Recently I got the opportunity to interview Detroit emcee Kid Vishis fresh off the release of his much anticipated debut album “Timing Is Everything”. A slick witted emcee with a penchant for witty lyricism and a razor sharp delivery, the album does not disappoint as he not only flexes his spitting skills on tracks like “Talk Behind My Back”, but also showcases his songwriting skills on cautionary “Look At All My Shit” and the reflective “Big Brothers”. It’s not hard to see Vishis as an artist poised to join the ranks of some of The D’s elite spitters along with Eminem, Elzhi and his real life big brother Royce Da 5’9″.
Definitely one of my easiest and free flowing interviews ever, Vishis and I chopped it up in a near half hour conversation via Skype on a number of topics ranging from his maturation as artist, boxing, battle rap, mutual admiration of each other’s respective hometowns, and of course some laughs. Read below and see why Detroit’s prince is next to rise in the ranks with the heavyweights.
The Contender: Interview with Kid Vishis
Before we begin I just want to congratulate you on the release of “Timing Is Everything”. Excellent work on your debut.
Thank you sir. I’m definitely appreciative of everything and I’m super excited. Everything has had positive feedback.
It’s deserved. It’s definitely a tight album. I’m feeling the new single and the video, everything is dope.
Man I appreciate that. That’s dope.
How would you describe your progress you made as an artist to get here from doing mixtapes?
My progress as an artist is what pushed the album. I can do mixtapes all day focusing on verses, get a few features and stuff like that. This is a new chapter in my life where I’m focusing on making songs and being a songwriter, but it’s just the beginning. So for people to be so positive with feedback right now it’s exciting because they ain’t heard nothing yet.
Growing up what kinda stands out the most as what drove you to be an artist? Was there a song or experience that made you think “I gotta do this!”?
I can honestly say what did it for me was Bad Meets Evil, man. When I heard Royce and Eminem go on a track together I was like “Wow, whoa, hold on a second”, know what I mean? This was a whole different style. They’re having fun, they’re going in lyrically, they have a great chemistry together. They had this back then, it kinda made me just want to write just for the challenge.
Was this from the Bad Meets Evil song on Em’s CD, the old Game Records EP or a combination of both?
It was a combination of both but the thing is I was hearing all this stuff before they put it out. Then to see how receptive people were to it was like “this is something I wanna do”. Then pretty much all I ever listened to was Hip-Hop. It was like Rock & Roll when I first heard that I was like “I wanna try this!” (laughs).
How did you get the name Kid Vishis?
The “Kid” part was just from me always being the younger guy around all the older kids. They looked at me like the young buck or whatever. “Vishis” was actually from people describing my rap style before I had a rap name. I literally had no rap name. I was rapping these bars for my brother’s friends, and they would head back to my brother and describe me as vicious. So that’s when he was finally like “Yo I need to hear you rap. People keep telling me how vicious you are, I need to hear it”. So it kinda just stuck.
I asked Royce on Twitter what was something about you that people didn’t know about you or should know about you that people should know and he said you can fight. You be out here beating people’s asses, Vish?
(Laughs) Nah man I’m a real chill, laid back dude. It’s just that everybody’s not cool. You got some people who are just looking for trouble. We actually train, get in the ring and stuff like that, so I’m not looking to fight nobody but I’m not gonna tolerate disrespect, because I don’t disrespect no one. If you beef with me, it must be something wrong with you. That’s my opinion. Usually the tough people and the gangstas love me because I’m a man of respect.
If you could put any two boxers in the ring from any era who would you like to see go at it?
Ooh wee! Man, I wanna see Ali vs. Tyson. I’d have to put Floyd in there, I wanna see him go against a Sugar Ray, Robinson or Leonard. That’s to see if he’s really a throwback fighter like that. He’s real souped up and crafty with it. That would a dream (laughs).
This next question is a little out there but I seen it asked before and have to ask. Who do you think would win in a celebrity boxing match between Prince and Little Richard?
Prince or Little Richard? I don’t know man, Little Richard be turnt up! He’s kinda wiry, but you know the quiet ones be the crazy ones. Prince’ll probably bite him or some shit while they’re fighting. That’ll be a weird fight to see (laughs).
