probably like 15. That’s when I was like man I wanna be a star, I wanna be famous, I wanna make money doing this.
CHAMP: Like you had mentioned earlier. You’re definitely the man behind Banks’ banger “Karma”, which was basically your first big taste of that pie. How did that whole thing happen, and what was your reaction when it not only made the album but then became a single off the classic Hunger For More?
Kevin Cossom: It was crazy. It was around the time I was tryna shop for a deal and I first got with my current manager Rashad Tyler. We were shopping for a deal and we had Universal on the table, G-Unit on the table, and at one of our first meetings I met 50 and Sha Money and they were like “we wanna put you on this Banks record.” The fact that it made the album was crazy! We didn’t think it was gonna be a single, but after the crazy response it became a single. It was great. People in my hometown started playing it. They put Avant on the record but my hometown still showed love and played the version with me on it. That was my first time really hearing myself on the radio. That was an amazing feeling by itself and to see the support of my hometown was a great feeling.
CHAMP: Let the people know a brief bit about your resume in terms of tracks you have written for and things like that.
Kevin Cossom: The first big one after the “Karma” joint was “Go Gettas” for Jeezy. I wrote the hook for that, I wrote the hook for “Speedin” for Rick Ross and R.Kelly. I wrote the hook for “Cash Flow” for Ace Hood, “Won’t Let You Down” for Chamillionaire, “No Clothes On” for Trey Songz, and then more recently I got this joint called “One” that’s out right now with Akon singing the hook and it’s Fat Joe’s current single. Ace Hood’s got another one called “Overtime” with Akon and T-Pain on the hook, and then I got my first big R&B joint placement with Keri Hilson called “Knock You Down” featuring Kanye and Ne-Yo which is a big BIG record. I feel like I can get my first number one with that...And we can’t forget Rick Ross’ “Usual Suspects” that I feature on alongside Nas.
CHAMP: Ok Ok! Impressive. To be honest I know about the songwriting game, but a lot of people don’t know you can make a bit of change of writing a joint. Can you educate the people on the hustle because in actuality an artist can be singing your track and not have anything to do with it in terms of the payout.
Kevin Cossom: Yeah- The main question I get asked is what was it like to work with them? Did you meet them? I tell them that I never even met these people. We’re in an age of technology where we use email a majority of the time and people say we need this, and we create it so it’s not even like we’re in a session together. It sucks sometimes to not be able to talk to the artist because you don’t really know what they’re looking for or what they want, or what direction the album is going. You gotta have a general approach that’s broad enough for everyone to be able to relate to.
CHAMP: It’s basically middle men you’re going through the whole time.
Kevin Cossom: Exactly. Having a publishing deal and all of that; I felt that my publishing company would be the ones who’d hook it up and put me in the studio with these artists but it’s really about your own relationships. Most the placements that I had was because of the relationship that the producer had with the artist. The Runners had a relationship with Jeezy, and had a relationship with Ross, so they brought me in like we gonna present you with this record and give you a chance to be a part of that album.
CHAMP: Past songwriters and come up and became stars like Ne-Yo, The-Dream etc. Who would be your top 5 songwriters of all time?
Kevin Cossom: I’m a fan of Stevie (Wonder), Quincy Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Prince. Those are the people from back in the day.
CHAMP: How about present?
Kevin Cossom: John Mayer but I’m not sure he writes his stuff, The-Dream, Justin (Timberlake), it’s rare to find someone who really writes their own stuff now. I feel like anybody who’s a writer has their own lane. Most people who write their own music have their own lane. Like The –Dream. He has his own lane. Justin. He has his own lane and Ne-Yo has his own lane. I just commend people who are able to that.
CHAMP: Could you see yourself getting into the trend where artists will start writing for you or do you wanna continue writing your own music even if the success comes ?
Kevin Cossom: I definitely wanna continue writing for myself. It’s an expression; it’s my point of view, the way I would like to say it. If me and you wanna say the same thing we’re gonna articulate it different ways cause of who we are and it’s a reflection of our personality. That’s most important for people in this game, for the people to see who you are, what you stand for or your point of view. If it’s not broke why fix it.
CHAMP: Now you’re currently working on a yet to be titled album and your going for that eclectic feel. What do you want people to take away from the album when it comes out?
Kevin Cossom: I just want the respect of the fans and even my peers as a writer, as a creator, and as a person. I feel that the music that I’m doing is feel good music and very relatable. Hopefully I can help people get through situations, relationship-wise and provide songs that deal with relationships and different things like that. I don’t wanna be put in a box, but who does though right?
CHAMP: Nobody lol. Now you also got a crazy joint with Rick Ross. Can we expect a video for that joint and what’s the title of it?
Kevin Cossom: I got this joint right now called Usual Suspects with Rick Ross featuring me and Nas. It’s a crazy record. I’m not sure if there’s gonna be a video for it, but the response has been real crazy. My phone’s been ringing off the hook. I’m getting paged and all of that, which is a good thing. We’ll see how it goes but it’s an amazing record. I’m just happy to be a part of the project. I also wrote another joint on Rick Ross’ album that Robin Thicke is on called “Laid Back”.
CHAMP: I’m definitely excited about that Ross album dropping. I’ve been hearing a lot of joints!
Kevin Cossom: Yeah! It should be crazy. The album’s gon’ be pretty dope man
CHAMP: We’re currently in the second quarter of ’09. What else can we expect from Kevin Cossom for the rest of the year man?
Kevin Cossom: I’m doing a lot of things. We’ll see what happens and what else comes with it. Look out for the Keri Hilson, the Rick Ross, got a joint with Trey that should be coming out really soon. Other than that man, check for Kevin Cossom. If you get a chance man hit up the myspace page. Myspace.com/kevincossom and download the pre-album. It’s a 5 track EP which is like a prelude to the album. Check out the myspace and download the pre album. It’s free.
MY EX - KEVIN COSSOM FT. RICK ROSS
USUAL SUSPECTS - RICK ROSS FT. KEVIN COSSOM & NAS
CHAMP MAGAZINE IS A CANADIAN HIP HOP PUBLICATION FOCUSING ON URBAN CULTURE, HIP HOP,ARTS, MUSIC, AND PRODUCTION
