KAYMUNI INTERVIEW [DIGITAL COVER]
KAYMUNI INTERVIEW [DIGITAL COVER] – Presented in partnership with Hoodrich, this digital cover feature highlights how Birmingham rapper KayMuni is moving with clear intent and laser focus since returning home.
With his highly anticipated project Monopoly on the horizon, KayMuni has not only been shaping his sound but also anchoring himself firmly in his community—from funding school uniforms to handing out hot meals alongside Hoodrich.
In this conversation, he reflects on writing mixtapes while inside, performing live for the very first time, and why putting his hometown on his back remains the ultimate mission.
It has been a big year since you came home. How are you feeling right now, in this exact moment, compared to how you thought you would feel?
Yeah, good, man. Everything’s good, man. Music’s going well. “Monopoly”, the album on the way.
You were writing bars before you had anywhere to put them. What’s the earliest memory you have of wanting to take this seriously?
I’ve always wanted to take music seriously but probably when I was in prison. Probably when I decided to write a mixtape. My first mixtape, “Time Is Money” to be exact.
What was it like watching the Birmingham scene rise around you as a teenager, before you were part of it?
Yeah, it was lit, man. The Birmingham scene’s always evolving.
Do you have any standout names from there that you can remember?
Probably KB, you know, like, growing up. Yeah.
On Birmingham Live, you recently you gave back to the youth earlier this month, with the thousand school uniforms, shortly followed by another giveaway with Hoodrich for 100 meals. What’s the example you want to set for the younger generations through your charitable work?
I just feel like you should help people wherever you can, it goes a long way and I take pride in doing that, especially in my hometown.
You performed for the first time at the Hoodrich giveaway too. How did that feel, getting to do that in your hometown?
Yeah, it was good, man. I can’t lie, it was kind of nerve-wracking. I had never performed before.
You talk a lot about your time inside, and you said you, Marnz Malone and KB treated it like a study program. What did that actually look like, day to day?
Just trying to find beats, as well as structuring my mixtapes correctly, organising distribution for all streaming platforms too. A variety of things.
Is there a writing process as well?
Yeah, I go through stages with writing. I can’t write all the time, but I definitely go through stages where I can write a lot of stuff and some stages where I don’t write at all.
And the freestyle that hit 500,000 views overnight after Central Cee’s cosign. Where were you when you found out, and what did that moment mean to you?
We was in jail, man. It’s just mad, I can’t lie. We had a few freestyles going viral at the time. When them freestyles used to go mad, it was a big thing. It just made me know that I’ve got to come home and take things seriously.
Monopoly’s title is a thesis is about total control over your lane in your city. What does control actually mean to you at this stage?
I feel like just being in control of my own life and doing what I want to do, it’s important.
Were there any key moments in the creative process of making Monopoly as an album?
A lot of the music I’ve done, I wrote since I came home. Even one or two of the songs, I had them before I came out of jail, still. So this is a special project to me. It’s my first home mixtape. I ain’t even dropped that mixtape yet since I came home. I got a few features on there as well. This one should be big.
Is there anything you want to say about the features? How did they come about?
All my features are natural. When you see me featured, I either like their music or I rock with them in real life.
What does the next few years look like for you in the music space?
Going to go up hundred levels, man. Keep rapping, keep dropping, keep showing them there’s levels to this.
What’s your main mission in terms of being at the centre of Birmingham’s musical rise?
I feel like I’m just trying to put my city on. When a lot of people look at England, I feel like Birmingham kind of gets overshadowed. So I’m just trying to put my city on.
If 13-year-old you, filming those first videos, could see where you are now, what would surprise him?
Damn. I’m here still. Yeah, I wouldn’t even believe this story.
Do you think Arsenal are going to win the league?
100%. Every single year.
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