Local rapper’s inspiration from last year’s ‘All Hallows Bash’ inspires unplugged project
Kayla ‘KVtheWriter’ Thompson’s electrifying opening act performance at last year’s All Hallows Bash, a socially-distanced Halloween concert headlined by Muhammad “Mvstermind” Austin and Tonina Saputo, motivated her to transform the magic made that night into a live EP, “KVtheWriter: Unplugged.”
Thompson and Eddie “Sir Eddie C” Cox were chosen to be supporting artists after both submitted a video of them performing an original song. Austin and Saputo organized the competition to determine who would open the show for them.
For the band, she enlisted her late father’s friend and former bandmate, Craig Florez, who pulled together veteran musicians, including Brock Johnson, Gerald Warren and Kevin Doyle.
“That moment made me want to put the music on wax for other people to hear it,” Thompson said. “I wanted to give people the opportunity to bring a concert to their homes with this project.”
Generally, artists distribute their music for free on all digital platforms. Her debut EP “Love Sucks!,” second project,“The Ratchet Tape,” and three other singles were released digitally for free.
Her third project, an unplugged EP with newer renditions of previously recorded music, includes live instrumentation and songs redeveloped into genres outside of hip-hop, including rock.
The EP rolled out as a presale bundle until April 12 that included a CD, a poster, a downloaded link to the album and a magazine where she interviewed all of the creators involved with the project for $100. The EP officially dropped April 13 with merchandise sold separately. Both were available for purchase on her website, https://kvthewriter.com/.
“I realized how little money artists make from Spotify, Apple, Music, Tidal and other distribution sites,” Thompson said. “There’s no reason why an artist should have 100,000 streams and only make $200. I put a lot of money into this project and wanted to recoup some of the costs.”
Shecollaborated with local creatives, including Eric “Mvchxne” Humphrey, Alex Scott of Alex Don Media Group, Erica Jones of Erica Jones Photography and Sean Alexander of the clothing line brllantmnds.
For three years, Humphrey worked exclusively as Thompson’s producer, which makes this collaboration no different from the rest. He oversaw its direction by creating the original scores and instrumentation.
“Every time we come together we always create some of the best music. This particular project was a joy to be a part of.” Humphrey said.
Longtime friend and frequent collaborator, Scott has contributed to “KVtheWriter: Unplugged” since the All Hallows Bash. There he was the point of contact, facilitated the band rehearsals and shot footage. Once Thompson spearheaded a live version, Scott agreed to engineer it.
“She texted me while I was in the control room asking me to talk to the band,” Scott said. “On her song “Crazy” featuring Sir Eddie C, she wasn’t feeling its original genre for the live rendition, so she decided to make it a rock song. I communicated that to the band, and we made it work.”
She made her introduction to music with 2019’s “Love Sucks!” an introspective piece detailing how she felt after her boyfriend broke up with her during an ice cream date.
Three months later, she dropped “The Ratchet Tape,” EP filled with anthems for all women unafraid of sex positivity. She’s since released several singles within the last year including, “Bad Habits,” “Stormy Waters” and “Last Words.”
“If you know me personally, you know I can rap with you about activism, social justice, trauma, brain development, sex and sex positivity,” Thompson said. “Female rappers get pigeonholed into being one type of artist that can only talk about one thing, but people are multifaceted.”
Thompson, a graduate of Hazelwood East High School, has a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from Webster University and a master’s degree in education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She’s the manager for school programs at Alive and Well Communities, a nonprofit organization with a focus on how toxic stress and trauma affects health in Black communities.
Thompson is also brand ambassador of St. Louis’ Hometown Heroes playlist on Au,diomack, curating local artists’ music on the bi-monthly song compilation. She was part of The St. Louis American Foundation’s2017 Salute to Young Leaders cohort and Delux Magazine awarded her a 30 under 30 award and a Power 100 award. Webster University honored her with the Young Alumni Award in 2019.
Purchase KVtheWriter:Unplugged and learn more about Thompson, here: https://kvthewriter.com/