Dec. 5, 2024

From Beats to Dreams: Kimeyo Daniels' Hip Hop Journey

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Join us on today's episode of the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball as we sit down with hip hop artist and founder of Kimeyo Records, Kimeyo Daniels. Discover how Kimeyo has been teaching his sons about the music business and the creative journey behind their latest album, 'The Process'. We delve into Kimeyo's philosophy as a positive rapper, his approach to working with artists, and his thoughts on the future of the music industry. Tune in for an inspiring conversation about music, family, and perseverance.
Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600

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00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:09.205
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome, um, to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. Uh, if you believe you can achieve, cheat.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate, and inspire. Today, I am joined by hip hop artist Kimio Daniels. He is the founder of Kimio Records. They released an album called the Process, where his son's done most of the production. So we're going to be talking to him about everything that he's up to and, you know, how he chooses to work with different artists.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So, Kim, thank you so much for.

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> Kimio Daniels>Joining me today, and I appreciate you having me on your platform. Mr. Curveball, sir, why don't you start.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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> Kimio Daniels>All right, well, my name is Cameo, and, uh, the name of my company is Cameo Records. It's an independent recording record label here in Los Angeles, California.

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> Kimio Daniels>And I've been doing music since I was 19 years old, and I'm 51, and I refuse to give up on it. And my sons are 16 and 18, and when they came to live with me full time, they told me they wanted to get involved in the record business. So I decided to, you know, create, um, a project to where I would teach them how to put out their own records. So that's how we ended up with the process.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, you m. Are a, uh, hip hop artist, so that. That's your genre, correct?

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> Kimio Daniels>Yes, sir. I am a hip hop artist.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay.

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> Kimio Daniels>Not gangster rap. It's not gangster rap, even though I'm from the West Coast. But, uh, yes, I'm a positive rapper.

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> Kimio Daniels>I try to, uh, teach messages with my songs. My philosophy is, once I turn that mic on and everyone is listening, I don't want to waste anyone's time.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, tell us about the recording process of the album. The process.

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> Kimio Daniels>Well, it started off with my son's, um, me getting my son's Apple, Apple, uh, computer, a Mac, and some sound programs and FL Studio. So they started making beats. And as they got better, I would come in and hear a beat or two that I like, and I would have them give it to me. And then I would start writing the song, and then they'll make the arrangements. And once we got to a, uh, good number of songs, I went and booked some studio time to try to produce my son.

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> Kimio Daniels>And, um, he was still kind of like, you know, at the point where he could never make a decision on what he really wanted to do because he's so creative. So every time we think he would be ready, he would Want to do something different. So I ended up, um, taking the records that they created for me and I started working on that record, the process. And then when I started making those steps, I started showing them everything that it takes. So they saw me repeatedly work on one particular song. It wasn't like I was doing five or six songs at a time. I was taking my time working on one song at a time with the engineer and, um, mixing the record. So they got to see the steps that was involved with taking one song from the living room to the garage to the recording studio to now getting ready to be released.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, I know in the green room we were talking about whether you sign people or not.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So go over for the listeners, uh, what you told me as far as about signing artists.

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> Kimio Daniels>Well, when it comes to signing artists, I'm a record executive that likes to teach artists how to become self sufficient and independent. It's no good for me to hold all the knowledge if I can't give it back to individuals. So I try to avoid signing artists because I don't want to be responsible. But what I would do is I would show them how to make the necessary steps to, uh, make their own projects and whatever they can't, um, handle on their own.

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> Kimio Daniels>Then that's how I would determine the responsibility I would take to help them with their projects.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, talk about some of your biggest musical influences. Who influences you to do what you do?

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> Kimio Daniels>Well, um, I started off, I learned from my, I grew up down the street from an artist by the name of Player Ham.

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> Kimio Daniels>And Player Hand was in a group called the Penthouse Players. Click. And in that group it was Player Ham, Tweed Cadillac and a producer and an artist by the name of DJ Quick. So I used to watch them every day when I was young.

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> Kimio Daniels>And that's how I got my first introduction to the music business in that aspect.

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> Kimio Daniels>But as far as my motivation and what got me inspired, I read a book on a music executive by the name of Walter Yadnikov. And when I read up on Walter Yednikov, that's what got me really, really dialed in specifically to just enjoy what it is that I'm doing as far as learning how to create the music, learning how to administrate the music, learning how to develop other art artist, learning how to articulate myself when I get in meetings with executives or attorneys. So my real motivation came from me reading a book called the Hitman and learning about Walter Yetnikov.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, you know, kind of let the listeners know what your hottest songs out there and what they talk about.

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> Kimio Daniels>Well, currently I released eight singles before I started doing the process, because my entire career I was trying to get a record deal.

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> Kimio Daniels>And in the process of trying to get this record deal, I was just, um, throwing darts on the wall. So in 2019, I released my first single, which was called Change it up, which was a song that I wrote to my sons. Now, if you ask me what's my greatest record, I think my greatest record would probably be either Dear dad or Daddy's Little Girls, because Dear dad was a song in reference to my father who was murdered when I was like 19 years old. And it caused me to, you know, enter this music because I was trying to figure out a way to get over losing my dad. So that was how I started writing songs.

