Interview: The Kid Daytona (11/9/09)

One of the many New Yorkers celebrating the Yankee’s 27th championship is Bronx native, The Kid Daytona.

Anyone who follows The Kid Daytona on Twitter knows his passion for sports, as he cheers on the New York Giants every Sunday, and shared commentary on the recent World Series.

Taking a look at his music, you see a lyrical artist who’s strength lies in conceptual records.  Despite having already dropped a number of quality projects this year, Daytona feels as if he isn’t working hard enough, stating that “the more work you put in, the more opportunities come your way.”

This strong work ethic is good news for hip hop, which has benefited greatly from an emergence of new artists trying to reconnect with the lyricism and creativity seen in early hip hop.

The Kid Daytona stopped by the HipHopAtLunch.com offices to speak about his new single, the upcoming video for “Contact,” and the most important thing he learned after years in the music industry.

Its good to hear that The Kid Daytona still considers himself a student to the game even after 8 years of experience, this willingness to learn will help Daytona go far.

Daytona’s green fitted was provided by the good people at Society, who played a major role in making the artist’s upcoming video for “Contact,” featuring Kardinal Offishall.  Big shout out to Brendan, WahidSweat, Beyond Measure, Laced Boston, Noah Craigwell, and everyone who helped make the video so dope.  “Contact” should be dropping soon, but until then check out this Twitpic from the video shoot, via @Five2Eighty.

The Kid Daytona makes a great point when he compares Twitter to an extension of your phone, as it allows you to connect with individuals you may otherwise have never reached.  The Kid Daytona checks his @Replies first thing in the morning because, for emerging artists like himself, this is often a great means of communication.

Here’s the footage of The Kid Daytona “testing the waters” with the first performance of his new single, “How It Goes Down.”

That hook’s been stuck in my head ever since the performance, and I haven’t even heard the Final CDQ version!

The Duck Down event proved to be a great spot to premiere “How It Goes Down,” as all the fans in attendance were looking to hear dope lyricism throughout the night, and Daytona did not disappoint.

“How It Goes Down” is the first song that accomplished producer Bink (Rick Ross, Jay-z, BLACKstreet), and The Kid Daytona recorded together, but so far on Daytona’s upcoming project, all the production has come from Bink and 6th Sense.  Since The Kid Daytona equates the radio to sounding like “one big song,” he promises to bring back new and refreshing music.

Before leaving our office, The Kid Daytona shared the interesting story of how he got his name.

I feel bad for everyone who owned ‘87 Toyotas in the Bronx when The Kid Daytona was growing up!

For more information on The Kid Daytona, check out our feature article.

Keep an eye out for the upcoming projects and the “Contact” video, which should be dropping soon.  Ever since I saw the video for “Air Born” featuring Bun B, I’ve been itching to see more from Daytona.