Ian Kamau Aims for Self-Discovery and Self-Actualization on the 'Heading Home' Remix EP with Georgia Muldrow

Ian Kamau is a musician living in Toronto who rose to prominence in the city’s rap circles since he was a 21-year old who released his debut album First in 2003—five full years before the world had heard So Far Gone. He began rapping at 16, honing his dexterity in public freestyle battles, like the one where he came in second during a competition at an HMV in 2001. He began taking recording music seriously after his University went on strike, forcing him into the studio to help cope with the boredom. He met up with Toronto rapper K-Os through a mutual friend who sent Kamau’s music along. “He went to one of my shows and he pulled me over after and explained to me he had some deal related to artist development and wanted to help me make music.” After performing and making music for the better part of the decade, both within the city and beyond it while on tour under K-Os’s wing, Kamau saw the successes that could come from taking music seriously. “That was the time when you could do a show with 500 people and you could sell 50-100 CDs. I would go and just burn up a bunch of CDs, bring them to my shows, and rock the fuck out of the show. I would sell like 80 CDs at the end of the night. So, I wasn't getting paid but I could still make $800 a night.” He went across Canada three times and even performed with The Roots in Europe, but something didn’t feel right.

“I didn't really understand what they were doing. They were setting me up to work together and be the next up. I just wanted to make music, I wasn't even thinking about business or any of that stuff. I never had a music dream, I didn’t want to be famous or anything like that, I just liked to make music. So when I got the opportunity I left. I think the business was scary to me because I didn't understand what I was dealing with. And I think it’s fun if you understand what it is that you're dealing with, but if you don't then it’s very dangerous. If you think you’re dealing with a kitten but it’s a lion, you're going to be in trouble.”

Now 35, Kamau is studying environmental studies at the same University that went on strike 12 years ago. This time he’s laser focused in what he wants to achieve with his time at the school. “I want to change the world. In school we speak about this upstream/downstream philosophy and a lot of problems we see are addressed downstream instead of looking upstream to see the foundation of the issue.” He’s balancing his time between school and music, applying academic rigor to his craft this time. He studied violin, trumpet and piano, and has been expanding his artistry by learning how to sing. As part of his path to self-improvement, Kamau visited a number of countries in Africa in 2012, stopping by Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda on his trip. The night before he was scheduled to leave for Africa, Kamau performed his last show, where he opened for an artist he had just become a fan of—Georgia Anne Muldrow.

Georgia Anne Muldrow is also a musician, and has been surrounded by musicians her entire life. She was born to a father who was a jazz guitarist and a mother who served as the musical director for a church. When Mos Def was asked to put together a jazz playlist for the New York Times, he included Muldrow’s music, saying: “She’s like religion. It’s heavy, vibrational music. I’ve never heard a human being sing like this. Her voice is wildly, finely expressive. If people love Amy Winehouse, they’re going to get their minds blown when they hear Georgia Anne Muldrow.”

Kamau was introduced to Muldrow’s music through his neighbour, and when the two finally met they hit it off right away. This led to them communicating while Kamau was in Africa, and when he returned to North America they finally began to work together. “Before we got to recording we just had great conversations about music, about jazz, soul, and West African music,” says Kamau of Muldrow. “Just having those things to draw from your experience of music and art, but then also not to have barriers when it comes to actually doing your own music. She’s very into production and beat making, but also has this long long history in terms of understanding all sorts of meta forms of music.” Their chemistry can be heard on the three tracks on Kamau’s new remix EP Heading Home on which Muldrow contributes her vocal talents to each song, with the standout “Heading Home (Remix)” showing just how compatible Kamau’s powerful lyrics are when placed beside Muldrow’s expressive vocals. Having experienced success with music in the past and taking his journey of self-discovery, it should be easy for Kamau to just walk away now. After all, in a rap industry that values youth more than anything, it may not be easy for a 35-year old to connect to most rap fans. But Kamau isn’t making music for the youth, or to become the next big Toronto rap export, or even for himself. “I make music because I’m an artist. I love making music.”

Noisey: You list groups like Leaders of the New School, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul as influences. What about them inspired you?
Ian Kamau: They’re weird. Tribe and De La were on some hippie stuff and they were doing things that came out of an arts and intellectual tradition that I understood. I listen to a lot of street stuff too but that was never me; I never identified with it, so there was a level where I couldn't understand it. All those artists just like doing weird stuff in terms of the samples and the references they used, there were all things that my Dad would know the sounds of. Their music would actually start opening up a conversation between me and my family so we could speak about things that were important to my parents like black peoples freedom, civil rights era music. For example, Art Blakey in relation to Q-Tip, or Diggable Planets and early Atlanta music pre-Outkast. I remember when I was 16, I went to a national black arts festival in Atlanta and I was looking for Outkast and Arrested Development, which were two different sides of the music scene then. But to me it all made sense because I was raised listening to John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Ron Carter etc.

