Nor and I.Q. known as the rap duo Kin4Life, quickly got my attention after viewing a freestyle that was featured on Thisis50.com. I said to myself the days of asking what happened to real lyricists in female hip-hop were over.

I was even more intrigued that they represented the LGBTQ community, and are heavy advocates. Since then I have been following the career of Kin4Life.

In the midst, Unheard Voices has featured songs of theirs along the way. Hailing from Mt. Vernon, NY now by way of Atlanta, the duo has been hitting the music scene hard for ten years.

About Kin4Life

Together as a group and friends for over fifteen, Nor and IQ have solidified their family ties and Kin4Life has never had a truer meaning.

Kin4Life says they’re determined to bring hip hop glory back to their hometown and respect back to their genre.

As young entrepreneurs, they founded their label, Noriq Records in 2002. Under this imprint, they have released the album Kin4Life Volume I” and the EPs “Rock Star” and “I Love KIN4LIFE”. The video for the hit single “Make Up Girl” held a spot on the Click List Countdown on MTV’s Logo for 11 consecutive weeks, and was nominated for The Click List’s Top 10 Videos of 2009.

In 2013, Kin4Life released their full length album “Money Brings Trouble”, available on iTunes and other online retailers.

Recently, Kin4Life has performed at South By Southwest 2015, the GO Magazine New York Nightlife Awards show, Pride celebrations in major U.S. cities and the Dominican Republic (where they performed along with Grammy nominee Marsha Ambrosius) and nightclubs and music festivals across the country. Kin4Life won the Out Music Award for Best Hip Hop Song of the Year in 2012 for “It’s Over Now”, was chosen as Group of the Year by the OutHipHop.com 2010 Readers Poll and named one of the top 50 most influential
LGBTQ celebrities by the G-List Society in 2013. Notable collaborations include tracks with producer DJ Jazzy Jeff and artists STS, Lil Flip, Black Ice and Clarita De Quiroz.

While the two loves the art of emceeing, they say their production and songwriting skills makes them a hot commodity behind the scenes. Working with the hottest up and coming hip hop and R&B acts, Kin4Life garnered comparison to Missy Elliot, prompting them to form Noriq Records’ subsidiaries, Red Eye Productions and The KIN Factory (writing and production). They showcased their talent as producers in the fall of 2009, winning the “King of the ATL” battle at the industry proving ground Producer’s Swap Meet in Atlanta. They have worked with a range of artists including Black Ice, Babs Bunny, Monifah, Lady Twist and Ty Ward. Their single “Money Brings Trouble” was chosen for placement in the feature film “Changing The Game” which premiered at the 2011 Hollywood Black Film Festival and opened in AMC Theaters in May 2012. Kin4Life’s music has also been featured in the films: Black Womyn Conversations, M.I., Honor and Pride, The Family, and the Crazy Sexy Cool, GirlPlay and Lovers and Friends webseries. In 2012, KIN4LIFE made their acting debut as cast members in an Atlanta production of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues”.

The music video for “It’s Over Now” was an official selection for the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival 2012 and The Women’s Film Festival 2015. In 2010, Kin4Life wrote and produced the single “Lone Ranger” in support of LGBTQ youth, and in response to the recent wave of bullying and attacks that have made national headlines. The track was released as a free download on Christmas Day and had 2000 downloads in the first 48 hours. Kin4Life has also been featured on the PBS Emmy winning series “In The Life: Defying Stereotypes” which they now screen at universities across the country as part of a diversity and anti-bullying program and workshop for students and faculty.

More recently, we featured Kin4Life as 5 LGBTQ rappers that you should know about that’s killing the game. And now we’re featuring them as a featured artist of the month with our partnership with Reverbnation, to honor their community & LGBTQ activism, individualism, and contributions they have made in the music industry. It’s not easy being a female in hip-hop, and the two do it well.

Interview

Get to know Kin4Life in our interview below and stream some music below!

UV: When did you fall in love with music?
Nor: I loved music since I could remember especially Hip Hop. Being from New York,the birthplace of Hip Hop,I was exposed to people freestyling and beat boxing in the hallway of my building.
IQ: The mid 80s listening to mom play all herfavorite songs on repeat.

UV: How long have you been creating and performing
music?
Nor: I wrote my first song in 1991 and we’ve been doing shows since about
1995.
IQ: For 15 years and plan on going 15 more!

UV: Tell the Unheard Voices readers what your passions are and who or what motivates you to continue to strive in a cut throat industry?
Nor: I am extremely passionate about Love,Life and Happiness. Everything I do is in the name of a positive outcome whether it be for me personally or something else.I want to make the world just a little bit better by sharing my talents and good vibes. My passion is my motivation. I love what I do so I will never stop.
IQ: I am passionate about the arts and music education in general. I know music saved my life. I am motivated to continue growing and creating so that every little girl knows there is a place for her in this cut throat industry.

