Kilo Kish: Pophopalternatronica
If I had to describe Kilo Kish in a single word, it would be storyteller. Kish is one of the best at experimenting with sound across her projects while maintaining cohesion in terms of concept and narrative. Her newest project, American Gurl exemplifies this very talent. Integrating everything from electric beats, glittery synths, and manic rhythms to moments that feature a darker more bitter timbre, Kish uses this project to effectively critique the intersections of American consumerism and art. With a degree in design in her back pocket, the 31 year old also excels at painting a visual picture of what she says in her music. In this case, every song on the album is paired with its own video of Kish posing in front of artificially stunning American landscapes decorated with price tags. This album screams “beauty, art, and luxury sell.”
Contrasting with her flashy, exaggerated presence in the public eye, Lakisha Robinson at home wears a pulled-back bun, navy blue striped shirt, and a warm and welcoming smile. Behind her dining room table is an extremely cute framed print of a strawberry. I feel like I’m sitting across from her in her home even though we are on Zoom on opposite coasts.
How do you feel about the labels the music industry has given you?
In a way, I like it because I’m given a lot of freedom in terms of like people understanding that my projects have a lot of different components to them. I’m seeing them through a lens of conceptual art and also through music, so I think that some labels like if I look on Wikipedia will say something like “art-pop,” or there will always be some component of the understanding that it’s not only for the theme of just making songs, and they are project-based things. So that I like.
I don’t necessarily believe in genre, and often you’ll get asked questions like “what do you define your music as,” and since I started I never really had an answer for it. A lot of times people have a specific thing they’re going for. Just recently this year, I finally came up with a name for it: I’m gonna call it Pophopalternatronica, and that’ll be my thing.
When I first started people put me more in the rap category. Granted, the music was a lot more hip hop when I first started out, and then over the years, I kind of changed, but in my mind, I never really ever considered anything rap. In my mind, I was just making songs, and they varied depending on the tempo of the song, and I didn’t really see the difference between what I did and what, for example, Damon Albarn does in Gorillaz. I didn’t really notice that one is considered indie pop or alternative with hip hop elements, but one is obviously rap or alternative R&B. So that part I didn’t get, and I still don’t get it.
Which music video was your favorite to make and why?
I like making all of them, but I think the most memorable was probably “Elegance” just because of just how on the fly it was. And we just kind of “throw and go” did a video in the middle of the scrambling in Shibuya, which was really fun. We waited till, like, 01:00 A.M and kind of just did it. But it wasn’t my favorite in making it because it was extremely cold outside, and I was wearing just a tutu, and it was like dead winter, so super intense, actually. But it got done in two or three hours, and it’s one of the more memorable videos because my best friend and my boyfriend were in the animal costume suits, and we were already having such a great trip. So I remember that as one of the more spontaneous videos that we made.
I also really like “Void,” too because that required actual practice for us to get right. And that one was a little bit more like method [acting], which I like. It was more fun to morph into this person who’s super combative, which is not necessarily my personality all the time. So, yeah, those are probably my favorites.
That’s awesome. I was watching “Void” the other day, and I was like, how did they film this?
Yeah, it was crazy. It was with one of my close friends, actually, who just moved to LA. I was looking for a double, and we just kept going through all these different people, and I was like, it looks like my friend Talia can be a double. And then she was like, yeah, I’m down, let’s do it. And we just knocked it out for about a week.
We did stunt training and learned how to fight and stuff, which was really fun. But it was probably the most physically draining video. I remember it was like 12 hours of fighting, accidentally really getting hit a number of times, hitting your head on the ground too hard. It just was really a painful video shoot.
I remember coming home and just crying because I was in so much pain from the shoot and also from the adrenaline and emotions from constantly being choked or having things happen to me all day. Your body doesn’t know the difference between doing it for fun or that you’re doing it for a reason. So you feel just very jittery the whole day, so that was tough. And it gave me more of an understanding of how actors must feel when they’re constantly having to play these types of characters. It gave me a lot of respect for that.
