We recently connected with Isaiah Dunn and have shared our conversation below.
Isaiah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
So me and Jaysanityy, the other cofounder, started performing together in like 5th grade under the group name Forever Young. We had made a connection like most kids do, over something we were passionate about. Music. As the years went by and middle school came around we just got deeper and deeper into our individual crafts and while we were on that path we met LPTHERAPPER, entirely over the internet. She was all the way in Georgia and we were based in Maryland. At that point we were just recording on anything, (I’m talking cameras, through landline phones, earbuds, anything), trying to make stuff that sounded good. We were the only people we knew at our age who were actually serious about creating art. Eventually after we had dropped like two albums and we had released some merchandise and had kept growing we were like, “Why don’t we expand this to other artists? We already are recording, producing, mixing, mastering, and distributing ourselves?”. So that’s what we did. We added on new artists, first some Maryland natives like Incxgnito, and later more Georgia based artists like Masy and 0riole, and helped guide them through their artistry.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
So AKQ, or Ascending Kingz and Queenz, right now consists of 8 affiliated artists: Jaysanityy, LPTHERAPPER, MASY., Incxgnito, Deja Simone, 0riole, Omontizay, AREDD. We offer our artists in house production, mixing and mastering, promotion, merchandising, and songwriting (though a lot of our artists write for themselves). We are still finding our footing as a business, so there are typical label services that we aren’t 100% able to offer like licensing. But our artists are down to keep working to be a part of something special and help us all get to that point. I think the effort that we all put in really shows that.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Right now we are operating with three shot callers. We are all friends first and business owners second, which comes with its own set of difficulties. They say you aren’t supposed to mix business with your friends but it gives us a unique skillset. All three of us have our own special view on how things should be run and it allows us to come up with unique ways to solve problems. I think the biggest advice I could give for managing a team of people who see each other like family is to not let things fester. If there’s a disagreement, address it as soon as possible. The last thing you want is a small incident leading to resentment down the line. Remain Consistent, keep an open mind, and take risks together!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
So Ascending Kingz and Queenz wasn’t always named that. We used to go by the name Ascending Kingz before we met LP. With that change came a lot of changes in terms of what we collectively create. We have a reputation for constant evolution. We’re always on the lookout for new sounds and we encourage our artists to try new things.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akqofficial/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/akqofficial
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AKQOfficial