Rising Stars: Meet Kenneth Dandridge of Grand Rapids

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenneth Dandridge

Hi Kenneth, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
From a kid in high school who was in choir, who danced and played instruments, I always knew I wanted to be a musician of some sort. Fitting in was very difficult for me growing up, however I was not shy about expressing my art. That allowed me to gain some lifelong friendships along the way who played a huge part in encouraging me to give my dream as a rap artist a real shot. I’ve had some struggles along the way with building a good fan base. Coming up in the Vlog era was a challenge because it was the beginning of the end of hand to hand exposure. Technology and social media was starting to make its strides & give independent artists a new tools to navigate the music industry as they saw fit. That’s what I did, I’m a huge X (formerly known as Twitter) user, when I joined in 2010 and I built a small, but solid fan base releasing mixtapes (a total of 29) exclusively with DatPiff.com which opened doors for me nationwide. I’ve performed in 2 Coast 2 Coast competition tours in Overland Park, KS (2016)(2017), the Juneteenth celebration in New Brunswick, NJ (2022), Rock The Block in Grand Rapids, MI (2024). I have a very unique style & sound which is very different from the sound my city has a hunger for. However, it never stopped me from building relationships with a handful of my favorite DJ’s within the community here & finding my way to a stage from time to time nowadays. Since 2020 I’ve been releasing my music professionally via an independent distribution company, Distrokid to allow myself to have my music in online stores. Today, I’m a more matured artist who’s ready to be heard on a more broad spectrum.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
By no means was this journey smooth at all, in fact, it’s still rocky. A lot of people still don’t know of my music. Most are even surprised to even know that I do. I pride myself in being an extremely humble artist, therefore I’m not the type to hassle anyone or reach out more than once concerning performing anywhere here in the city. I’ve never had the “right equipment” to put my music out with good quality until 2020. A lot of my most meaning lyrics in my past music was overlooked because of it.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a rap artist but I wouldn’t necessarily box me in to just that one category. I dabble in many different genres outside of just Hip-Hop. I love the funky, jazzy, classical vibes too. I pride myself on my work ethic. When it comes to writing lyrics, composing songs, having material readily available whenever. I’ve got that covered. Not too many artists know how to structure a song these days, it’s almost a lost skill. Most of my peers would say that I’m a tad bit too humble as an artist, especially a rap artist. But the truth is, I’m still learning and I’ve never thought I was better than anyone. The difference is that I actually live that statement. I’m often taken back by people who say I’ve done “such an amazing job” as I’m the artist who’s his biggest critic. I just love making music.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I love about my city is it’s diversity when it comes to art. Our city has so much to offer. There’s so much talent here that’s been bother discovered and undiscovered. When we come together, we create timeless moments that can’t be recreated. Moments that only this city will remember. On the downside, we don’t come together enough as frequently as I feel we should. There’s an underlying sense of a crab mentality sometimes that most of us choose to forget about. But I also feel that it’s also necessary competition that keep the fuel to the fire going in our city. It’s beautiful disaster, if you will.

Pricing:

• $200 /per every 15 min performance out of state
• $100 /per every 15 mins performance in state

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechamp1989
• Twitter: https://x.com/kungfukenny89
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@SkinnyCasanova