(Laughs) Back to the music, are you a fan of battle rap and have you done it before?
Yeah I done it before. I battled a few times just as a prove a point kind of thing.
Would you do it again?
Yeah I would if it makes sense. I’m a big fan of it. In fact before you hit me I was watching Clips vs. Daylyt. I mean those dudes are top dogs, but Charlie Clips man, (laughs) he’s on some other stuff.
What did you think about Daylyt’s last round in Total Slaughter?
Know what man, at this point with Daylyt he’s all the way consumed in this rap shit. People say he’s ruining battle rap, I don’t agree with that shit. I feel that he’s adding to battle rap. It’s nothing wrong with what he does. I mean I would always prefer him to rap, not lay on the floor, ya mean. That type of stuff’s not cool. Sometimes it works in his favor, sometimes it don’t.
Did you hear Ab-Soul’s battle with Daylyt?
Yeah, Ab-Soul surprised me, honestly. He was going in, doing a lot of the name flips and stuff like that, but on that one Daylyt went crazy. I still think Joey beat Hollow too. I think it was 2-1.
Man Joey could have won and should have won that battle. What killed it for me is when he addressed the crowd then put the mic down.
Yeah that’s what killed everybody, and I mean it killed me too. But if we’re just going by the bars, he definitely out barred Hollow and everybody thought that Hollow would get him. And even if you say Hollow won, you gotta admit he took some lumps in that battle.
Yeah I’ll definitely say he had better bars the whole time. I think the first round was kind of a toss up but Joe definitely got the second round. He had some momentum going into the third round, but man, when he put the mic down… It was a wrap.
I agree, I agree
I seen people talking about his delivery too, saying it wasn’t suited for battle rapping, which I thought was corny.
That’s bullshit. It’s not a specific style to battle rapping. That’s corny. I’ve never heard of it being a specific style. Styles make fights. If he was battling someone else it might’ve been more effective. Man, I’ma be honest. The start of that battle when Hollow got the plastic bag and was like “something, I’m about to go in my bag”, that was wack. He started the battle off wack so he lost my momentum right there. And most of the time I felt like Hollow was just hollering, and people called it a performance. I’m like well, for someone who was supposed to just wash Joey up completely, he did not do that at all. And the thing is Hollow’s a monster. I’ve heard him spit way better bars than that before, so that’s what I grade him on. I know what he do, I know how he gets down. I wouldn’t want to battle him. I wouldn’t just choose to battle him, unless I’m getting paid a bunch of money. I’m just a fan of it. I’m not trying to criticize anybody. I just expected more out of Hollow being a fan, and Joey, he did his thing until the third round. I was like “Pick the fucking mic up! What are you doing?!”. But he did keep rapping though.
Yeah he was going in after he picked the mic back up but it was too late.
Yeah, it was too late. I automatically give that round to Hollow, but I think he won the second round for sure, and I think he edged him on that first one.
On some Detroit vs. Everybody shit, what 5 Detroit emcees would you put up against the best in a battle between the best in any area?
Straight up battle rapping? If I can use Em & Royce I’m definitely taking them. Elzhi… Just to add to the battle element I gotta get someone that this is what they actually do. I would take Calicoe and probably take Marvwon.
Who would I want Marv to battle… I want him to battle Shotgun Suge for the style matchup. Suge just has a certain style to him and Marv basically has the opposite, know what I mean? Calicoe, I want Calicoe to battle Hollow. Even though I always say Clips vs Hollow would be crazy, if I had to choose it’d be Calicoe vs. Hollow. I want to see him against Hitman too.
Now for the industry battles, you got Elzhi… hmm… I wanna see El and Nas. That’s like Mr. Miyagi vs. Danielson. Of course a lot of people would go with Nas because he earned his credit, but it’ll be a tougher battle than anyone would know. It would be very entertaining. Royce, I’m pushing for Royce vs. Lupe Fiasco.
You know who I would love to see Royce either do a song with or battle? Beanie Sigel. I’ve wanted that for the longest time.
