We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kel Gibson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I would have to say my new album! I call it “I Kept My Word” and that title significantly means something to me…one of my last conversations with my mom before she passed is pretty much based around that title, also my father who also passed in my arms actually yrs before my mom so from time to time i always think back to certain conversations we shared, and i distinctively recall my mom telling me to persue my dreams and appreciate the journey along the way, so i think back to those very meaningful talks we had and just basically recall me giving both of my parents my word on persuing my visions and also them telling me at times to stay on the path i was on simply because i had a couple of siblings that went astray and pretty much nearly self destructed. So my parents just basically wanted me to stay me and persue happiness in every way, so therefore i labeled the new album “I Kept My Word” sorda as a dedication to their memory! The album is almost done and I am aiming for a July release…and I just appreciate those moments and conversations so much! I felt somewhat obligated to name this album that in their honor!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Well, for the people who may not know me or my brand…I guess i would start from the very first moment i realized i had an infatuation with the entertainment industry. Me and a couple of my friends fell in love with hip hop in high school and one of my friends bought some equipment and next thing you know we had a little demo tape and it circulated around school and we kind of became a popular group for a year or so and then a couple of the guys graduated and then i was the last one from the group still in school so they moved on to the real world and got jobs and i stuck to the journey, actually me and one other friend, we both kept persuing music but different genres, he became a local celebrity in Louisiana as a cajun/french musician and his name is Jamie Bergeron, he’s pretty big around that area, myself and him are the only 2 from our aforementioned group that actually became somewhat successful in our paths. My path was altered for a while because of my father dying right after i graduated high school and the crazy twist to that story real quick is that he pretty much passed in my arms and one of the paramedics at that time happened to be my friend Jamie of course that was right before he became a local celeb! But to back track a yr or so before that tragedy i actually got booked as a model for a couple of local popular stores back then…it was pretty interesting because i was only 16 and in school so at first my parents was against it but after they were told that i would get paid for the bookings they agreed just as long as i was accompanied by one of them or my older siblings. So I got my first modeling jobs in high school and after school i just kept pursuing my dreams. I quickly understood that it was a limit on far i could go entertainment wise being from south west Louisiana, so i moved to Atlanta a few yrs later and that’s when I started getting a real introduction to the entertainment world. Actually attended a few of those model search events and back then they were actually very legit and helpful. I actually got 4 offers with one being a verbal offer to sign to a big agency at the time based out of New York(The Lyons Group) and also Wilhelmina which were both very reputable and i think Wilhelmina still is…but both were in other states and i had my feet firmly planted in Atlanta so i didn’t wanna travel basically and i signed with a local Atl agency at the time called Mor Management, and at the same time i also had my first professional demo making it’s rounds and next thing you know I’m booking photoshoots and runway jobs and at the same time started getting shows hear and there so then it became a tug or war between the modeling and the music and i also gotta call to go to hollywood and interview with a couple of agents and casting directors through a friend who happened to be pretty connected back then. Now that was a very key moment in my life because i had a son born, i got some modeling work and my music is buzzin and then hollywood started calling, but in my short time in hollywood(less than a month) i seen a couple of things that made me realize maybe the hollywood scene wasn’t for me lol so i went back to Atl with a new found appreciation for the simple things and now all of a sudden i get a call from someone telling me that there’s a indie label in Houston Tx that may be interested in me, so i spend some time with my son and then i found myself in Houston and suddenly a signed artist at Southern Vibe Records and I’m working on my very first album! Now the year is ’04 and i have a couple of singles that’s heating up in the Texas and Louisiana regions and I’m opening for big names like Lil Wayne, Erika Bahdu, Mike Jones and Lil Flip to name a few. So I found myself going back and forth from Texas to Atlanta and in between time visiting my mom in Louisiana, that went on for about 2 yrs(03-05), with us actually seeing pretty good success it was just a little harder for me to break through back then on a bigger level because of my mixed background yet my musical content was somewhat aggressive back then so it became a major conflict with my fanbase, i had self proclaimed thugs that loved my music but then when i did live shows the girls would actually want me to sign their breast lol so now we realized that we have to cater more to the ladies and not to mention that I’m from the south but everyone said i sound Nas which led to some backlash in the south but my perspective was i can’t help that our tones were similar….to me it was actually a cool thing because even back then he was a legend…but in all honesty it became an interesting time for me and i actually embraced winning people over because i knew the album was gonna create a legendary impact on my behalf! The album dropped end of 04 we toured constantly and had singles on the radio by 05 and just on a solid roll but then later 05 my mother died and that just introduced me to a dark place mentally, i can say though i always was a confident person so that really help me persevere through that tragic space in my life and not to mention more importantly my daughter was born a couple of months after the death of my mom. