Kaddy Kobain - That's One Lit Ass Baby
By: Jordan Neal
Originally published February 26, 2019, by Plasma Magazine
Upon first glance, Kaddy Kobain's visual aesthetic could be easily misinterpreted. To the faint of heart, Kaddy's personality can seem abrasive. He can be loud and brash, but in a way that is endearing. The most natural comparison would be that of your favorite cousin. The one that makes all of those annoying family gatherings a little more bearable. He is the physical embodiment of a good time.
In reality, Kaddy is an entrepreneur, musician, and culture enthusiast with a rich back story filled with an assortment of jubilant highs and heartbreaking lows. Kaddy's music is fringe but still grounded in something familiar which tethers listeners to concepts such as love, loss, and self-medication that are more concrete. All of these distinctive themes combine to form Trip House Entertainment, a culmination of all things trippy. Plasma Magazine sat down with Kaddy Kobain to talk about his music career and what he hopes for the future of Trip House Ent.
Kaddy has been through many tumultuous events, but he has managed to come out on the other side more positive and hopeful than ever. He recounted when his mother went to jail for five years and the gut-wrenching fact that he didn't have any solid details surrounding her absence until four years into her sentence. "I've been through the wringer," is how Kaddy describes his life thus far. He's been to jail, "countless times," he told Plasma, but that phrase doesn't feel quite right as it comes from his mouth; this isn’t because his past seems unbelievable. It's more so due to the wisdom that is present when he speaks of these instances. Despite Kaddy's unfortunate circumstances he has managed to keep striving for something better than he was given. "I've developed a mindset that is really based on today instead of yesterday," is how he describes his approach to the struggles of his life. He admits that his past is part of him, but he can't let the past affect him at the moment because he has goals to work towards and losing focus is not an option.
In our conversation, he shed some light on how he acquired the name Kaddy. He detailed his tight-knit relationship with his grandfather, affectionately called the "Cadillac Kid." Kaddy’s grandfather earned this moniker due to his passion for Cadillac automobiles, a status symbol associated with affluence in the black community for many years. Being that he was very close to his grandfather, the name Kaddy naturally transferred to him after his passing. The latter half of his stage name, Kobain, is an homage to the late Kurt Cobain whom Kaddy has an affinity for due to the emotional impact of his music and the similarities in their upbringings. Similarities such as a general sense of being rejected for being viewed as different from the status quo as well as being from a small town.
Kaddy is from the midwest, Indiana to be exact, and is frank about that fact that Indiana is as unassuming as one might imagine. He claims Atlanta as his home now, which can be viewed as an effort to both shed his skin and the negative aspects of his past and claim his future and all of its associated glory. He depicts Indiana's culture as mostly regressive and conservative resulting in a generally infertile bed for creativity. The combination of a lack of stability due to a constant reshuffling of family life and bleak surroundings did not help his music career it only drove him away from his original home in search for a place to create. These circumstances resulted in Kaddy deciding to relocate to Atlanta and pursue his musical passions full time.
Musically, his sound is a bit more complicated than any surface level assessment of his personality could explain. He describes his sound to be like the child of Metro Boomin' and Kurt Cobain. "That's one lit ass baby," I responded. There is a deep and penetrating pain in his music that is masked by overt references of partying and sex. The track "T. White," off of his latest EP, Trip Utero, is a perfect example of the emotive content in Kaddy's music. In the song, Kaddy states, “Life is going down the drain, on my last cigarette; not where I’m supposed to be, not who I’m supposed to be.” Kaddy doesn't shy away from his trippy moniker. He embraces it and wants to be a shaman to all of those who would join him on his journey to experimental enlightenment. So much so, that Kaddy created a label, Trip House Entertainment, that dedicates itself to supporting like-minded artists and their respective creative pursuits.
Kaddy's focus is on the future, and we're excited to see what comes of that laser focus. For now, we'll settle for getting trippy and enjoying the ride. You can check out Kaddy Kobain's most recent EP, titled Trip Utero here and his single “I Like You.” Be sure to Follow Kaddy Kobain and Trip House Ent. for more updates.
