Saucony Shadow 6000 with K, Le Maestro.

We linked up with beatmaker and producer K,Le Maestro out of West London to chat about beats, his nostalgia for Saucony Shadow 6000, and his debut album WHIP MUSIC.

Creative/Photography : Bryan Aseya Artist : K,Le Maestro Stylist : Tiffany Riazanova Make up : Scarlet Walker Photography Ass : Steve Braiden Ass Prod : Olivia Abbasi

SNS : First of all, how are you doing?

KLM : What's good? Thank you for having me. I'm doing good, chilling as always.

SNS : Can you give us a quick intro on who you are and what you do?

KLM : For those that know me, there's no introduction but to those that don't, I'm K, Le Maestro. Beatmaker/producer out of West London (contrary to popular belief). Sometimes I write and rap but that's for another time. I make music but at the same time I'm currently studying for my Bachelors degree but if I'm not hunting for my Bachelors, I'm at home or in Berlin making bangers.

SNS : What first got you into music and how would you describe the transition/development into the music that you typically create nowadays?

KLM : Been making music for just almost 10 years now, since 2012. I used to be super trash but now I can proudly say I make just about good enough music that I can do cool stuff with my life. My start with music production was thanks to my older brother who had a DAW called Mixcraft installed on the family computer. One day I was bored and wanted to test the waters and see what was up. Since that day I never looked back.

SNS : Where do you get your inspiration? Which artists or musicians inspire you?

KLM : Inspiration comes from everywhere. For me it really just depends on what I'm listening to at that current moment because my inspiration changes a lot so my beats tend to sound different but at the same time, I still got my style/swag whatever I make so it's just a matter of feeling. My core inspirations however would be Black Milk, J Dilla, Madlib, KAYTRANADA and a lot of other producers that would take a while to list but I'm always listening to new music so the list is everchanging.

SNS : You recently released your debut album « WHIP MUSIC » , can you tell us about the creative process behind it?

KLM : I started working on this project early 2019. I had met the guys from Jakarta Records in London around late 2018 and then took an impromptu 4 day trip to Berlin in January 2019. At the time, it was my first solo trip abroad that was away from my family so I was really new to traveling and seeing new things. I had met my homie S. Fidelity on that trip and we made some beats within the 4 days at his studio. Immediately I had some inspiration and wanted to do an EP at first but then the EP turned into an album. I scrapped the project 4 times due to my everchanging inspiration and I was never really satisified with the stuff that I was making. I didn't have a name or a theme for the album until Oct 2019 after a night out with my friend where on our way back home, there was a Mercedes Benz parked outside where she stayed at and me being me, I took a picture of it with an analog camera and after the scan came back that's when the concept for WHIP MUSIC came about which led me to restart the whole album for the last time. I did most of the tracks in but 2020 but I did the intro track in May 2019. I went to Berlin end of Jan 2020 and re-did the album cover straight after coming from the airport, I went to link with my homegirl Kelli and we went out to west Berlin and I had a cool place in mind to shoot some pictures. We headed to the location and then shot the cover that you see on the album. I designed the album cover/vinyl concept myself. Sonically, I was really in my 90s R&B / G-Funk / Hip-Hop element when I made this album. I was listening to music from a lot of those genres and then I would send the beats out to people that I had in mind for the tracks and then I let them do their thing and wait for the vocals to come back. It was a super long process working with vocalists because it does take time to wait for vocals and seeming that I did everything remotely, it was a challenge seeming that all of the artists on the album do not live in London but in the end, it worked out and I'm proud of the end result of the album. Shout outs to everybody involved.

SNS : Is it your favourite project you have worked on?

KLM : It's dope, I love it but I'm sitting on a lot of bangers so I'm not gonna say yes but also I'm not saying no. Time will tell but I have faith that my next projects will slap even harder and the sonic direction of those projects will be an improvement each time.

SNS : What’s the concept and inspiration about it?

KLM : The concept behind the clip is really to invoke a sense of nostalgia and provide a soundtrack for all the lovers to cruise around and get lost in each other hence the title of the track “BACKSEAT”. This one is a track for the late summer. The perfect way to end the day.

SNS : You also released a clip video to go with the release of your album. Can you tell us a little bit more about it?

KLM : I took a lot of inspiration from late 80s/early 90s R&B when I made the track and wanted to reflect it in the visual direction of the video. Nápoles came through and really brought the whole vibe together so I’m happy with how the whole project came out.

SNS : As a producer/ Beat maker, what challenges have you faced? And how did you overcome them?

KLM : A lot of the times, you're faced with the pressure of looking for placements and especially if you're not a producer/singer or producer/rapper, it can be hard to figure out a plan for all of these beats that you're sitting on. Personally, I stopped pivoting my focus towards getting placements and focused more on making music for myself. I've always made music for myself regardless so it's dope to reach out to people within your circle or in proximity than disappoint yourself waiting for a big artist to come and scoop you for a placement. A lot of the times, there's a lot of talent that is unheard due to metrics or lack of exposure but why wait for people to come to you? Just make the music and drop it. The people will come regardless if the quality of what you make is dope. Always remember that producers are artists as well. Don't limit yourself to just seeking placements. If you're able to, make a path for yourself and let placements chase you.

SNS : What’s next for you? What can we and your fans expect from you in the upcoming months?

KLM : That's a good question. I have some album visuals that I'm getting ready to put out. Been working on them for the past few months so it's finally exciting to put some visuals to these tracks that I made. Other than that, I might drop a couple exclusives and stuff but who knows? Just look at my instagram to see what's next because I'm a spontaneous guy. Always posting and deleting snippets.

SNS : Let’s change the subject for a second and talk about the Saucony 6000. What do you like the most about the silhouette?

KLM : The Saucony 6000 silhouette is dope. I'm very inspired by the old school so I like the nostalgia that these shoes bring me. It's a dope shoe, I could probably match it with a quarter of the clothes in my wardrobe. Other than that, it's comfortable so if you like comfortable shoes that look like this then this is the shoe for you.

SNS : Thank you for your time, is there anything you would like to close out on?

KLM : Keep streaming WHIP MUSIC, buy the vinyl and keep a look out for 2022. Got some crazy stuff on the way and if COVID lets up then hopefully I can test this album out in different cities and spin some exclusives while I'm at it. Also, shout outs to everybody studying/working while pursuing their passion. It's not easy but we'll make it. If I can do this editorial, study for my Bachelors and make bangers then nothing is impossible in this life.

Shout outs to SNS and Saucony, my family, all my supporters, all the homies, the entire continent of Africa and lastly and most importantly shout outs Congo. On est la.

Listen to K, Le Maesto’s debut album WHIP MUSIC here.