The era of consumption and confusion is all around us, feeding us what we should look like, be, do, buy. Some listen, others move pass the smoke and mirrors and fight; a warriors journey. These guerreros de la luz use their words as fuel, creating movement and strength where none seems to thrive. Like walking reminders calling the masses to question, take action, and transform, these warriors battle when we cannot find the courage to do so.
Maximiliano Kuper, AKA Kingdom Kome, was born in Mar Del Plata, Argentina on Sept. 27th 1978 under a tumultuous military dictatorship era. Over 30,000 men, women and children were abducted, tortured, and murdered in a time when tyranny was law, where no one could speak the truth or go against the words of those that led. Arrested and threatened, and to avoid becoming one of “Los Desaparecidos”, his parents changed their future and immigrated the family, and 1-year-old Max, to the United States.
Growing up in Miami, Florida, Maximiliano still felt the echoes of Argentinian oppression seeping through his parents revolutionary music; melodic tunes washed with revolution, personal legends, and voices tearing up at the thought of pure freedom. Little did he know that this would be the beginning of his journey, molding him with social consciousness and a view of the world few had. Not feeling fully part of the hustling streets of Miami, Max began to question everything, fishing through heavy metal, reggae, and Spanish rock, until his soul landed onto the words of hip hop. At that time, Hip Hop was the full unabashed expression of the oppressed, the words of the inner battles, pure raw poetry. This was now his outlet, his muse and his fire. Kingdom Kome was born.
A visionary artist, poet, Producer, Manager, CEO, husband, and father, Kingdom Kome morphs the grit of the Miami music scene with the soul of his past. Not satisfied with the politics of the industry, he purchased equipment and taught himself the ins and outs of the music industry. Spitting his own lyrics and beats, and shielded by talent and perseverance, Kingdom is leaving an indelible impression, and is on his way to becoming one of the most prominent players in the entertainment industry.
Far few and in between do you come across a leader in society that speaks for the people, one that drives spirit and emotion through your veins. A renaissance artist with talent and charisma, an Argentinian rebel and Miami native, a consistent seeker of the truth, Kingdom Kome waits patiently as the next heir to the throne in the entertainment world.
1. What’s good Kingdom Kome? How’s things your way?
Peace family, everything is everything. Thankful for the opportunity to chop it up with you and to build. We here on the front lines pushing forward my G. Working, working, working.
2. For starts how did you come up with your artist name?
You know Kingdom Kome means the hereafter; the end of time, the afterlife, the kingdom of god, basically everything from here on out – and I didn’t quite know the importance or weight of that name till much later on. The name Kingdom Kome was sort of given to me by one of the elders when I was coming up in my early days, because any time I would rhyme in a cypha you knew you had to come correct or you would get blown to kingdom kome, as I grew into the name it become more of making sure I say something with substance in my music.
3. You have quite a story coming to the US from Argentina during that oppressive time. Hypothetically speaking, if your parents weren’t brave enough to make that move, where would KK be today?
Ah man, probally not here, you know my parents saw most of all their friends “disappear” in those times, if you had an subversive books, long hair, were out past curfew hours you would get taken by the military or they would bust up in your home rape the women, kill the men, and steal the kids. Most of all the Nazis in Germany fled to Argentina to escape after the war and these were the same sick fucks that were high ranking military officials during those times. So realistically I would not be here to tell my story.
4. Damn that’s real. Speaking of real, we heard your latest track, and peeped your newest video for, “Farewell (When I Die)”. The track was fire and had a deep message to it. What type of real life events inspired you to pen such a powerful track?
Give thanks, I appreciate it. You know I think in the back of our mind we all are aware of our own immortality but it never really sinks in or hits home until we experience death really closely so for myself I have always been fascinated with death and our concepts of the afterlife & I have always been aware that life is fleeting and that we are here for a moment and then we return to the source, so I wanted to somewhat capture the questions and feelings I had and channel it thru a dark introspective track.
