Kevin Rudolf stopped by ABC News when he was in New York City last month, where the recording artist talked about his new single ‘Don’t Give Up’ and the upcoming album. “The inspiration was coming back to New York,” Kevin said about the new single. “I grew up in Manhattan for all you New Yorkers here and everything, but I was living in LA for a while and I was busy writing and producing with a lot of other artists, and other songwriters and other producers, and it was just time for me to come back and get back to my roots. This is sort of a message I wrote to myself which is don’t give up and the best is yet to come.” Video of the interview at abcnews.go.com has since been removed.
Kevin Rudolf: Drums Are The Secret To Merging Genres
Kevin Rudolf spoke with ARTISTDirect in a Q&A, where the recording artist talked about how ‘Don’t Give Up’ is “more organic” and “more guitar-driven”, how “the song really wrote itself”, how he’s associated with features with artists like Lil Wayne, Nas or Rick Ross, how “every song on this [upcoming] album is telling a story of its own”, and how drums are the secret to making genres merge.
“Everything works in context in both areas - rock and hip hop - except for the drums,” Rudolf explained. “What’s one thing that really defines actual hip hop tracks? The drums. If you use hip hop drums, you have to do this in a very clever way to fuse the genres. You can use rock sensibilities and rock riffs. You can take what works about that. If you have hip hop drums and do it right, that’s what creates the fusion. You have to do it well.”
Kevin Rudolf: I’m So Sick Of Award Shows
Kevin Rudolf spoke with Global Grind in a Q&A, where the recording artist talked aobut the ‘Don’t Give Up’ creative process, if he’s felt like giving up on music, whether he wishes he’d kept a song written for someone else for himself, playing instruments, signing to Cash Money, musical inspirations and more.
“I think it’s awesome! I’m so sick of award shows,” Rudolf enthused when asked about Axl Rose declining his Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction. “Fu** award shows. Everybody should just make real music, and stop getting awards for bullsh**. I mean everybody gets an award for Best Single, Best Album… It’s like I want to hear some real music. I want to hear people write music from the heart. To me it shows that he’s still rock n’ roll. I applaud him for that. We need more of that.”
Kevin Rudolf ‘Don’t Give Up’
Kevin Rudolf is out with his new single ‘Don’t Give Up’, available on iTunes on April 15th. “When I started writing this album, I had just moved back to New York City, where I grew up. I just got out of L.A. and when I got to the city I was feeling really positive and hopeful, and that’s the place where ‘Don’t Give Up’ came from,” Rudolf told Rolling Stone. Listen to the track via Kevin’s YouTube channel below.
Kevin Rudolf And Chad Hugo Behind The Scenes
IllusiveMedia and KarmaloopTV went behind the scenes with Kevin Rudolf and The Neptunes’ Chad Hugo, working on Kevin’s third album. “I’m in New York, doing a little recording,” Kevin says. “Chad Hugo came up from VA, and we’re making some beats and we’re playing the blues. Me and Chad have been working for three days and have just been playing the blues.” Rudolf cited Muddy Waters as his favorite blues artist and said he’s not into yoga. There’s no titles or dates for Kevin’s new album.
Footage at karmalooptv.com has since been removed.
Kevin Rudolf Offers Advice On Being A Songwriter
BMI held its 59th annual Pop Music Awards on May 17th at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, and BMI spoke with Kevin Rudolf on the red carpet of the event. He talked about the good year he’s enjoyed, his feelings about David Foster, who was being celebrated as the BMI Icon that night, and he offered advice on what it takes to be a songwriter.
“I think imagination, I think heart, I think soul, I think wanting to express yourself,” Kevin explained. “In some way, the best songs when you really want to say something. I think those are the key ingredients.”
Watch the brief interview via YouTube below.
Kevin Rudolf: ‘Let It Rock’ Wasn’t Meant To Be A Club Record
Katie Shorey of Songwriters Vantage spoke with Kevin Rudolf the other day, where the recording artist offered advice for songwriters and talked about his hit songs, ‘Let it Rock’ and ‘Good Girls Go Bad’.
“‘Let It Rock’ at the time (I wrote it) was about my anger and frustration at the world, and people think it’s a club record, and it’s not, it’s a song that actually has biblical references and it’s kind of a little bit left of center but translates to a club record, which is cool too I guess… The driving nature of it was more about anger and doing something that when I come through, I’m gonna explode on the scene, I’m gonna expose all the hypocrisy and I’m gonna do something real… That’s kind of where I was coming from.”
Watch the interview via YouTube below.
Kevin Rudolf Wants To Throw Out The Rules On Next LP
Taylor Kaye of Toronto’s KiSS 92.5 FM caught up with Kevin Rudolf at the Staples Center in Los Angeles ahead of last night’s Grammy Awards. The artist talked about what fans can expect from him in 2011, wanting to throw all the rules away with his next album, and how people know what makes a record work instinctually. Watch the interview via YouTube below.
Kevin Rudolf Picks The Steelers To Win Super Bowl XLV
Kevin Rudolf did a sports related Q&A with AOL Music ahead of the Super Bowl XLV matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Asked who his pick for Sunday’s big game was, Rudolf said, “Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow!” Kevin argued the Steelers famous D “can’t be penetrated” and the Pack’s offensive attack will be shut down by Troy Polamalu. The story at music.aol.com has since been removed.
No Pressure For Kevin Rudolf On Second Album ‘To The Sky’
Kevin Rudolf visited the Fox All Access studio to talk about his new album ‘To The Sky’ with host Chris Leary. Calling himself a “nice gangster”, Rudolf said he “had a lot more fun” on the second album. “I just kept it very loose. I invited friends over. Rivers from Weezer is on there, and Three 6 Mafia. There’s a couple tracks that were left over from Wayne, so some of those are on there too. I just really had fun with it, like no real pressure, let’s just make an album and have fun with it. And that’s how it started.” Video of the interview at foxallaccess.blogs.fox.com has since been removed.