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> Kimio Daniels>And Daddy's Little Girls was like a record that I wrote to my daughters because I spent so much time chasing my dream that I didn't get to spend a lot of time with my, uh, kids, but my daughters in particular. So.

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> Kimio Daniels>And I, I wrote these records to kind of like give them my side of the story and let them know that regardless of whatever happens, I still hold a lot of love in my heart for them. And those are probably my biggest records that listen to right now. Now, as far as the process concerned, I think this is probably one of the best projects that I've, um, ever done, because even though it's a personal record, I think I wrote some songs that can actually, um, engage other individuals outside of me. It's a. It's more. It's not just a record about me this time. It's more or less like me trying to give something to not only my sons, but everyone that's out here that's kind of like into this hip hop scene. So I think the process is going to be probably my greatest record of date to date because of the elements that's involved and the sentimental value of my sons being predominantly responsible for the creative process of it.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, talk about where you see the future of hip, uh, hop going or the music industry in general.

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> Kimio Daniels>Well, I see the music industry in general turning into a situation where it's going to be, uh, a hobby because you really can't make money selling CDs anymore. And the liability of doing the concerts has caused a lot of companies and a lot of individuals to, you know, take a second thought to it. So I think it's going to turn into something where it's just going to be like a hobby.

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> Kimio Daniels>And if you do end up creating something that is, um, Engaging, then you will have to transition over into putting your music into synchronized synchronization situations such as movies and TVs and all of these streaming apps. And in regards to the streaming platforms like the uh, um, the itools, the Spotifys, the titles like those are all be, will come to a situation where people will create like their own playlist to entertain their guests and their friends. And according to whatever records is, you know, popular at that time, you'll just be something that the people will gravitate to in listening. But as far as trying to create music to become um, wealthy, I think those days are pretty much like getting a little bit behind us because it's, it's very difficult to make that kind of capital off of music in this day and age. And second, because of the way that the entertainment industry has been moving over the past five to 10 years, it's become a very big financial, um, liability for a lot of companies to engage in it. So I think it's going to just turn into a situation where it's going to just be a hobby and you have to have a dedicated fan base in order to make a livelihood off of it.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that the listeners need to be aware of.

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> Kimio Daniels>Uh, well, like I said, I'm working on the process putting this record out, teaching my sons how to put out independent music.

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> Kimio Daniels>I'm also going to start working on my son Chunky's album. He's Chunky Too Cold is his professional name, but his producer, his name is Chunky on the track. But we're going to start working on his project and I'm actively trying to go after another artist or R and B artist that I would like to work on, work with and hopefully if everything go right and I could facilitate that, then I'll be helping that artist put music out. But I'm pretty much just going to keep doing what I've been doing for the past 20 something years. Educating my friends that need my knowledge and uh, giving the resources that I come across from my relationships that I had over the years and just continue to help more people put themselves in a position to just do what it is that they love to do creatively.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, throw out your contact info so people can keep up with everything that you're up to.

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> Kimio Daniels>Well, if you would like to get in contact with me, feel free to email me@chemo recordsmeo.com or you can go to chemio.com and get on the mailing list and um, subscribe. My Instagram is at Chemio Live. But, um, and, uh, you spell cameo. K, I, M, M, E, Y, O. You can simply type it into Google. My photo will come up and click and go wherever you see fit. Once you get on onto the website or you see my name, anything that you find interesting, click on it and find it. And then when you want to have a personal engagement, just feel free to send me an email to chemorecordsemio.com and I will follow up with you.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, close us out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on or any final thoughts you have for the list.

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> Kimio Daniels>Yes, I would just like to tell everybody, never give up on your dreams.

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> Kimio Daniels>You know, it's, um, it's always tomorrow, you know, and remember, tomorrow is always better than today. So you got a new 24 hours every day to make something happen.

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> Kimio Daniels>So I would advise everyone to not think that today and whatever negative elements you experience today will dictate what you'll be experiencing tomorrow. You always got an opportunity to do better.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>All right, ladies and gentlemen, be sure to check out Emmy Yo's album the Process. Keep up with everything that he's up to. Follow, rate, review, Share this episode to as many people as possible.

00:14:33.554 --> 00:14:56.947
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Jump on your favorite podcast app, follow the show, leave us a review, check it out, share it. If you have any guests or suggestion topics, Curtis Jackson 1978@att.net is the place to send them. Y'all also go check out my new album. Type in Curveball on your favorite part. Uh, on your favorite music streaming app.

00:14:57.130 --> 00:15:07.934
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Name of the album is Curveball the baddest. It was just released as well. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. Give me your. Thank you for all that you do and thank you for joining us.

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> Kimio Daniels>No problem. Thank you, sir. And I appreciate you allowing me to be on your platform.

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> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>For more information on the Living the Dream podcast, visit www.com until next time, stay focused on Living the dream. Dream.