UV: How would you describe your music?
Nor: I would let the listener determine that. There’s no one way to describe our music other than the fact that it’s dope and all ages and races rock to it.
IQ: It’s the struggle + fun movement.

UV: Do you compose and write your own music/lyrics?
Nor: Most definitely I have so much to say there’s no way someone else would be able to articulate what goes through my mind in the way that I do. I also love producing music. I have produced the majority of the music you have heard from KIN4LIFE for the last 15 years.
IQ: Absolutely we compose 95% of our music and write 100% of our lyrics.

UV: What`current projects do you have out or forthcoming projects in progress?
Nor: You can enjoy all of our music on our site www.kin4life.com we have numerous mixtapes, albums and EPs that you can enjoy. Also we are sewing the last pieces to our new EP we got dropping this summer followed by a full length album which we are looking to release early fall.
IQ: Currently,you can support our album Money Brings Trouble everywhere online. We have all of our current and past projects available on kin4life.com. Our new project is so controversial I don’t want to release the name as of yet but watch out.

UV: What artists have the greatest musical influences on you and your music?
Nor: KIN4LIFE we are the standard. We compete with our own records and aim to get better with each creation. There are tons of great artists in the world of music but KIN4LIFE is my favorite.
IQ: Biggie!

UV: What or who influenced you to begin your music career?

Nor: My mom is definitely my biggest influence. She taught me how to write my first rhyme and she also was a recording artist. She would take me to the studio with her and I would sing background vocals and co produce tracks for her.
IQ: My mom playing my first demo over and over and the geek, myself, gaining respect from my peers because of my flow. It was a no-brainer.

UV: What advice do you have for other indie artists trying to succeed?
Nor: Be true to your own sound. Don’t try to make music that sounds like what the radio is playing. Be you do you no matter what. Use your immediate resources and make no excuses. You want it go get it.
IQ: Never quit, and do it for the love not the money.

UV: What is the hardest challenge you have encountered your fan
base?
Nor: I can’t say its been hard other than the fact that so many people are now competing to be in the limelight so the good artists may get lost in the shuffle. However, its a rewarding journey and we have been blessed to have fans that have rocked with us for our entire career and our fan base continues to grow and progress. Longevity is the key and we have had that.
IQ: Attention span is short, so you gotta keep em with new music and content.

UV: How in tune are you with your fans?
Nor: Our fans are our family, our KIN, we love and embrace each one individually as if they were our own personal friends or family. Any fan that meets us will be greeted with a warm smile and a lasting embrace.
IQ: We are very in tune. We could not be independent artists for 15 years without listening to our fans.

UV: Has anyone ever given you negative feedback on your music, if so howdid you
react to it?
Nor: For all the positive feedback we have had on a our music the small amount of negative feedback seems like background noise.
IQ: Well, it was more like negative feedback on our look. AnA&R at Sony said we weren’t f–kable and it inspired us.. I have seen him multiple times in my career. I’m still KIN4LIFE, his job has changed several times.

UV: How important and how difficult is it to support your career with your own funding?
Nor: It is very important to invest in yourself and when you truly believe in yourself you will sacrifice everything to make it happen. It’s rewarding when you can take two quarters and flip it to a dollar. A lot of investments in this game are for the long term so one must be steadfast and not look at things as difficult, but merely as a vehicle to take them where they want to go.
IQ: It’s important and necessary. One must despise the free lunch.Anything worth having will be difficult
so just go for it!

UV: To date, what has been your best performance? When was it,where was it and why is it your best performance?
Nor: Definitely Idapalooza, the music festival in Tennessee.
It was in the middle of the woods with thousands of great earthy hippie type folk sleeping in tents.
They showed so much love, we rocked a stage in the middle of a barn yard and I all remember is half naked women being thrust towards the stage (willingly)and men hanging from the beams in joy. Very wild and very exciting.
IQ: South by Southwest 2015 in Austin was my favorite performance. We rocked the crowd and left a huge impression on the industry and the offers are starting to pour in.

UV: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Nor: In five years I will still be making dope records and doing shows on a larger level. I plan to use my talents and celebrity to give back to my community and inspire a generation.
IQ: Doing music, touring,mixing, writing. All music, all day.

UV: In closing, I would like you to leave the Unheard Voices readers words of encouragement and inspiration, especially for those pursuing a career in music and entertainment.

Nor: The answers are inside you, listen to your inner voice and never quit. Be happy and do what you love. Everything else will fall into place.
IQ: I know you think you have to please people and go mainstream. You don’t– make music that makes you happy and that you are proud of. The mainstream will come to you.