K. Flay: A college degree is not essential, but if you're already in c...

I've always had a duck personality. Calm above water, feet going crazy below.

K. Flay

calm crazy personality water

The more time passes in your life, I think the greater you understand perspective. So I'm happy that I've had experiences that have reminded me that most exciting things might not feel so exciting later, and the most disappointing things might not be so disappointing later, either.

K. Flay

me you time life

There's only so many variations on the basics of human relationships. To me, it's all about the detail and how you tell the story. How you say, 'I love you.'

K. Flay

me you i-love-you love

Even the dark places are places. You're still somewhere.

K. Flay

somewhere places you dark

There's something distinct and interesting about a live performance. There's this weird immediacy that's, for me, really invigorating, and it just feels really rewarding.

K. Flay

weird live performance me

I know that in my own mind, I struggle with a desire to be both entirely absent and entirely present in any given moment.

K. Flay

moment my-own struggle mind

I was always very academically focused when I was growing up, and music was something for which I really had no preconceptions or expectations for myself or really any rules. It kind of represented, at least for me, a divergent path of creativity and self-discovery.

K. Flay

myself me music path

My dad was a serious alcoholic, and ultimately, that's why he died. When you're a child of someone who struggled with things like that, you look for the common thread. Is there a pattern? Is there an inheritance of pathology in some way? That haunts me.

K. Flay

look me you dad

A good sign for me, that I'm a good spot mentally, is when I'm super prolific. And I just wake up every day excited to make or replicate music in some way. That's really nice.

K. Flay

day good me music

I'm having this disbelief and dissatisfaction with an establishment that feels like it's moving backward, and I think there's a similar feeling with everyone of my age and in the world of music and artistic stuff. Art is an important way those feelings get expressed and help people process their feelings and opinions.

K. Flay

music age people art

Pre-show, I warm up my voice, stretch, do a little team huddle, and sometimes throw a shot of whiskey in there, too. After the show, I hang out at merch meeting people and signing things. After that, I usually try to see friends in whatever city we're in, or if I'm super beat, listen to a podcast and pass out.

K. Flay

city friends team people

Hip-hop is rich in musical allusion. It takes something that already existed, respects it, and reuses it.

K. Flay

takes hip-hop something rich

As an independent artist, you control the means of production, which is the ultimate form of empowerment.

K. Flay

control you independent artist

When I first started making music, I was all about wordplay and how fast I could rap, but over the years, I've really gained an appreciation for melody. What's cool is that when you're singing, you have to be concise, and when you're rapping, you have the opportunity to be really detailed with your lyrics.

K. Flay

cool you music appreciation

Most of the people at my headline shows are in their 20s, but it varies a ton: like, I've had a six-year-old hug my leg after the show and a 60-year-old shake my hand. It's cool to see people connecting with the music across different generations.

K. Flay

cool hug music people

I think, on the rap side of life, I've always been inspired by and respected Missy Elliott for a long time. She's funny and created an image for herself that was non-sexualized but was really interesting and really cool and really kind of avant-garde in a lot of ways.

K. Flay

cool time life funny

A lot of people don't even listen to albums start to finish, but I do - for sure.

K. Flay

listen finish start people

I went in reverse with this whole thing. People I've toured with were kids who consumed as much hip-hop as they could. I didn't do that until I started rapping.

K. Flay

hip-hop started who people

My songs are a mix of my own weird raised-by-wolves perspective and civilization.

K. Flay

weird own my-own perspective

When I was growing up, I wasn't in bands, and had really no intention of ever doing music. I went out to California for college, and kind of on a whim started making music really as a joke, and over the course of the next five years started playing a lot of shows, and music became this really integral part of my identity.

K. Flay

growing-up music college identity

A college degree is not essential, but if you're already in college, and if it's at all possible, you should definitely try to finish. In college, you have a very supportive community right there, and it can give you opportunities to try out new things.