Your music always seems to have a message behind it. How do you change someone’s mind through music or performances?
You present it like how you change someones mind in a conversation: you present a different viewpoint and you prove it. I’ve been having all these conversations online about Ferguson recently.

Do you think that music can still be a catalyst for change?
I don't think music by itself was ever a catalyst for change. It was always part of a constellation of different things always. No change ever comes from one thing or one person, or one group. It never comes from one thing. But music is an important support.

What's the most recent barrier that you’ve overcome in your music?
I never use to speak about myself in my music and things that make me insecure. I think a lot of great artists speak about things that make them fearful or insecure in some way. I think I can go a lot further with my own personal stories and that’s a hurdle that I’ve been confronting and in a lot of ways with this record I got over. But it’s still a process. I’d also like to be more careless with my singing. Yeah, I don't want to focus so much on whether my singing is good or perfect but more on being emotive with the songs. I always told myself that I wasn't going to sing on record until I sang on stage and then I did that, but I still feel more comfortable rapping than singing. I guess it shouldn’t really matter at the end of the day because all of it is expression.

What inspires you the most about Toronto?
The complexity. I think most people would say the multicultural nature of our city but what that really means is that the city is complex. We have a variety of different opinions that come from a variety of different backgrounds,and speak different languages. People either come here from another country, from another city around Toronto or people like me who were born here, we all encounter and interact with each other. I think by that nature it makes people in a sense more expansive because they have more chances to interact with a complex variety of opinions which leads to conflict and makes for some interesting situations. Esplanade is my favourite place to record music because it’s most comfortable for me. I’ve been in that apartment for 39 years. There are things that I can experiment with in a way and I don't have to worry about being judged because I have a level of comfort there. I feel like my best work comes out of being there. But if I can get into a situation where I’m comfortable amongst friends then its fine.

Do you think it hinders you as an artist, being a rapper from Toronto?
In terms of black music Toronto was not on the scene before. During our 90s hip-hop scene we were always asking for someone from Toronto to really blow up. Now, it’s funny to me because when Drake blew up a lot of people were really critical of him. It’s like “You’ve been asking for this for 15 years!”

And when you travel and say you're from Toronto do you feel they have a stereotype for you?
I’ll tell you a story. I was in Ethiopia and I was at the immigration office because I lost my passport in the ancient African kingdom of Axum. Anyways I strike up a conversation with this relatively young guy and he asks me where I’m from because he hears my accent and I say, “I’m from Toronto” and the only two references he could give me were Drake and Rob Ford. Those are the two references. Half way across the planet in the ancient African kingdom of Axum this guy was talking about Rob Ford and Aubrey Graham.

Do you regret walking away from the music industry when you did?
No, not in the slightest. I think I would've been a different person if I did.

For better or for worse?
Probably for worse but who knows. Maybe, I would be Kanye West right now. Is that better or worse? I don't know. I think it depends on your view of success; is success fulfillment or happiness or is it money, because those arent necessarily the same thing.

How do you define success?
Self-actualization; the ability to use your skill to be yourself and thrive doing that.

Do you think anyone has self-actualized?
I think self-actualization is perfection of something to be strived for but not something to be attained in it’s whole nature.

How long were you in Africa when you went over there most recently?
I was there for four and a half months in 2012. I think when we speak about South Africa specifically the people there are closer to understanding the fragility of freedom.

Does your music speaks to that?
I think that’s something that I’m interested in, and so it’s in the music. I don't like making those huge statements, but if you look at it we’re talking about some of my listeners seeing the apartheid regime essentially ending in 1990. So, if I go and I speak to someone who's my age down there, they were just coming out of that. They went to elementary school inside of that reality, so those ideas are more present to them. I think people in North America believe they’re closer to freedom than they actually are because they equate freedom with money, which is not freedom.

What is freedom?
Freedom is self-actualization. Freedom is choice.

If self-actualization can never be attained doesn’t that mean freedom can never be attained?
Pure unadulterated freedom can never be attained but a balance of responsible freedom can because my freedom is going to be restricted by your freedom but that’s what responsibility is. I can’t come in here and punch you in the face. Even if I want to thats not a problem but I’m not free to because society gives us boundaries so if that happens you can charge me. Society tells me I’m not supposed to do that. So, when I say freedom I don't mean unadulterated freedom because that puts you in a position where you can hurt other people. I’m talking about freedom within the bounds of other peoples freedom as well. If I have freedom and I don't impact your freedom negatively by being free then its all good. That’s not total freedom but thats responsible freedom. I don't believe in total freedom because it doesn't exist and that would also make me a narcissist which means I don’t care how something impacts you. That’s irresponsible.

@SlavaP