K$K with the help of Javier Rodriguez and Venusian delivers a new spin on Hussle and Emotion in the short film, "Walked In"
Written by Greg Harris // Photos by Venusian
Modern Life has been known for its efforts when it comes to pushing the envelope in the spectrum of music but it never left our mind to do the same in other expertise as well. Seeing that other creatives have been making their own sparks in their respective lanes it’s only right that they receive the coverage they deserve.
One of those people who’s pushing things forward is Midwest to Northeast transplant, K$K, a skilled and dedicated director who’s paved a way for herself behind the lens. As she’s went from shooting some of your favorite’s early music videos to writing credible festival short films, K$K has remained cool through it all and looking to progress in the process.
Today she’s here to feature an exclusive look at her new short film, “Walked In”. With the help of Javier Rodriguez and Venusian, the trio bring forth a women empowering piece that embodies conflicted emotion along with a surefire passion to push product but ultimately learning to stay above water through it all. The under 20 minute piece is something worth taking in and we advise not to miss a beat on this.
Check out the new film below and read our exclusive interview with K$K as we talk about her journey to being behind the camera, moving from the Midwest to Northeast, Walked In, and more.
Check everything out below.
How’s Your Modern Life?
My modern life is pretty chillin as long as I have weed!
What are three things you have to do when you first wake up?
I usually stay in bed until the literal second I have to be anywhere. I hate waking up so I guess all three consist of trying not to curse anyone out for the first couple hours of the day.
Growing up, how would you describe your upbringing and how has influenced you today?
As a child growing up in rural Southeastern Wisconsin, my mom had to work from home so she would throw me and my younger sister outside so she could focus. Stuck outside with just my sister and no other distractions developed my insane imagination.
During the early stages of your life was it any fascination of yours with cameras and or visuals of any kind?
I can’t remember a time I was not forcing everyone to stop and watch me lol
Later in your life, you went on to make the transition from the Midwest to the Northeast. That alone is a huge change within itself but what has been some things that allowed you to grow in the midst of you making that move?
Coming from the Midwest, I always knew that becoming an artist I would have to move and start from the very bottom. You're not entitled to anything and the only way to get what you want is to work for it. I just held onto those values and pushed forward.
When you first came to the Northeast, you resided in Philadelphia. How was first coming into the scene at the time you moved into the growing city?
Philly has a reputation for being hard and I feel like that’s accurate. They don’t trust outsiders. When I first moved there I was adopted by a group of amazing women who I met on the set of one of my first music videos. They took me to the clubs, taught me to dress like a jawn and how not to act “joe." Idk if I would have survived without them.
What were some events that eventually led you to be one of the key figures behind the Philly hip hop scene?
I don’t consider myself a key figure but I was lucky enough to work with a lot of them. I was very close with a rapper named Theodore Grams. He was mentoring artists like Tierra whack and uzi at the time. It was extremely special and inspiring to be around artists during the early stages of their careers especially for someone like me coming from the middle of nowhere. I remember we were doing the final cut of Uzi's first video and a random ATL number called and it was Don Cannon with notes for us. I remember thinking "wow this person is about to be famous." It was surreal.
In the midst of your growth, you and fellow director Yinka Soda were helping break artists such as Lil Uzi Vert, Working on Dying, Theodore Grams, DJ Diamond Kuts, and more. How was it to grow with someone like Yinka in your artistry and also make a huge impact while in the process?
While I was doing it, i thought my work with Yinka was preparing me mentally for a more corporate production world. In retrospect, I see it was arming me with the skills to move to the next level artistically and really attack projects like a beast with a sense of urgency. Because we were working with artists who were elevating so quickly, that period of my life made me do or die for this shit.
“I feel like sometimes our memories can become so emotional they feel more like dreams or fantasies rather than events that really happened.
That’s the part of the psyche my films exist in: somewhere between memory and fantasy, but it’s always the truth.”
While the music videos has solidified your visual direction, you’ve branched into your lane with your unique way of storytelling. What inspired you to take this approach with directing your personal material?
Basically, my production company wasn’t making money and was falling apart, the rap game had devoured a lot of my close friends, and I had just moved to New York. I was involved with a man from Philadelphia who had lost his best friend to gun violence and I was totally unsure on how to be there for him. I was very confused about the meaning of my own life so at the suggestion of my friend filmmaker Nazli Dincel I decided to make a film. It was moreso an experiment to process everything I was going through. It was called “Fuck All Boys from Uptown” and the response was overwhelmingly positive. It got into a couple festivals and then it was a wrap from there.
Your main theme you bring to your material is “Emotional Memory Reality”. Elaborate on how this plays a huge part into your films and what other things you want displayed in your material as well.
I feel like sometimes our memories can become so emotional they feel more like dreams or fantasies rather than events that really happened. That’s the part of the psyche my films exist in: somewhere between memory and fantasy, but it’s always the truth. Being real and telling the truth in my work is very important to me. I don't talk it, if I don't live it.
Your new film, “Walked In” is an empowering film with a unique storyline that gets viewers attached within the first minutes of it. How was to create this collaborative effort between yourself, Javier Rodriguez, and Venusian?
Venusian is one of my closest creative partners so she was there from the beginning. At the time I was just doing every hustle I knew to make money for my films and spending what felt like days riding on the subway, treking down to Atlanta, seeing what I could make shake. I knew I wanted to make a film about this faze in my life, so one night Venusian and I just decided to capture my everyday life running around, and those became the first official shots of the film. Javi is an amazingly talented cinematographer. He took the risk and went on a Chinatown bus trip with me just to shoot the beginning scenes of the film.
Seeing that the title for “Walked In” is an ode to the late legendary Atlanta rapper Bankroll Fresh, how would you describe your love for hip-hop and how it’s influenced your work?
I really think I'm a rapper lol! And because I worked around so many rappers making the videos I attack making my films like an album. This film was my trap album, a story about the ups and downs of hustling. Not only does it reference a lot of my heroes, it also features talented artists that I know personally and who inspire me including Gram Gandhi, Kaceanova, Sarato, Muddy Taylor.
Aside from the praise and the film festival selection thats helped “Walked In” reach new heights, how do you think will stamp itself for the rest of your material?
I think its a slight departure from my other work which is mostly about love and relationships.
Moving forward, how do you want to continue to expand your legacy as time moves forward?
Does K$K become a king pin or does she fall off? How many Ls will she take before she makes it? Only time will tell, but I'll be making the movie about the journey regardless lol
What are three goals you want to accomplish this year?
Working with even more talented creatives, other filmmakers, music producers, stylists. Me and Venusian are going on tour with our art show "On The Fence" at the end of this year so definitely pushing to make sure that's a success. And lastly I would like to be part of another charity event...in my "spare" time lol I'm a psycho
When it’s all said and done, how do you want to be remembered?
Above all else, I do want to be remembered as an artist because that's what I'm dedicating my life to. It used to scare me but now it excites me.
Follow K$K here and here // Also follow Javier Rodriguez and Venusian here.