Memphis-born artist K Carbon is on a rocket-like trajectory up. An Atlanta resident now, she is hustling on several levels, including her own hair bundle business. She is set to drop an EP titled “Diary of a Hustler” and has the New Memphis over it. Big GloRilla, Glossup and others show up. Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur taps in with K Carbon and she heads for the stars.
AllHipHop: So talk to me a little bit about yourself, your music and you know who is K. Carbon?
K Carbon: You know, I’m K Car, I blew up iHop Boo, big Carbon. Don’t call me Kim, ho. Be doing my music thing. I be doing my hair thing. Okay. I’m an entrepreneur. I own a business in Memphis. Well, it originated in Memphis, so let me not say that, but I got my store in Memphis. I see hair basically like wigs and bundles like this is my hair. Okay. It’s been curled out, don’t even know it’s fine. And I rap. Of course, I’m finna drop an EP, a hard-ass EP. “Diary of a Hustler.” It’s dropping on the 21st.
AllHipHop: Who’s going to be on there?
K Carbon: I got YTB Fatt, I got GloRilla, GlossUp, Aslimeelsa, Big30, Melo Buckzz. But I really didn’t plan on making it an EP at first. I was kind of building up some songs. I was going to drop the singles, but then I thought about it. I have never done a project, I haven’t done a project. So that’s what made me be like, oh, let me construct a lot of this work that I’ve been doing with a lot of my new stuff. Let me make a project.
AllHipHop: Oh, why not a full album?
K Carbon: Well, because I’ve never even done a regular project. So it’s kind of like I want to tease ’em first, get ’em ready for me and then on that.
AllHipHop: So how was it like seeing Glorilla and GlossUp blow up?
K Carbon: It’s great. I learned a lot. We experienced a lot, and had a lot of fun. Just a lot. Experiencing it together was like we all learned what we learned together. So it’s fun. It’s a learning experience.
AllHipHop: Is that something you want to follow in their footsteps or be your own person in terms of being an artist or a star?
K Carbon: Yeah of course. I admire their work always. But when my time comes I got to do my work first.
AllHipHop: Now someone told you me that you are cool with Pooh Shiesty. Is that true?
K Carbon: Yeah, that’s my bro.
AllHipHop: How’s your relationship now?
K Carbon: We super close. We still close. We be writing each other and sh#t. He just wrote me and I wish I could just send the music through the mail. He always goes crazy as hell when he hears my music. So recently he heard my songs that I just dropped with Mello Buckzz and 30 and he like you getting harder and harder by the day. He calls me Beno. He was like, “Beno you getting harder and harder by the day.” So I wish I could just send my whole f###### EP through the mail.
AllHipHop: I’m glad you’re holding him down. So, what’s your creative process?
K Carbon: I usually like locking in with people that like locking in with me and I think it’s always like that with me. People who I work with, I always admire their work. So that goes from the producers to the features on there. When I hit up producers, I be like, “Yo, send me beats.” I had a few producers come into the studio with me and play beats and I’m like, “Oh that one.” So it was like their relationship with my producers. Sometimes I write, I slick freestyle [some times].
I like being in the studio when I’m making my music because I feel like it…it’s more authentic for me. I don’t be distracted. I’m just in the booth and then I do it like that. Then what else is my creative process? That really is it. I always put my videos together and stuff.As soon as I hear my song, it’s like I know how I want to do the video. I be like, “Ooh, I could see this. I could see that.” And then I just make it happen.
AllHipHop: Who influenced you?
K Carbon: I would say my family, my dad. He was the first person that had me rapping. Then after that, I was influenced by talented female artists like Left Eye. She was somebody I really, really liked. When I saw, especially when that movie came out, it made me like Left Eye even more. They rap style was different back in the day, but at the end of the day it was about her style that I fell in love with, her coolness, her whole little thing about herself.