Mixing musical genres together is a difficult process ; when it is brilliantly done, however, the chances of listening to the track on repeat are very high. This is the case for Kino, an ambient and atmospheric hip hop producer whose music also has lo-fi elements to it, and who has been active as a producer for several years now. His tracks will certainly make you feel like you’re listening to The Weeknd’s tracks in slow motion, and that’s perfectly normal. Today, we listen to “Short Lived”, his last single to have been released ; it is a calm yet very emotional song which is inspired by a true story, involving disappointment and feeling hopeless.
“Your pain is real, but your heart will heal
Now you get to love yourself for who you are
One day you’ll light up someone’s world
Like a morning star”
– Kino – Short Lived.
“Short Lived” is a track which fuses together hip hop, ambient, downtempo and lo-fi music, while also incorporating deep feelings and life lessons. Kino indeed manages to synthesize in two and a half minutes the sadness felt when a close friend decided to cut ties almost overnight. The pain is sharp but the song remains light & soft, Kino’s voice sounds tortured yet reassuring ; he layered all of the stages of mourning a close friendship, so to speak, within his song. When it comes to the music itself, the song starts with a gentle, introspective melody played on the piano, followed by ambient layers and distant vocalizations heard in the background. Then, a soft kick, dry claps and drums sounds draw the outline of the hip hop side of the song ; the climax is reached when a robotic recording describes what Kino as well as the listener should remember from living what he has lived.
“Sometimes you have to remind yourself that what you’re feeling, even though it’s negative right now, it doesn’t mean you’ll never feel happiness again.” – Kino about “Short Lived”.
Similar to Kino : Glitch hop producer es.cher releases a saturated downtempo ballad called “is it 2 much”.
Kino is a Canadian producer, living in the greater area of Toronto, Ontario. He started out his career as a hip hop producer at first, before focusing on more ambient, lo-fi, cinematic and atmospheric pieces. By being heavily inspired by what he has been through in life, Kino reveals his musical universe in a delicate and sensitive way.
If you want to listen to a little more of Kino’s works, we recommend you to dig his past releases – he is a prolific artist and he has released dozens of tracks so far ; we notably recommend his track “Transitions”, released three years ago, if you’ve enjoyed the mellow, relaxed atmosphere of “Short Lived”.
Kino is to be found on all streaming platforms. You can also follow him on Instagram !
– Disclaimer : discovered on MusoSoup #SustainableCurator.
