Today we’d like to introduce you to Khalil Kodak.
Khalil, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The story of my beginning was rocky from the start. Fighting for my life on the hospital bed at the age of 5. Being unresponsive as my family gathers around me holding hands and saying prayers. I think somebody even threw some holy water on me! I’ll save you the suspense, I lived. But after that little dice game with death, I knew I couldn’t be out here playing with my second chance. Shortly after, I was blessed with being in my first commercial which lead to getting my first feature in a magazine. Fast forward a few years later and I am now a member of a young Christian rap group. We would go from city to city performing on different stages, autographing albums and even t-shirts. THIS is the time I realized music was going to be a major if not THE key focus in my life. Growing up in a single-parent household, you realize quickly that money just isn’t an option so you lean more towards your creativity.
Being broke wasn’t something that I was willing to let stop me so as a kid I vowed to learn how to do EVERYTHING myself so I wouldn’t have to pay anybody for anything. From recording the music, the videos, photo shoots and even down to the graphics designs. I wanted to be a powerhouse! But I didn’t want to go alone. So I networked and got the opportunity to work alongside many talented local artists. Not knowing doing so would introduce me to an individual who would then show me a whole new world we now call Live Streaming. This will change the game for me entirely. Due to my Live Streams, I’ve been able to create an active and very supportive community on Twitch & YouTube. I now would have a platform that would bring in well over 700K views and showcase not only my music but the music and talents of any other artist(s) I wanted to promote. The audience is growing by the day and I couldn’t thank them enough for that!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Hell no! Nothing came easy and nothing worth having will come easy. Being a black child growing up without a father is going to come with struggles. But you try to find the beauty in the struggle. Co-vid was another major struggle. I lost my job and was forced to make my visual skills pay the bills. This is when I learned that I had to ability to make my entire two weeks paycheck in two days. It was a much-needed struggle!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have to wear many hats. You can see me behind the camera. In front of the camera. Editing the footage. Hosting photo shoots. Graphic designing, also recording and the mixing music. What I believe sets me apart from the rest is that I’ve almost perfected making something out of nothing.
What matters most to you?
The only thing that matters to me is that I plant the seed in somebody’s head to “Get up and do something about it.!” You don’t like how life is going? Get up and do something about it! Are you not in the position you want to be in or deserve? Get up and do something about it! You want to be the best and biggest artist out here?! Get up and do something about it! Get rid of any doubt or negativity in your life. That includes friends and/or family! Believe it or not, not everybody wants you to do better than them.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/khalil3x
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/khalil3x
- Other: Twitch.tv/Khalil3x
Image Credits
Jonathan Williams, Foci Productions, Caperture Photography
