We were lucky to catch up with Keonta Phillips recently and have shared our conversation below.
Keonta, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
All of my projects are very meaningful to me because they all mark a time stamp in my life. I’ll talk about certain things that’s going on in that time period so they’re all unique in their own way to those times. But I would have to say my most meaningful project to me right now is my upcoming project “The Rise”. Just like the others this marks a time stamp in my journey of life as well, but this time it’s different, and on this journey I do my best to drop consistently no matter what’s going on in life. The Rise is me coming back in after a break showing resilience, elevation and I talk a lot about the ups and downs of the whole journey of me being an artist. It’s real, it shows diversity and I also produce a lot of my own music so I got to explore around with new sounds for a while. The Rise is literally me rising from the ashes in a way, so it marks a major new time stamp in my journey.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
So I’ve been into music my whole life, playing the drums and was in band all up until I graduated high school. I went to college for a while but the music came back and transitioned into me becoming an artist, which I named myself Tae $kii, after the nickname my dad gave me. I moved to a few different states, which now I’m in CA, Los Angeles. been here for about 5 years. I’ve been doing music as an artist for about 7 years now. Along the journey I picked up the skills for producing which came like second nature due to me playing the drums, and I also learned how to mix/engineer as well. All while working on my own music I do also send beats and mix other artist to expand my craft. I think what sets me apart from most artist, is that I have a unique sound, I’m super diverse, and that’s mainly because I’m a 3 edged sword. I can do it all but I also still get help from other professionals as well and they respect my craft a little more because I know the ins and outs of all aspects of the music like the production and engineering along with the artistry. I’m most proud of my upcoming project “The Rise” because I put a lot of time and effort into the music but it also tells my story of my journey and how far I’ve come. The main thing I want people to take away from me or my story is the resilience. No matter what you have to keep going.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The main goal that drives me for success in this business is being able to take care of my family off of what I love, which is music.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I first started this journey, I was still in the state which I grew up in and went to school at. When I realized I wanted to take music serious and make it a career, I knew I had to move to a different state for a better life and overall better opportunities. I ended up moving to Georgia, Florida, and then California. I’m currently living in California and been here the longest out the others but it was not an easy path. I drove here from VA with a couple of friends, it was about 3000 miles across the country. When I got here, I made it work and the music got better, better opportunities, my quality of living got better and now I’m just solely still focused on the music. It takes a lot of courage and resilience to drive across country to believe in a dream only you can see. I encourage everyone to take a risk, we only get one life and we have to go for whatever it is we believe in.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @taeskiiofficial
- Twitter: @taeskiiofficial
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@taeskii_official?si=L8VnyYtZU2XsQPnT
- Other: Apple Music: Tae $kii
Spotify: Tae $kii
