Still The Same Kahlil
By Onica Dick aka Neki
It took some time before he was able
to sit and have a conversation with me. However, when he was able to, he
certainly did not disappoint. Born and bred in L’Anse Fourmi, in the vicinity
of the oldest legally protected rainforest in the Western Hemisphere, Calvern
‘Kahlil’ Hernandez, the second of five siblings is a multi-talented creative.
“When I was young, I wanted to be a
chef; I like cooking smoked bones. However, as I got older, I realized that my
calling was more than cooking. There was an entrepreneurial side in me that was
waiting to come alive because I had lots of business venture ideas.”
The past pupil of L’Anse Fourmi
Primary School, St Patrick Anglican and Signal Hill Comprehensive says that his
days of growing up were not very memorable. He remembers going to secondary
school on some days without money but one teacher he can never forget from
primary school is Miss Stewart who also taught his parents.
The essence of this interview is for
me to get to know him better as Kahlil the artiste.
He was raised around musical
influences and vision is part of what he represents. He mentioned, “My
grandfather Joseph Kerr also known as Boy Kerr taught the Mighty Shadow to play
the guitar. Would you believe that to this day we still have that guitar?”
He is also the cousin of the producer
behind Gemini Records who is now in very high demand among many Tobago
artistes.
“One of the reasons I engaged in a lot
of business is because I wanted to assist Gemini with getting equipment for the
studio. We started the studio in L’Anse Fourmi and now it is based at Martineau
Mall in Scarborough, and it has become one of the main recording studios in
Tobago for several artistes.”
I asked him about the name Kahlil and
how he came up with it. “I just came up with the name because when we started
off, it is really the Muslims who gave us some exposure.”
Kahlil has never entered any competition,
but he says the flow of his music “just happens” and most times he doesn’t even
write. He has over 40 songs and counting but so far only about seven have been
released. He can sing in any genre of music but for now his focus is dancehall.
His earliest song ‘High Stakes’ was recorded last year and released by Gemini
Records. He shares some of the lyrics of the song with me.
“Still the same me, Still have the
same team, Still have the same dream, Nobody fi save we, Suh no time fi we
daydream, Nuh move less yuh say cream, Might hear what yuh stating, Gone inna
space cause nuh God dem a chase, Demons mi face all when mi awake, And mi never
yet shake, Mi just pleading mi case, Just give me a break, Uhnuh nuh have what
it takes fi pull weed with the greats…”
He then sings for me a few lines from
another one of his songs, 'Greats Speak’ recorded on the A+ Riddim by Gemini
Records.
“Shh mek the greats speak, Mek the
great them show you how the greats do it, Stay real though it all couldn’t fake
fuh it, One link gemmi deh suh space fi him, Ah we lock dem can’t stop it deh
wah block it, Unstoppable force a hot topic, Flow so clean it sounding robotic,
Gain little weight so yuh know mi can’t drop this, Hard work and practice…”
As to what sort of impact he wants to
create with his music, he had this to say. “Locally as artistes the music is in
we; we just want the ability to record because there is a lot more to it.
Globally, I want to be able to take the music as far as it needs to go, to be
able to produce full works (distribution).
When I first discovered this artiste
via YouTube, I felt he had a similarity and versatility to the successful
Jamaican artiste Masicka. It is so coincidental that when I ask him about his
favourite artiste inspiration, he confirms that it is Masicka. “For me, Masicka
is unstoppable, no matter what. He is always a hit.”
He may have never done any live
performances yet, but he is faced with numerous responsibilities. “As part of
the team I represent, I am responsible for so much more than myself as an
artiste, things such as food, transportation for when members have events to
perform at and so on.”
He thinks that not getting much radio
play is one of the challenges of the industry, but he is still very optimistic.
“I, along with the team, we try to do certain things for ourselves so that we
don’t have to go out there and beg anybody for airplay. This is why we are
grateful for other avenues such as YouTube and Apple Music to still allow us to
get our tunes out there.”
One of his best experiences thus far was
going on a local tour sometime around 2018/19 with another team member artiste
Kelo. “I enjoyed driving around to different parts of Tobago and sometimes
getting to jump on stage to give him that support in the background.”
His dedication is to improve his craft
because he doesn’t see any limit. He would like very much to collaborate with
his influence Masicka and his artiste colleague Kelo.
Asked about how he sees himself in
about five years’ time, he said, “For the team I intend to continue to focus
heavily on helping them to show up to the performances, bringing the food,
organizing the transport. For me, I must do something that is recognizable;
fans can expect more compositions and without a doubt I will make some musical
strides in my work.”
He also believes that the music
industry in Trinidad and Tobago is strange that some artistes tend to die when
they reach up to certain levels of success. He says this in reference to
deceased artistes such as Rebel 6ixx and KLion.
I am very impressed with this young
man. His displays simplicity with a high level of intelligence and charisma. “I
prefer to be simple, imagine, I have lots of clothes, but I am not a showoff. I
just want to do more work till I get to where I want to be. I tend to step back
from the spotlight, and I like to do things behind the scenes to ensure that
stuff happens.”
He discloses some of the other
activities he is involved in. “I have my own plumbing business. I even bought
my own fishing boat and recently I bought a truck to engage in a transportation
business.” This young artiste is truly an ambitious all-rounder.
To other upcoming creative artistes
like himself Kahlil offers the following advice: “Work hard on being an
artiste, a person. Nothing comes easy and free; if you intend to develop as an
artiste, develop yourself as a person and make money outside of it.”
Kahlil does not have a Facebook account, but he can be found on Instagram as kahlil_vidc. His music is posted on Gemini Records YouTube page, Audiomack and Spotify etc. for full distribution. Kahlil is truly focused and on the right path to not only being an artiste but also building a complete brand.
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