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster but just going back to Atlanta after burying my mom and seeing my now 2 kids faces it just brung me so much peace and joy! Now i was in a weird space because of the underground success of my album(“Leader of the New South) i was scheduled to start recording the second album but i didn’t wanna leave my kids again at that time, and i was still mourning my mom passing, not to mention before my mom passed i told her she would be a grand mother again and she loved it and she had a heart to heart convo with me about being a real man and marrying the mother of my kids, that always stuck with me after she died, so in 06 i married her! So then I became a family man, working and still recording but just for the love now. Fast foward about 3 yrs we separated, eventually divorced which was for the best but I just felt like I let my kids down, then i realized that i can still can be an amazing father even not under the same roof as them. I still like to think I am, told you i was born confident lol
Anyway to sum it up a bit, i signed with another modeling agency around 2011 and then my friend Tony Patterson(who actually was the guy that owned SV Records and gave me my first record deal) reached out and said he started a hip hop based magazine called Heavy Rotation Magazine and wanted me to be apart of it since i live in Atlanta, fast foward a yr later i’m interviewing everyone from 2 Chains to Jeezy to Waka and so on and so on, and couple of yrs later we’re live on the red carpets at the BET Awards and BET Hip Hop Awards and I’m interviewing celebs from Katt Williams to Irv Gotti to Dj Khalid to Atlanta Housewives to Vh1 Basketball wives to all kind of artists and actors, actually you can subscribe to our youtube page(Heavy Rotation Magazine) and see our red carpet and green carpet interviews etc. We’re actually still embarking on that journey and I’m just happy to be apart of it!
And with me getting back in the presence of entertainers around 2012 or so that lit a new fuse to me and around 2013 i started back recording and since then I’ve released about 4 mixtapes(Purple Rayne 1 & 2 and ” I Tried 2 say I’m Sorry) to name a few and also i released about 7 or 8 singles under the Heavy Rotation Publishing imprint….available on all platforms(Apple, spotify etc) including videos on Youtube also. And in the midst of falling back in love with writing and music i also got back into modeling and currently I’m signed to a indie agent who is a good friend of my girlfriend who happened to also connect me with other agencies that i am currently building new relationships with(Diesel, Sun x Stone) in which has also lead me to start my own management situation(IV League Forever) which i have recently signed myself and a couple of models, i also written and directed my first 2 videos this year! I also have a partnership with grammy nominated producer @beatgodxleagle (who produced the new Jacquees “Say Yeah” also produced Post Malone and Tylah hit record “Tommy Lee” just to name a couple) who just happens to be family! He owns his own imprint called Wavrunners and he has a very lucrative publishing deal and situation….i’m definitely proud of that young man! And besides me juggling all those different situations i am most proud of being a father! The Success of achieving my goals and doing what I love is an incredible feeling but being a dad is the greatest feeling in the world! I’m super proud of my journey and the fact that i made it thru the tragedy of losing my parents and losing friends to senseless violence is just a testament to me being raised right and me embracing my confidence and beliefs! I stay pretty booked up and also i been writing songs for indie artists for the last few yrs so I’m just grateful for everything and don’t plan on stopping any time soon!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect….probably just understanding the difference between having love and passion for my art and just chasing an empty dream for money and fame! I love writing music and creating music and writing for other artist and just the entire creative process! I also love the fact that I’m very rare within this industry of entertainment…what I mean is I never did it for the money or fame, don’t get me wrong i like money but it’s not in me to love that shhhh or worship it…i think that’s a weak and flawed mentality because anyone that worships money and fame will eventually lose themselves in some kind of way! We’re human, all of us and if you get caught up in chasing the money, and fame it’s structured to create a compromising battle within you. I appreciate being in a position of not needing someone’s approval or avoiding situations that may lead me astray. Just work hard and find your lane and just understand your journey! It’s all about patience and balance and you’ll be fine!
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I had to pivot probably a couple of times, one being believing in the wrong people, for example at one time i had 2 publicists which absolutely made no sense at all lol….just because they both knew i had a budget they just felt like they can run me around to justify the amount of money i paid them, moral of the story either one was making any significant moves on my behalf only had me going in a circle lol. Another pivot, probably was just understanding that his or her path may not be my path to success so I just found my way and never look back!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @ivleagueforever and @ivleagueforever2
- Youtube: Heavy Rotation Magazine and Kel Jaleno
- Other: New website coming soon!
Image Credits
Z3 Photgraphy Diesel Heavy Rotation Magazine/Publishing