Today we’d like to introduce you to Kianu Reed

Hi Kianu, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

My name is Kianu Reed but to most I am known as Kxezy (Keezy) born and raised in Sacramento, Ca. Here is the backstory about me it all started at the age of 8 years old with my infatuation of music. The first person that set me on my creative path was the world famous artist Michael Jackson. Now, most people don’t know is that I was a dancer before I became an artist of music. Furthermore, my parents not so known for creativity but still gave me the ideal musical inspiration from their taste of sound in the genres of Oldies, R&B, Soul, Neo-Soul, Hip-Hop & Jazz/Blues music from my grandfather. At the tender age of 9 that’s when I fell in love with Hip-Hop and being intrigued with rapping from being around my older cousin including his friends in their freestyle cyphers. However, the inception for my love for Hip-Hop was from a 90s classic “Hip-Hop Hooray” by Naughty by Nature after that the spark was lit for the desire to rap. Fast forward to age 12 performing in the school talent show with one of my close childhood friends in a room shaking performance we exited the stage with many enthusiastic fans. It was at that moment I realized that’s when I wanted to fully pursue music for myself. The following year at age 13 I recorded my first verse with one of my older cousins and his friend. This was around the time of MySpace with the social media era starting to evolve and our song was on their platform for us to promote. Then the next thing that happened was most of my classmates heard the record and was shocked by my rapping ability while being a student athlete. From there as time went on I balanced athletics and music until the first year of college retiring from sports. Leading up to now curating events of my own or hosting others while still creating new music and building my brand.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

This road has not been easy whatsoever but I can say it is worth it. As the times of the world and industry changing I learn new things along the way. The biggest struggle of this path is financing everything yourself with no sort of big business funding. Along with building your name as a brand to grow to the level of notoriety and capitalize on that. Another struggle is understanding how to market yourself since the times have changed and social media playing a big factor in the world.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I am a person of many hats as an artist, poet, business owner, entrepreneur, dancer & event coordinator. However, I am known for my music/poetry and to others for dancing. Honestly, being my authentic self is what I am most proud of. Being that we live in a world of image and people put on a face of not truly being themselves. What sets me apart from others is my infectious personality that most people tell me is warming and always in good spirits with consistent joy. Also, it is a rare occasion you run into a person who is multi talented like myself.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

Being a business owner of a clothing company by the name of Groovy Tribe and you can support the brand by following on instagram @GroovvyTribe and send a message to purchase items or how you can support.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Kxezy
• Twitter: Kxezy
• Youtube: SenseiGroovy
• Soundcloud: Kxezy