KD of Soul for Real

WHO?MAG:  Talk about the new Soul for Real album you guys put out.
KD:  It’s called “Revolution Journey”.  We’ve been working pretty hard on it. We got a couple cameos on there. We got Cassidy, we got Jadakiss, we got Keith Murray.  We really didn’t do too many other cameos because we just like to keep it Soul For Real. It’s been a long and hard journey though, you know? But we’re back. We’re back on the scene.

WHO?MAG:  Alright, what’s the meaning behind the name of the album?
KD:  Well, just like what I explained, it’s long and hard. We evolved into what we are now. We’re the bosses now, you know?  Heavy D just died man, which is a tragedy, and we miss him.  We’re working on re-releasing this new album that’s on our old label, and we also got artists.

WHO?MAG:  Who’s handling most of the production on the album?
KD:  Well we’ve got different producers man. We got the Justice League.  I think they did one for us.  Me and my brothers have been producing and writing for years.  We got a couple young producers, Young Keys one of the guys goes by, and everything is really in house.

WHO?MAG:  How did you hook up with Jadakiss, and how is it working with him in the studio?
KD:  Jadakiss is from up top from Yonkers. When I was younger, I used to stay up in Mount Vernon, and one of my mans plugged us together.  Actually, when I came out here to Atlanta, one of my mans plugged us together and we did a song called “One Man”.

WHO?MAG:  How was it working with him in the studio?
KD:  I mean, Jadakiss is the best. He’s very down to earth and he’s a very cool guy.  I love working with Jadakiss.

WHO?MAG:  How did you hook up with Cassidy and Keith Murray?
KD:With Keith Murray, that was on the whim.  We were in the studio and he was in the same studio, so he heard us doing the song and he asked if he could get on it.  So we were like definitely, of course!  You’re Keith Murray, you know?  One of the illest cats from Long Island, so he jumped on it and it was all magic.

WHO?MAG:  And Cassidy?
KD:With Cassidy, my brother Choc, when he was doing his solo project, he went to the studio and did something with Cassidy. I think he also got something done with Swizz Beatz.

WHO?MAG:  A couple of years ago, I heard a song you guys did with Raekwon the Chef from Wu-Tang. How did that song come about? That song was dope. I can’t remember the name right now, but I remember hearing it.
KD:  It was probably just a remix. I didn’t go to the studio with Raekwon the Chef.

WHO?MAG:  Lets talk about the beginning for a minute.  How did Soul For Real come about?  How did you guys get into doing music and who were some of your influences?
KD:  Well my brother Choc out the group, he’s the oldest out the group and he’s been doing his thing since he was like 16 when he started writing songs.  So around ’91, the rest of us got into the game with him and then we formed the group because he was linked up with EPMD album, Toni and them. Heavy hitters from Long Island.  So once that didn’t go through, he just linked up with us and from ’91 to ’94.  We were looking for a deal.  Then we met Heavy’s brother in Mount Vernon at a talent show, then he took us to Heavy D and then we went to Andre Harrell at Uptown, along with Mary J. Blige and Jodeci and Father MC.  I think we were the last ones on that label after the Lost Boyz. R.I.P. Freaky Tah. R.I.P. Heavy D.

WHO?MAG:  How did the name Soul For Real come about?
KD:  Well we were in the basement just coming up with different names and we were writing different names on the paper and we collectively came up with it along with Heavy D.

WHO?MAG:  Who are some of your musical influences?
KD:  We love Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Raekwon the Chef, the whole of Wu-Tang Clan…all genres of music.  We loved the group Journey.  We loved rock, hip-hop…we’re just music orientated.

WHO?MAG:  How did the song “Candy Rain” come about?
KD:  “Candy Rain” was written by Terry Robinson, one of Heavy D’s writers.  It actually came about cause my brother Choc had an original song we begun to sing, and then Heav’ just had Terry make something up with that concept and it just became a hit smash.  We recently did a remake that we’re gonna release for the Juicy beat.  It’s fire.

WHO?MAG:  What do you remember about the video shoot for “Candy Rain”?
KD:  It was long and hard.  I remember a lot of work.  It was fun, it looked fun, but it was so many takes back then.  We worked all day.  It was hard work.

