Vegas-born, California-based artist keni can fly takes us on a colorful, nostalgic journey with the perfect blend of dreamy production and intimate lyrics.
From film photos and pastel-swirl album covers to music video clips with matching aesthetics, one glance at keni can fly’s feed reveals his dedication to storytelling. The singer found himself in the music scene just by creating with college friends and close relatives, yet nevertheless has notably grown in popularity with a multitude of creative projects coming soon.
BTS: Has your artist name always been keni can fly? How did you come up with it?
keni can fly: Initially, I just wanted to take the name Keni cause I’m Japanese, so I just wanted to take the Japanese way to spell my name (Kenny). I’m much more interested in building a name around something that is mine. A big thing for me is words of affirmation and i thought it’d be such a cheat code if every time someone says my name they’re telling me I can fly. It was all on the spot, I thought about it for like twenty minutes.
BTS: How long have you been performing? Was music an interest as a child?
keni can fly: Not really. I was a student athlete all my life. Where rap came in has a lot to do with my uncle and his friends. He was like five years older than me – he was definitely my role model and massively influenced me. He put me on to a lot of music from the years of like, age eight to thirteen. Him and his friends taught me how to freestyle – he would just put a beat on and I would try to rap about my 4th grade day or whatever. I got introduced to rapping and freestyle and I thought it was the coolest shit ever cause this dude I looked up to showed it to me.
Second, it was meaningful because a little bit ago he passed away from overdosing. He only showed me the best parts of him all the time, so I never really got to see that side. But I guess I wasn’t really surrounded by music. It was really just whatever he showed me and whatever he taught me. “’99 Pollen” references him, his name was Tommy.
BTS: How would you describe your sound? How did you develop it?
keni can fly: Good question. All these people that I’ve met in my life introduced me to different types of music. My uncle’s best friend also mentored me. When I was 13, he had a big song on Soundcloud and it really inspired me to be like, oh I can make a life out of this. Besides that it was just listening to the people around me and being like, do I like this? If so, I’m gonna keep it close.
BTS: So nostalgia seems to be a theme in your music, even your music videos and cover art… What is the inspiration behind that aesthetic?
keni can fly: I think nostalgia is one of the most powerful feelings that we hold on to as we grow, you know, I don’t want to be someone who holds on to the past, but I do know that when you’re a child there’s stuff you feel that you’re never gonna feel again. So there’s a large part of me that wants to remain a child in the sense that a child is very curious and always exploring. I want to keep that for the rest of my life. So I think holding onto nostalgia, kinda like using that as an idea to move forward in all the things that I do, whether it’s clothing, making music – I keep remembering what it was like to play, to just enjoy this life. Because we’re so pushed away from that as a society and everything, like forced into this world of work and like “make yourself something” that you honestly aren’t like naturally.
BTS: Who are some people you work with to make your music videos and visuals?
keni can fly: Everywhere I go, I’m attracted to people with creative interests and vice versa. since high school i’ve been making videos with cade, who is raw as hell with the visuals and just has an eye for shit like no one i’ve never seen. On the first day of college, I met Patrick Casella, that’s my guy who directs all my videos and shoots them. He helps me a lot on the visual side and has directed and DP’ed a lot. Chris Emond really helped me develop as an artist in a major way. It’s a combination of luck and this is what I want to make my life. We didn’t start making stuff until two years ago, there’s like two years where we were just hanging out, learning about each other. And it wasn’t necessarily intentional either. It just kind of happened like that.
BTS: How did you produce your music while balancing college?
keni can fly: Honestly am still trying to figure it out, but i’m in my last semester so ill lyk then. It definitely helps that i’m not a philosophy major anymore.
BTS: So you performed at Olé Music Festival with Aminé in April. How have you grown in performing live?
keni can fly: Great, great question to talk about. So let’s see… I have been performing for about a year and a half with my band now. That first year we did so much performing, and so much figuring out what that even looks like for us, that we established a little bit of a following here. And so eventually, we got to a point where people from the school program board (USD) came to one of our shows and they were like, “Oh my god, we need to have you perform as a student opener for one of our shows.” So I was like, hell yeah, of course – I’ll do that. So I accepted, and didn’t even know who the artists I was opening up for at the time were…
…It ended up being Aminé , one of my favorite artists ever. I mean, he’s amazing to me like crazy, creative, his own. He’s in his own lane in my head in terms of aesthetic. No one is doing it like him in my opinion. That being said, it was so inspiring for me because I was just like on the same stage as that dude, we got to perform in front of hundreds of people.
BTS: And so you’re on the lineup for Wonderfront festival, one of your first major festivals. How are you feeling about it?
keni can fly: We got bumped for our first musical festival because someone saw us at Aminé. We landed our first music festival gig which was crazy and so surreal, and I can’t believe that’s happening in November. And so that was a huge blessing. Performing is the most surreal shit ever. You get to create a frequency that they’re gonna receive. It makes me feel so alive.
BTS: This may be a tough question, but what is your favorite part of being an artist?
keni can fly: I think the truth is that I’m the perfect individual for something like this because I have two sides. I mean, like I took one of those tests and it’s like I’m 51% introvert and 49% extrovert. So when I’m performing there is a part of me that’s so alive and so the extrovert side of me is like getting fed, you know, and I prepare myself mentally for that. And then on the recording side, that’s my when I can really get reflective and introspective and be like with myself – and I need both to function really well.
BTS: You’ve been featured on the popular Spotify playlists “Pollen” and “anti pop” before, how did that grow your listeners?
keni can fly: So “Mr. Wednesday” on the fourth day [since its release] somehow got on “Pollen”. I never thought I was gonna get “Pollen”. When you’re doing what I’m doing, I think it’s really good to not focus on the numbers but what I did notice was I gained notoriety – the people reaching out to me, opening for Amine, being a part of the festival, all happened around the same time.
BTS: Who are some other artists that inspire you?
keni can fly: Choker, Frank Ocean, both Murakami’s, Jaden Smith, Erykah Badu, Saba, André 3000, Saba, Kanye, Jaden Smith, Noname, and Tyler The Creator just to name a few. Soul music in general.
BTS: Are you working on any bigger projects right now?
keni can fly: Yeah, so “chasingbutterflies” was the last single, actually, before I dropped this six song project, “cherimoya LUV”. It’s literally taken me like a year to feel okay with dropping, to get everything right. It’s all falling into place. And now it’s like, I conceptualized this EP, like over a year ago. But I’m just, I’m so happy with where it’s at. And it’s such a perfect blend of who I am and all parts of me sonically and includes everyone I work with and the dopest people around. So yeah, I’m just really excited to get it out and show the world who I am.
BTS: Is there anything else you’d like to talk about!
Fickleberry is coming soon. Fikleberry is a fashion and visual media company founded with the intent of helping others rediscover their youthful curiosity.
We can’t wait to see all the things Keni Can Fly has in store!
•
Find keni can fly on social media and streaming platforms HERE
Subscribe to Beyond The Stage for more content from rising artists and all things music!
- Show Review: The Weeknd’s After Hours til Dawn - August 8, 2022
- Get to Know: keni can fly - August 8, 2022
- New Music Friday: July 29, 2022 - July 29, 2022