Oh that would be crazy. I’m only saying Lupe because he’s kind of a smart ass and has taken shots at Total Slaughter and Slaughterhouse. First of all, anyone in Slaughterhouse would clean that dude, but definitely he needs to stay away from Royce a lot and that some people don’t understand. So now Em, we gotta do Em & Hov. It’s not too many people Eminem should have to battle. If he HAD to battle someone it’s gotta be someone like Jay Z or Nas. It has to be someone like them. Other than that, I don’t see it happening bro (laughs).
With Shady pretty much dominating the talks when they do the BET Cyphers, who would you choose to be in it?
It’s gotta be me and the Horseshoe Gang. If you put a cypher with me, Horseshoe Gang and you put Jon Connor, we would kill that! Not like how the other groups get compared to Slaughterhouse and they don’t compare, but they still kinda went in. They need more people besides Slaughterhouse to get in the cypher and blow people away. Me, Horseshoe Gang and Jon Connor would kill (laughs). I’m telling you.
Now that the album’s out what else do you have planned for us?
I’m working on a feature album. On my first solo album “Timing Is Everything” it was just Royce as the only feature on the album. I haven’t been criticized for it but people wondered why did I do that. I wanted to just do me and it’s what I felt comfortable doing, but I do like sparring with other artists that I feel are dope and I feel like it’s a lot of them, so this album is gonna show who I respect in the game. It’s gonna have a feature on every song so it should be crazy.
Can you give us any hints as to who may appear on it?
Maaaannn, it’s gonna be crazy. It’s no point in saying names right now. I just started it pretty much. I don’t want to jinx nothing, but I’m telling you the material coming to me is crazy. It’s gonna be levels up from the project you just heard already, so it’s crazy.
Working on any shows?
We’re trying to do a UK, Europe and Canada tour. We’re just trying to put the dates together now. That’s the move, I just wanna go overseas. I wanna go where they really appreciate the music I make. I don’t want to force it in the states where they’re used to people wearing skinny jeans, you know? I don’t dig that.
If you do set a tour schedule in the States, you gotta make sure you do a Philly show.
I really, really, really rock with Philly. I rock with Philly from the music to the boxing. They breed boxers, it reminds me of Detroit. They’re both a tough, tough, area.
I’ve never been to Detroit but I’ve always felt there was a parallel with Philly musically.
Yeah it is.
Even from back in the days with Motown and Philly International, to the feel of the Hip-Hop artists today.
I agree. I fuck with Philly all day. I fuck the East Coast, really I fuck with all music. I think with my style of music people wouldn’t expect me to listen to Future and Rich Homie Quan and Waka Flocka but I do. I’ve been down south before dog, and I see how they get it in the club. The way they club is different than how we do, and the music they make I understand why they make the music they do based on how they’re really, really into that. I respect all people that make dope music.
I catch so much shit sometimes for being an admitted fan of Waka Flocka’s (laughs).
Yeah, Flocka’s dope. You ever see him live?
Nah, but I’ve heard his shows are crazy.
Maaannn, the energy man… I definitely see why so many people rock with him.
Anything else you want your fans to know?
You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at @KidVishis. I’m gonna be posting links for people who want the album or if you just want to stay posted on any updates as far as tours go or any activities coming up, I’ll keep you posted.
I wanna shout out you guys for having me and everyone that’s been showing support. The feedback has been dope and it’s motivating.
It’s well deserved; I’m definitely rocking with the album. I’ve been a fan for a while and I’m glad to see it comes this far along.
That’s dope. I can’t wait to keep putting out more stuff. I just really caught a zone on that album and it was done like that. I didn’t, you know “we gotta change up this little piece right here” or “we gotta turn this up”. I didn’t do none of that. I didn’t make it technical, I just went in and did what I know how to do and moved right on to another album. So I can’t wait, it’s gonna be crazy.
Thanks again for taking the time out to chat it up with me. I can’t wait to hear it what else is in store. Best wishes to you.
Alright man, thanks again for having me brother.
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Click here to preview/purchase “Timing Is Everything” via iTunes