Meet Kenneth McCray II | Music Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kenneth McCray II and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kenneth, what matters most to you?
One of the most important principles that matter to me would be honesty.
Not just being honest to people in your life, but to also be honest with yourself.

I value this the most because I feel like it actually makes me better at what I do. Even within my bonds with
the people closest to me. Everything has honesty within my life. Feedback I get from my friends has helped
progress my skill in different ways when making music, the way I think about certain things in life compared
to how others, and their views they comfortably share with me.

I feel like honesty has taken me a long way in the many things I’ve been through in life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think for me what I fully feel proud of is the fact that I have consistently stayed true to myself. The music I want to put out, how I go about trying to learn to do things better, and even the connections I’ve made with others over time. I just continue to stay true to who I am. I’m a slow growing music producer and I have my days where things do not at all feel easy, but at the end of the day I can always feel proud of what I am doing, and the product that I put out.

For me, when I first started teaching myself to make beats, I just did it as a healing process. It wasn’t until later on that I made a small goal to show people watching me that you can do or be anything you want in your life. All you have to do is put in the work for it. I’m still working hard for goals I haven’t reached yet, but I am taking my time and trying to mark them off the list one by one.

All that ultimately comes together for me in a way that what I do is tough to be good at and profit from, but I love what I do so much that enjoying the journey makes it all worth it for me, and for the day I finally can say I hit all those past goals on my list.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well growing up, I always hung out at Sawgrass Mills Mall. I feel like that’s one of the major hotspots to go to for almost anything while shopping. They can buy clothes, watch a movie(s), enjoy the arcade, or even stop at Cheesecake Factory and others for food.

Then of course you have the beaches. The one I always grew up on was Ft. Lauderdale Beach. Sometimes would even just cruise in the car with the windows down and relax that way while riding along sides of the beach.

I am also heavily a video game geek. There are actually plenty of video game bars to go to for that. Maybe meet some new people there as well.

Now, when it comes to food I have 3 favorite places. One is my favorite sub place since I was little kid called, “Fat Freddy’s Sub Shop” in Oakland Park. Has the best tasting cheeseburger sub to me.
Then, another place I grew up eating is “Charlie’s Patties and Pastries.” I always get at least 2 Meatloaf Patties from there.
To finish it off, I would take them to a place I used to work at called, “Kababi Cafe by Kuluck.” I love almost everything there, but my go-to food to have would be the “Crispy Rice” (also known as Tadig).

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
For me there are 2 people that definitely play a role in me being what I am now as a music producer, as well as where I am and where I want to be at in the future.

The very first that led me to becoming a music producer, I have to give that credit to one of my closest friends named Lin. We have known one another since I was 17 years old in high school. Around the time I was 23 years old is when I was in a dark place mentally. Her very first suggestion was for me to start creating music in some way. I started teaching myself that very same night, and now 8-9 years later I am now a music producer slowly learning to make a profit off of the talent she told me to use back then. Me being becoming a music producer is all thanks to the push in that direction from the conversion with my friend Lin.

The second person, that credit for sure has to go to my mom who from the very beginning has showed support for my music. She also fully supports my music journey as long as I am making smart life choices within the music and outside of the music

Website: https://www.beatstars.com/kenny21y

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Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@k.e.n.official