A few blocks away from Hollywood and Vine is residential street La Baig Ave, which includes a home owned by Joey Tershay of skate company Independent Trucks and brother to Diamond Supply Co. As artists from around the nation rent out the space, HipHopDX found itself interviewing artists of varying notoriety from Sonny Digital to The Outfit, TX. Call it a kickback spot, recording studio or vibe curator, the house simply known as La Baig has seen The Ear Drummers, Isaiah Rashad and more step through. Don’t believe it? They have a wall full of Polaroids to prove it.
One person who’s seen it all go down over the years is Anton Kimsey, better known as A.K. Growing up in Chicago, he found himself traveling between there and Atlanta before calling Los Angeles home. All the while, he spent some time learning from a very infant Young Money, hung around some future Atlanta greats and built a strong relationship with Sonny Digital.
On his own, he was dubbed MTVU’s Freshmen thanks to his poignant “Raised In Chicago” video from his Welcome Aboard Mixtape. Like many young artists, he even found himself in a sticky contractual situation that took years to get out of as well. However, going on tour with Sonny Digital alongside iLoveMakonnen and Key! became a breakthrough moment as they traveled the U.S.
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“When he went on tour, he asked me to come and rock out with him at certain cities,” A.K. said. “They booked him and he brought me along. DJ Green Lantern came to me because he was deejaying for iLoveMakonnen and he told me I was a vital key to this tour. I had to go out first every night and I was the first person on stage every night because I had to get the crowd hyped. It was lit. Me, Sonny and his homie Bird just followed the tour. We had our own truck and we were thuggin it. Sleeping in one hotel and all of that. We started in New York and went all the way to the West Coast.”
By Ural Garrett
In 2016, A.K. dropped two EPs through Something To Prove alongside East Coast producer Audible Doctor and Something To Say. This year, he plans on dropping his Audio Art album. The first two singles set for release are “Never Gon Die” and “Cash”
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“The project name is Audio Art because everyone has an artform of something they do,” he said. “That was the whole idea behind the name from. I’m shooting the February the 21, which is my birthday. If not, the 28 which is my mother’s birthday. I’m trying to speak to the youth and keep our culture alive. Cause it’s like, if nobody is talking about it, then it’ll be lost. You can see where Hip Hop is going now. If we don’t teach the kids or even guide them in the right. My gift is music and that’s always been my plan.”
Listen to “Never Gon Die”(produced by Honorable C.N.O.T.E.) below.
