Bomo-Iyo Ikubofa Kelvin, known for his pseudonym KvngKila is a Bayelsa-based hip-hop musician who spits killer bars. He introduces himself as a father, a part-time poet, and an award-winning rapper, as he received an award for Best Rap act in 2019, Bayelsa Musical Artist Award (BMAA).
KvngKila Journey
KvngKila believes his musical career began way back in 2007 when he rapped and remixed popular songs as a secondary school student. “It was all fun till I figured I was knee-deep in 2011 when I couldn’t just do without music,” he says. Rapping is a passion for him. He states his major influences to be 2 Pac, J Cole, Meek Mill, as rap music grew through African-American youth.
As a Bayelsa-based rapper, Kila doesn’t consider himself an upcoming artist. He mentions “I’m already there, I’m just waiting for the veil to fall off the world’s eyes so they can see the greatness that grew right in front of them.”
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Like every growing artist, Kila has faced the challenge of having his music gain widespread recognition. He considers one of the factors to be the fact that Nigeria does not have an environment where Hip-hop can thrive.
“Hip-hop offers the kind of content that’ll require one to think vast, ask and answer philosophical and introspective questions but … people want to dance and forget they’ve got bullshit to deal with”.
Kila, like most rappers, sings his emotions out. He puts his thoughts into his music and people can easily connect with it as it is “for everybody”. In one of his singles, Dark Clouds he says, “Hip-hop is my life”. This statement confirms the words of KRS-One: “Rap is something you do, Hip-hop is something you live”.
Although KvngKila is yet to release a studio album, he has released four EPs, mixtapes and Bow, LostPages, A sequel to the Book of Words, 3:2:1 with Mr Legend and a trio tape With Love from Yen Town with Nexus P and Erena Blaq.
His most recent single, #EndSars got me intrigued. His bars are intense and filled with so many emotions and it depicts the saying “Rap music has long been considered a form of resistance against authority and appeals to youths around the world.”
When asked what triggered such a powerful message, he replies, “I always channel my emotions to and through my music… when I saw the EndSars campaign… everything just got to me at that point and I was like, why are we given certain gifts if we can’t use it; if we can’t channel it to the right direction? I can rap but then am I just going to look at this and walk away? No.”
Kila has a strong voice and listening to him, you can hear his passion, emotions, and connectedness to the story he raps about. Obviously, there’s something personal about this message – a social issue and the messages in his other songs. They reflect his person, experiences, and feelings.
He isn’t signed to any record label but is making his own imprint called Ghost Records, which is affiliated with South Syde Hustle. He is also managed by Brainbox. Kila says if he were to pick a popular Nigerian rapper to do a song with, it’d be M.I. Agbaga “He’ll challenge me to kick real knowledge…” he says.
Also, he advises his future self to stay consistent and speak his truth. Kvngkila is a rapper to look out for. He’s got killer bars and he spits them with passion and intensity. You can check out his music on;
