Deals are being signed left and right. Kid Ink had announced on January 3rd that he is a member of RCA records. The same label as A$AP Mob members Rocky and Ferg. The first single with RCA will be “Bad A**,” with Meek Mill and Wale (LOVE). He’s def. one of the men of the hour. Kid Ink checks out XXL Mag and gets into things like how he felt about signing that deal, a video for the “Bad A**” single, why he signed with RCA, and what other record labels he was looking into before he signed.
“They understood what we were doing independently as a whole and I felt like they had a good background of people in there, like J. Grand, who come from an independent background and understand us and understand the creativity and the music and the control we wanted to have,” the Kid says about RCA. Kid Ink explains that it takes a while for a deal to be completely set in stone, but before he sat down and made the long-term decision labels like Atlantic (on his heels heavy), Bad Boy, and even MMG’s own Rick Ross reached out to him personally. That would have been dope, because he’s different from Meek, Ross, and Wale.
Kid was doing major things as an indie artist, but making this choice will show to be a GREAT one. I’m happy for the Kid. Cheers to 20,000+ in the first week of sales off this deal. Drop down bottom for more of the interview.
Have you started recording the album?
I been recording. I started recording two months before the Rocketshipshawty mixtape dropped, and I did about 60 records just for that, so there’s a lot of leftovers. Well, not really leftovers, but I put a lot aside for the album, and there are still a lot of leftovers for another mixtape and more leaks. The album’s is 45 percent done, I would say. I got like six or seven tracks that I feel confident with that I really want to push toward the album.
Are there any guest features already lined up?
Not really any guest features lined up, except the single featuring Meek Mill and Wale. I’m working with all kinds of producers the label’s been hooking me up with, but I’ve also been working with the same producers from my earlier projects every time, which I always do. It’s a formula. The fans love the producers I work and look forward to hearing those records with the same lineups.
How was it working with Wale and Meek Mill?
I felt like Meek Mill was perfect for the record. As soon as my man Devin Cruze from the team gave me the record and I recorded the idea, the first thoughr was we could get Meek Mill on it, and we reached out. He’s like family. We’ve done like three or four records and been in the studio many times together. So it really wasn’t too much of an issue. So from there, we wanted to get Wale. It was magic. And I already had a relationship with Maybach from Ross reaching out. I’ve also known O for minute. A video is coming, definitely. We already got the treatment and everything, it’s gonna be dope. I’m on the road doing radio promo [for it] right now.
Is there a release date?
There’s no set release date, we’re just working the single and seeing where it’s gonna go. We really want a direction on the album, not just put together a mixtape. I want it to be a major label album and sound different from an independent album. I want it to be big. There’s no rush.
Your name’s Kid Ink—so did you get any new ink to celebrate the deal?
I didn’t get any new ink toward the deal, but I’ve been getting new ink for the past two months. I’ve been going in like almost every other day. [Laughs]
