We recently connected with Kenya Carter and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kenya, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

My creative passion is being a music artist. I think that my start, which began when I was a kid, was the beginning of the career I have now. So, I wouldn’t change any part of the process. To give more background I’ll describe the experience as different phases.

During the first phase, I began to learn and understand sound. My parents would always tell me that I would beat on the pots and pans in the kitchen to make a beat. Then, growing up around a family that often had gatherings and played lots of music, I was exposed to different types of sound. From jazz, and blues, to pop, and more, I began to differentiate between types of sounds. That led me to phase two.

Phase two was putting sounds together to create rhythm. This led to becoming one with music and understanding how transformative it was. Certain instruments would often speak to my heart and mind, which help create a parallel between the art form and myself. I immediately became engrossed in the technique and how it spoke to me.

During phase three, I began to create expressions to the rhythm. This came in the form of poetry, spoken word, and lyrics. I didn’t begin writing though. Instead, I would rehearse the words over and over until I memorized them.

The final phase was putting it all together to create a body of work. Each phase contributed to where I am now with music. Throughout this time I had many life experiences that helped develop my ability to share stories through my music. I think those experiences are what helped build my music career and reach people who share similar experiences. If it wasn’t for going through those phases of learning the art, while simultaneously experiencing life, I wouldn’t have much of a story to tell.

Kenya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well, I’m Kenya Carter, a diverse music artist who writes under the name Yayo Da Don. I have done music since I was around 8 years old or earlier. It began working with close friends in my old neighborhood and creating music in their bedroom, to building my portfolio and getting a full studio experience.

I got into the industry by first having a passion for sound, which grew into writing lyrics and creating a full song. I have been doing this for many years, but shortly before the pandemic, it was my wife who encouraged me to release my first song. She basically told me, if I was going to do music, don’t keep talking about it, because people have heard that before. Show them.

I recorded my first published song, Belly of the Beast, in the closet of our one-bedroom apartment. I used a blue Yeti Mic, garage band, and hit publish. That song has since led to many great hits and videos.

My greatest accomplishments have been getting published articles about my work, working with other talents, and having a collab video that my team recorded, “Who Knows,” hit over 15k views on Youtube. It was one of my greatest moments and set the bar for what’s to come.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The best thing that society can do is let creatives create. I recently watched a video of an African American man being arrested because he was doing a video shoot, dressed in a costume, and holding a bow and arrow. I think societal standards put many restrictions on who we are as artists and create this box that they expect us to work within.

Creatives are far from being individuals who have a max on what they can do, so society should simply support them. For skaters, create more skate parks in the community, create more food truck spaces for chefs, create more local studios for music artist, and have spaces where people can display their art.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding is how people share their testimony on how something I’ve said in my music changed their life or perspective. As an average person, you may not make contact with people globally. So, to reach people through your music is a wonderful feeling. Sharing your stories, that may be similar to something they have seen or done, and sharing your breakthrough, is inspirational to them and their lives. It gives people hope.

Contact Info:

• Website: beacons.page/yayodadon
• Instagram: instagram.com/yayodadon_42
• Facebook: Facebook.com/yayodadon

Image Credits
TMC Media Sachs the Photographer OUI