5. Some of the lines that stuck out to us was, “When I Die will my life flash right before my eyes?/ gasping or wheezing, fighting to stay alive/ will I speak to my killer or even ask why?/. Most people say the scariest thing to think about is death. How it will happen, when, where and why. You made a whole song about it! When you were writing this record… did it make your heart pound a little bit extra? Did it add a little extra stress in your life while analyzing, in rhyme format, what the end can or will be like for Kingdom Kome?
Naw, not all all. I don’t fear death at all and I try to live everyday in the moment and enjoy the simple things, so when it’s my time to go I can cry tears of joy as I look back on the memories and moments. It’s hard to let go, we as humans struggle with that. I was in a dark time in my life when I wrote it so I know that is why this record came about so truthfully.
6. By the way, the production was stellar. C Lance is a beast! How did you guys link up and is there anything else on the way from you two?
C-Lance the MONSTAH! Shout out to my brother man, that’s a good dude right there. I ended up hooking up him on some music shit, and we just started chopping it up and building with each other, so yeah that’s fam. He produced 3 records on the new album that are insane and we have LOTS more music in the works coming up.
PURCHASE HERE- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/when-i-die-farewell-single/id1115203008
7. So we know you came to America from Argentina as a newborn. You resided in Miami and made your way up to North Carolina. When did you move to the Tarheel state and how would you describe the difference of the music scenes in both regions?
I was 11 months old when my parents moved to Miami, so I am DADE COUNTY for life, it is where I grew up, where I ran the streets, where I learned everything from, Miami made me. I rep Miami everywhere I go and I am still deeply embedded in the Miami music scene , I just recently moved to Asheville, NC. 2 years ago basically to get away from the hectiness of the city for my seed, even thought I survived it I didn’t want my son to have to experience a lot of the stuff I had to coming up, Miami is not a place to raise children & truthfully I wanted to get out of Florida before it goes underwater when the sea levels rise, so I chose the mountains for that reason. It took me leaving Miami to realize there is no place like it anywhere in the US or the world for that matter, the vibe, the culture, the food, the women, the ocean, needless to say I am constantly homesick and find myself there 5-6 times a year since I left.
8. When people think of Southern Artists nowadays they think of trap music, 808’s and club music. Your style is almost that of a golden era NY artist. The beat selection, substance and a lot of your features echo that. What makes you stick with that gritty sound and not compromise to the current landscape?
Man it’s what I grew up on, I was raised in the Golden Era, I lived thru what people are trying to replicate now. Mind you being from Miami my 1st concert was a Poision Clan / 2 Live Crew concert so I was raised on Miami bass and booty music, but I grew up with all the greats whether it was East coast , Southern rap, or West coast we was on it all, it was the culture. I also grew up skating and doing graffiti so we was listening to it all mixing heavy metal, punk rock, reggae roots and rap before it was cool, we were the outcasts.
9. Let’s talk about your label. Can you give us some insight on your outfit and on top of you as an artist is there anyone else?
Most people in Miami know that I had a few other labels before and that I used to manage artists and producers, I had success, lost it, got it back, as I am sure you know the music industry is cutthroat, so Walking With Enoch Music, LLC. was formed when I said fuck it I want to put myself out as an artist and get back to my artistry which I had put aside to handle the business aspect of the game, I wanted to do the type of music I listen to and like and fuck what radio or the industry wants me to do.
10. Are you looking for a major deal, Indie deal, distribution? What’s the ultimate goal for Kingdom Kome?
Sky’s the limit, right now I am just focused on getting the music out there as much as possible, it’s all an indie grind right now, but that’s the beauty of it, I put out what I want, and I don’t have the machine trying to compromise my art, now if the right situation presents itself and it makes sense with my vision & my brand that let’s talk numbers but till then this is my life & my passion so I will always feed the people with quality music because they starving for it, and I’m fucking nice!
11. We know you have an album on the way, “All Beasts Show Their Teeth”. What is the overall feel of the project that our readers can expect and when they purchase it?