What gives your life meaning?
I guess what gives my life meaning is the expectation of getting to a place where I become myself fully. It’s wanting to know and understand the world better and sharing. And it’s not always my perspective. It’s always just like chasing a spirit or something that you’re trying to capture and express and have stewardship over and nurture and care for. And so for me, that’s like becoming the best version of what I can be in this world. So I guess that’s what it is.
When I first started, I didn’t really set out to do this at all. So it’s kind of been like a curve of accepting and trying and striving and learning and failing. It’s not achievable. It’s like one of those things that is going to be constantly outside of my reach, but it’s really just stretching yourself to be the most. And I hate the word authentic because I believe authenticity changes constantly, but I think it’s being the best possible light that you can be and standing in that as confidently as possible. And I think that takes years and years and years and years of practice, and I’m at the very beginning.
What’s your greatest fear?
I would say that it’s not being able to master life enough to live up to my potential. That’s probably my greatest fear because I know that there are many, many ways that you can live life. And I guess for me, it’s like a puzzle, and it’s like a path. Are you going to be able to choose the right one, or is there even a right one? So I guess it’s like self-mastery to me. It’s my biggest fear. Will I be able to figure out all the people and things and places in my life that make this click? That’s scary. I guess my fears are mainly about my own personal journey.
What’s your favorite memory from performing?
Favorite memory from performing… I have so many good ones. So many just different types of memories that are important. But I guess one of my favorite shows I played was FORM Arcosanti because it just was so beautiful. The setting was so beautiful. It was in the desert and a more artsy festival. My best friend was there and so was my boyfriend who performed with me. It just was like a fun hang.
It wasn’t stressful because a lot of times shows can have that stressfulness to them. It was a very slow, easy process, and it was just really fun. And a lot of friends were there. A lot of friends were playing, and that was one of my favorite festivals I played.
But then I really loved going on tour. I loved going on tour with different people, and I liked each tour for different reasons. Like, I loved going out with King Princess because Mikaela is just really fun to hang with. And obviously, I love going out with Vince [Staples]. I think touring is interesting because it’s like you create a little family bond in the tour itself.
What is one thing you would tell your college self?
I think my college self probably needs to tell me something now versus the other way around because I feel like in college you’re a lot more naive about the consequences of things that might happen.
I think what I would have my younger self tell myself now is that really nothing changed besides your perception of age and who you are. So it’s more so the other way around. In college, I just did whatever and I studied and I worked really hard. And even thinking now the amount that I worked is crazy. I had class from 9 am to 7 pm, and then at 7 pm, I would then go to work at a restaurant until 2 or 3 a.m. I would still go out after that till 4 am. And somehow at 7 am I would get up again and have all my work done, and I don’t even know how I did it. It’s a superpower because when you’re young, it’s like “whatever, cool. I still look great, and I’m going to get up and do all this shit.” And I think while you have the energy to do things, just explore all the options possible and meet as many people as you can and just soak up as much as you can.
Do you have any pets?
Oh, my God. No one’s ever asked me that.
Yeah, I have a cat. Her name is Snoopy. She has actually like 100 names. We rename her all the time. She’s seven. I got her when I first moved to LA, and she’s gone with me through all my apartments. She’s cool. She’s kind of bitchy and doesn’t really care about me at all, which is kind of fun. I feel like your pets are also, like your personality, too. So she’s kind of really independent and kind of does her own thing and doesn’t really like to be bothered.
But yeah, she’s great because she’ll just find all the bugs and get them. And she’ll go outside and eat all my herbs that are outside that I’m growing. But cats are so chill, too, and calming because they don’t require much and you know that they like you if they’re coming over to you. You know that they actually want to be with you because the rest of the time they just don’t care. [laughing]
Stream American Gurl, out now on all platforms!