Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kai James. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Kai thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I’ve really known since I was a little kid, I would say about eight years old. I was always a musician (violin), but I really loved to sing and had a deep desire to do so. For some reason I was just afraid to share my voice; if somebody was listening I would stop. In 2019 I realized I was a gifted writer and that this was something I needed to pursue. I realized that completing something I created and wrote was completely fulfilling. I’ve put out 4 projects since, my latest one titled “Make You Feel It” available everywhere. I’m incredibly thankful to have been absolved of all my fears and I’m not looking back because I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to.

Kai, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a singer/songwriter and I’ve recently also begun producing which I love. You can find my work under the name ‘Kai Azana’ on all platforms. My most recent project is titled “Make You Feel It” . What I think sets me apart is my authenticity and vulnerability, along with the fact that I’m the sole writer of all of my music. I don’t force it. I make sure what I write is authentic to what I’m going through at the time, or authentic to an experience I’ve had. There are also times where I need to pull myself out of a rut, during those times i’ll write/sing what I need to hear. It hasn’t failed me yet. Furthermore, I’m versatile. While the world hasn’t seen nearly all of my versatility, I do believe you can detect a fraction from my work. Nonetheless, I can rap, do some pop, afrobeat, you name it. Especially when it comes to production, I like to experiment with all genres. Lastly, I feel my heart sets me apart. I’m not in it for the money, or even to be seen. I just want to heal myself and others and create quality content and grow. There are countless moments of my process and journey that have gone unseen because I just care about putting out quality and growing as an artist. Now, I would love for that not to be the case, but if finding the right person to capture the moments is impeding on the time taken to create quality work, that’s a no go. That’s hard at times because if people don’t see you, it’s very easy for them to think you’re not working and it’s easy to feel overlooked. That’s also why time away from social media and being present in real life matters, building relationships matters. Social media can be very deceiving and I’m not into deception.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think that pursuing a creative path in general embodies resilience. If you don’t have a label backing you, or even a team, it’s going to be a long road. There will be moments that you may question if what you’re doing is right, question if this is the right path, but if it is, you’ll just keep going, as I have. If it is, I believe it will chase you more than you chase it. You can’t listen to the opinions of others because music is completely subjective, but it takes resilience to truly step into the knowledge of this. It takes resilience to completely block out others’ opinions, especially if you get to a point where your life is publicized. You surely should have people you trust who’s opinions you take into consideration, but at the very end of the day you must make sure it feels right to you, in spite of even what those people say. There will be people who try to minimize your accomplishments, make you think their opinions are the end-all-be-all, you can’t listen. Keep going, celebrate your wins big or small, and trust yourself.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

That social media and followers is not as important as society would like you to think. I’ve been in rooms with people that those with 60 times my following are still dreaming to be in. I’ve met and talked to celebrities and nobody cared about how many followers I had or anything like that. At the end of the day talent, confidence, and genuineness is going to get you further than any of that can. It took me experiencing this to unlearn it, and to stop harping over how many followers me or the next person has. However this doesn’t change the fact that the majority of people have not unlearned this; that they support what is popular. I think people need to see past the veil of one’s following or popularity, and see real talent. There is truly so much talent out here, and smaller artists could very well have more talent in their left thumb than your favorite artist. Give people a chance and don’t be fooled.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/kaiazanaa?utm_source=linktree_admin_share
• Instagram: kaiazanaa
• Youtube: Kai Azana
• Website: https://bluebird-tan-jkl2.squarespace.com/config/

Image Credits
Picture 1 : Quincy Green Pictures 2, 3, and 4 : Alex Williams Picture 5: Amari Esco, edited by Obilohi