WHO?MAG:  What do you remember about the remix you had with Heavy D, rest in peace?
KD:  That was definitely fun. I’m glad we got to do that because we captured the element of us at that time, which was very happy. That’s one thing that sucks, that I’m not gonna be able to see him again in the game, because he’s definitely gonna be missed.

WHO?MAG:  How was Heavy D’s production process?
KD:  I mean, Heav’ used to call in different people.  It was an experience.  I can’t even explain it.  If you wasn’t there, it was a time of music, you know… 1995?  To be living and even working in that era, at that time, with Total and Biggie and Tupac and TLC… it was the greatest!  We had these people interacting and coming in an out of the studio, watching us record.  With Heav’, that was unexplainable on that first album.  It was like a dream come true.

WHO?MAG:  What do you remember about working with Trackmasters? You guys were one of the first artists to work with Trackmasters.
KD:  They my niggas. I remember when they pulled up with the three deuce fever. Three and a quarter. That first track, they pulled out them M3’s on ’em. That was an experience too.  Those cats is just laid back as hell.  Jean Poke, Dave Cintron… a lot of people, you know?  A lot of people worked on that first album.

WHO?MAG:  How did “Every Little Thing I Do” come about?
KD:  That’s all Heavy’s production and writing team you know.  That video was also kinda hectic cause they put us on a stage that was turning and we had to dance and do moves on it.  We didn’t even practice, but we pulled it off.  That was scary.

WHO?MAG:  Do you have any fond memories of Heavy D that you wanna talk about?
KD:  Yeah, I have fond memories. Me, him, and his brother used to ride motorcycles man.  All my memories of Heavy D are fond memories.  When I met Heav’, they introduced me to Mount Vernon.  That’s a part of the city in New York that’s one of the realest places that I’ve been.  All my memories are fond of him.

WHO?MAG:  How was the recording process for the second album “For Life”?
KD: It was the same as the first.  On the second album, we wrote and produced on it.  We always been writing and producing.  That’s how we got discovered, off our own music.  The recording process is simple: one of us comes up with a concept and the rest of us just runs with it.

WHO?MAG:  How was it working with Puff in the studio on the second album?
KD:  I didn’t get to work with Puff.  I didn’t really physically see Puff.  The beat was there, a couple of the dudes from 112 was there, and we came in and just sang the song.

WHO?MAG:  Why did you guys leave Uptown after the second album?
KD:  It was just a transition.  Andre Harrell, he left.  Got let go from the label and that was it.

WHO?MAG:  When you were at Uptown, were there any talks of doing any collabos aside from Heavy D with other Uptown artists like Mary J. Blige, or Jodeci, or Father MC?
KD: Nah, we didn’t do anything with those guys.  Like I said, we came in on the end of the run on that label.

WHO?MAG:  Talk about the third album that was on Warlock.
KD:  That was all us.  That was all our ideas.  At that time, we just needed to release something.  We just let that one go at the time.

WHO?MAG:  When you think back and reminisce to yourself  “Man, we worked with legendary Heavy D, and Trackmasters”.  How do you feel?
KD:  I feel like a legend right now, you know?  I feel like a legend since I even got to work with people like that.  Heav’ worked with Michael Jackson.  All of that stuff makes me who I am today.  Being able to work with people like that?  Those are the people that paved the way for music and what it is today makes me feel wonderful.  It makes me feel great.

WHO?MAG:  What are your thoughts on today’s R&B scene?
KD:  Today’s R&B scene? I love it. Chris Brown? I mean, the rap is really what’s relevant right now.  There’s not too much R&B going on, you know? But what there is out there, it’s all good.  I love it.

WHO?MAG:  What do you listen to right now in your CD deck or your iPod?
KD:  Right now, I’m listening to Rick Ross, whatever is out on the radio, like Young Money, Adele, Ludacris.  The list goes on and on.

WHO?MAG:  What’s next for you and Soul For Real after this album comes out?
KD: Sky’s the limit, my dude.  We’ve got an opportunity to do what we wanna do.  Right now, I can’t really tell you the future, but I can tell you that we’re gonna be working very hard.  With hard work comes success.

WHO?MAG:  Any last words you want to add?
KD: Yeah man, you guys can follow us on Twitter @SoulForReal1 and like us on Facebook, and any bookings you can also catch us at @SoulForReal1 on Twitter and Facebook.