Definitely a product of the culture, Kwest Anderson has been around the industry for neatly 5 decades. He is a student as well as historian of hip hop. The MC turned CEO, has dedicated most of his artistic career to the developing of new young artists. Founder and creator of his own label, BIG KIDZ MUSIC GROUP, Kwest has remained under the radar for a long time but has been around hip hop royalty from the legendary Ultra Magnetic Mc’s to his special brotherly bond with the legendary producer and DJ Break Beat Lou, and most notably his time spent around the iconic Bad Boy Records in the mid 2000s. As Kwest has said publicly before “ Puff is his self proclaimed” mentor. It’s no secret, this Big Kid is in his bag!
Where are you based?
I’m from The Bronx, NY!, but BIG KIDZ MUSIC GROUP has locations in NYC and Houston, Tx
How long have you been making music?
I’ve been involved in music I would have to say 18 years.
What genre would you consider your music to be?
Real Hip Hop lol no disrespect to any other form of our art form.
What inspired you to pursue a career in music?
I’ve been around hip hop for a long time. I’ve been a student since the inception.
What are your biggest musical influences?
Early Jackson 5, early Michael Jackson! Run-DMC. Boogie Down Productions (Krs one) where my first influences Then Big came and it’s was definitely my passion and vibe! But I must say my biggest influence has to be Jay Z and Puff!
Are you signed to a label or are you an independent artist?
I’m signed to a label I own. BIG KIDZ MUSIC GROUP . We are an indie with the heart of a major!
What have been the biggest challenges in your music career?
Dealing with the new industry model set up. I hate that it’s because a numbers game just to capture a labels attention. My time in and around the industry allows me to manipulate that but for upcoming artists thinking independent is the way to be, that’s not yet truly beneficial to us as artists in my opinion. We have to have the structure of the big machine.
How many songs or albums have you released to date?
I’ve been in my CEO bag for most of my career which has truly only allowed me to release 4 songs involving myself as an artist. They have all had success locally and coastal but never enough to make me concentrate on being an artist full time.
Can you tell us a few things about your latest release?
Of course, “Back Outside” is my first release in 5 years, since I dropped my last single “Receipts”. The new single features the BIG KIDZ MUSIC GROUP FRANCHISE ARTIST, Kia Leiani. She and I produced the song together and really just focused on creating a song that people could identify with! And it’s sort of becoming an anthem to our wildest expectations.
Any plans for new music or upcoming projects we should know about?
I will be dropping a new single at the end of the summer called “ Roses”. It’s a very intimate song for me and I really hope it’s received just a well as Back Outside has been.
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