Before leaving his makeshift dressing room in the Carrie Dome to perform at University Unionís 2010 Block Party, Kevin Brereton, otherwise known as k-os, took a moment to talk about the real meaning of his name, hip-hop culture and the beauty of Canadian artists.

The Daily Orange: Is this your first time in Syracuse?
Yeah, actually, I think Ö I remember passing through here when I was a little child because my parents used to live in Utica, (N.Y.). And we were going somewhere else in New York and we came through here when I was a kid. But yeah, this is my first time remembering it. Itís cool. Itís like I had no expectations. We got here yesterday and stayed out at this hotel, just with our van and just chilled out. Itís kind of like Canada. Itís like suburbs. I think there were some suburbs, yeah.

Why is the ìkî in k-os lowercase?
I donít know. You know what? Recently in my home country in Canada people started spelling it with capital letters. I donít know, I think at first I was just like, because that ìk-osî originally stood for ìKevinís Original Sounds,î so when I changed it I was kind of going through my humble stage where I was like, ìOh, Kevinís Original Sounds, thatís kind of like Ö you know?î And everyone had a name that meant something. You know BDP or KRS or whatever. And I just thought it would be cool to kind of understate it in hip-hop because everyone was capitalizing and I was into a lot of indie music. I think that was the vibe I was getting ó just to keep it more, like, passive as opposed to, like, aggressive.

Some people have said it stands for ‘Knowledge of Self,’ while others have said ‘Kiss on Sight.’
Wow. Thatís hilarious. ìKnowledge of Selfî was the original. You know, ìKevinís Original Soundsî was the original thing and then I changed it to ìKnowledge of Selfî when I went through that stage. And I suppose maybe now it can mean ìKiss on Sight.î Yeah, thatís OK (laughs). Itís more of that, that name ó Iíve never called myself k-os on track and I donít really relate to that name as much as itís something else I can be as opposed to walking around thinking of myself as that. So, youíre kind of posing an amazing question because, can the meaning of your name change over time? As humans, it really doesnít. Youíre Sam, Iím Kevin, and people will probably call us that for the rest of our lives. But imagine if, as a musician, you could actually start perceiving your name different and then doing your art different. So, I donít know. I donít want to get into it Ö itís just Ö I think itís cool. Itíd be amazing to me if that starts to happen and it starts to mean a whole bunch of different things. It would probably be more representative of the music and the way I see music.

A lot of your lyrics comment on contemporary hip-hop and the way the culture is. What do you see as wrong with the scene today?
Interesting, because I just did an interview with Chuck D. on my blog. And one of the questions was, ìShould rappers stop rapping about hip-hop?î Because itís a big joke now because all my friends who are rappers were like, ìRemember when all we used to do was rap about hip-hop?î And we still do to some extent, but I think you just rap about whatís around you. I think ó I was thinking about this the other day in the shower ó if you grow up in the suburbs or not the street, you donít really have anything else to rap about (laughs) but rap. You know what I mean? So you can concentrate on the whole state of hip-hop because youíre not doing it to hustle, thereís not a money factor, you know, youíre basically living with your parents. And youíre so obsessed with the art of hip-hop and you get so nerdy about it.

You call it being nerdy?
Well, in a Weezer kind of way. Not in a negative way ó in a Weezer, kind of like intelligent way. Not in a way where itís like nerdy, you know, where itís like less of or less cool. But yeah, I mean, the state of hip-hop now, I think the iPods changed everything and shuffle and computer music has changed everything. And now, hip-hop is probably going to go into some kind of Renaissance hopefully where, I mean, two of the bands tonight that weíre playing with, I mean Drake and Pharrell, are emcees, but they sing. Francis and The Lights is like, a super soulful band and I sing as well, so as weíre starting to see, hip-hop isnít just a bunch of guys coming out and rapping at the crowd or, you know, speaking it. Itís getting a lot more musical, so hopefully that kind of obliterates the whole like, dogma and propaganda about what the state of hip-hop is. Hopefully it just gets more musical.

What differences do you see between Canadian and U.S. hip-hop?
Itís just observation, or the ability to observe America from outside America. Americans talk about what they deal with every single day and Öwhether itís Drake or Kardinal or the certain one or two people that people know about in Canada ó theyíre able to sort of look at America. I think a better example is actors. If you think of some of the dopest actors from Canada ó Michael J. Fox and Hayden Christiansen, you know, uh, you know, that girl who was just in that movie ìJunoî Ö Ellen Page, and the list goes on, Captain Kirk, William Shatner ó actors sort of figured it out because itís easier to sort of cloak your persona in America and people may not think youíre American. Music is a lot more cultural ó thereís a sound to it, thereís a sensibility, you canít really pretend. I canít pretend to be, like, Gucci Mane.

smorgens@syr.edu
 

Published on May 2, 2010 at 12:00 pm