So I always knew the project name for it, “All Beasts Show Their Teeth” my whole thinking when I started working on it was ok, people always talk about the sophomore slump so I wanted to crush that theory and come hard with a much darker and grittier album. I wanted to take you thru different chambers with this album, kind of like a roller coaster vibe so there’s lots of facets and concepts that I touch on. I put a lot of thought into this project so I hope everyone really enjoys it. Shout out to Taylor Cort who did the album artwork, we sat and really conceptualized the imagery for the album so there are lots of hidden jewels in the artwork and we got a lot of surprises coming up for it.
All Beasts Show Their Teeth unleashing 9/1/16 on ITunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Spotify and ALL other Digital Outlets.
Pre-Sale & Physical Bundles available at www.KingdomKomeMusic.com
Featuring: Thristin Howl the 3rd, Prodigal Sunn, Copywrite, Hell Razah, Dynas, Omniscient, Soarse Spoken, & More!
Production by: STREETRUNNER, C-Lance, DJ Ruen, ILL Vibe, & Kingdom Kome
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12. Currently what is your favorite record off that project and why?
That’s a hard one, cuz they all resonate differently with me, but I think Track 9, “How It’s Gonna Be”, feat. Thrisitn Howl the 3rd & Copywrite prod. By C -Lance is my favorite, for one because I got the God Thristin Howl the 3rd and Copywrite on it, 2 lyricists I highly respect and look up to, 2nd of all it’s the 1st time both of them are on a track together and we all went in on it! C-lance’s production with DJ Ruen’s cuts on it are insane! It’s a tie between that track and the hardest track I have ever had to write and record for, track 11, titled “Without You” (Lost) you have to hear it to know why.
13. We know you are a family man on top of a CEO and artist. How does the juggling act of being a fulltime father blend in with the daily tasks of running a label and crafting your music?
Some days are easier than others (laughs), but yeah you know when you love what you do it’s not work. My son is my motivation to grind, he is my beacon of light guiding me thru the fog. I find enjoyment in pushing my back against the wall and making things happen, meeting deadlines, finding time to play with my son, I thrive on it.
14. Who were your favorite artists coming up that inspired you the most?
This one is always tough, the list is endless as I have tons in different genres but personally Public Enemy was always my favorite group EVER, as far as duo it’s gotta be Gangstarr and Eric & Parish Makin Dollars (EPMD), artists that inspired me the most are Rakim, Kool G Rap, KRS One, Big Daddy Kane, Scarface, Ice Cube, Wise Intelligent, Brother J, Wu-Tang, Poison Clan, 2 Live Crew, Nas & Killah Priest.
15. So you have already dropped a slew of projects this year. What is left on on your 2016 list to come out?
So 9/1/2016 my new album “All Beast Show Their Teeth” drops and then late 4th quarter 1st week in December I am dropping a group album titled “Cabin Fever” which consists of myself and 2 elite MC’s from the crib, Omniscient and Soarse Spoken, we don’t have a “group name” name yet but they came up here for a weekend to Asheville and we locked ourselves in Enoch Music Studios and did 12 tracks in 2 days. Let’s just say it is going to be memorable album. I also started working on my next EP/LP and I am half way done with that, should be dropping early 2017.
16. It was good chopping it up with you homie and we look forward to hearing a lot more! The floor is yours, feel free to give any plugs, shout outs, let our readers know where to connect with you and until the next time, Peace and blessings!
Big up MTK for the feature and to Tha Advocate for the link, make sure ya’ll cop my new album “All Beast Show Their Teeth” dropping 9/1 on ALL Digital Outlets. Shout to my Dadewear family make sure yall pick up the DadeWear x KK collab we dropping for the album, to all my people in Miami, in the south, the north, the west, in Canada, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, all over the globe much love to all my people, to all people, we are all one, we powerful when we mobilize and unite as one, it’s time to rise up!
Much love