The Playground Meets: ThatKiddVee
Written & Interview By: Zahir Byam
ThatKiddVee is a 17 year old budding singer and rapper with aspirations higher than the boroughs River Park Towers.
Vee makes music that touches on numerous topics such as love, heartbreak, and adolescence. However, something that helps him stand out is his interpolations of songs from the 2000’s era. Vee prides himself off of the use of those classic samples as heard on his 2 song EP, Love Nostalgia. This EP samples classic records from that era such as 50 Cent’s 21 Questions and Lil Wayne’s Mr. Carter. On Vee’s song 21 Questions featuring Devon Terrell, he incorporates lyrics from the original version and puts a modern touch on its production. The video sees him and Devon Terrell dealing with relationship struggles before leaving for a party. Mr. Carter is a song that samples the Lil Wayne classic of the same name. In the song Vee talks about the issues he faces communicating with a girl that is very special to him.
Wise beyond his 17 years, Vee knows that the music business at the end of the day is about business. Along with his music, Vee recently tried his hand at selling merchandise. He emphasizes the importance of marketing while coming up with the designs of his merchandise, making sure that it’s aligned with his 2000s brand. “The merch that I’m selling now, has that 2000s vibe to it, so we have the Friends template, computer love template, and we put that on crewnecks, hoodies, all that.” Marketing wise, his influence is Devon Terrell, BLXST, and Drake. Vee is infatuated with the way that these artists conduct their album and single rollouts.
Vee puts his beliefs about the system of record labels and its inner workings on full display. “Being signed is a very tricky business if you don’t know about it. Sometimes labels sign hits and not talent. I think you can be very successful independent, but there’s pros and cons to being signed. As long as you’re educated and you know what you’re getting yourself into, everything should be fine.” Vee makes it clear that he understands the business and has no plans on becoming a casualty to the business that many artists his senior fall victim to.
Vee makes it known that his main goal is to have fun, be successful, and obtain longevity. He makes it clear that he has no interest in being the next novelty artist that peaks too early in their careers and experiences a sharp decline. Vee wants to grow, progress, and sound as authentic as possible while doing so. In ten years, Vee sees himself as a well-respected artist in the industry, a good songwriter for other artists, and a role model for future artists. He’s taking his younger years to polish his talents and become a musical prodigy in the future. To future artists on the rise, he highlights that they should remain consistent and authentic. “If you’re trying to fake a life, many people see that and it throws them off. Stay authentic, stay vulnerable, and have fun with it.”
Check out ThatKidVee’s latest release “Love Nostalgia” below
