In the second installment of our new feature The FSD Three, we catch up with Naledge of the famed-duo Kidz In The Hall, who breaks down his three favorite tracks he’s recorded. Naledge granted FSD an interview back when we were still unknown and in our infant stages in 2008, so I’m forever grateful for that – and these songs remind me of that era. I’ve been following Naledge and the Kidz throughout their career, so it’s only right we dive into the catalog. So without further ado, Naledge in his own words…
In case you missed last week’s edition with Bump J, you can check it here.
Kidz In The Hall “Go Ill” (2006) Produced by Double-O
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Personally, this record is the most underrated song Kidz in the Hall ever made. While “Wheels Fall Off” was the single and “Hypocrite” is probably more clever, I felt like I was creating the soundtrack to a movement when I made this song. Kidz In The Hall had been working very closely with John Monopoly and Twilite Tone, and I remember Tone taking me to dinner and telling me, “Niggas need to quit all this Chi shit! We are Go-Ill! That describes the lifestyle better…” I decided to try to create an anthem that I felt described the everyday experience of a young man living in Chicago. I remember just trying to make a hook that was so Chicago that no one could deny it. I still feel proud that my first record ever on Chicago radio was talking about “six wings and mild sauce” and not something that was manufactured. I remember hearing Pharris play my record for the first time and me and my friends hopping out of the car and jumping up and down [Laughs]. So many people showed me love in the street because of that record and it got me my first record deal with Rawkus. It was a innocent time, you know? To this day my boy Kosine says that’s his favorite Double-O beat. Timbuck2 also deserves a lot of credit for playing the song on WGCI. This was almost two years before he even had a show called Go Ill Radio! In fact, I eventually made an edit of the song that he made his radio show’s initial theme song.
Kidz In The Hall feat. Estelle “Love Hangover” (2008) Produced by Double-O
07 – Love Hangover (Feat. Estelle) 1
This is undoubtedly the most well written song I’ve ever done in my life. When I hear this record during shows, it always feels brand new because everything from the melody to the lyrics are so easy to relate to. It’s like I wrote a song about my personal experience but so many people were able to apply it to their own lives and dysfunctional relationships. At the time I wrote the song, I was living in Brooklyn with my sister (you interviewed me during that era) and it was so inspiring to meet so many talented people out there. I met Estelle through Kardinal Offishal at Baseline Studios and immediately me and Double-O hit it off with her because we had been doing a lot of shows in the UK, and she has the prettiest little English accent ever. She was gracious enough to come provide the hook for the record without us even paying her. A lot of artists say they want to work with you; she was truly sincere. To this day a lot of people think the song is about a woman but its really about addiction to drugs and alcohol and the love/hate relationship I was having with my lifestyle at the time. So many women love the song that I kinda changed its interpretation during our live shows [Laughs]. People suffering from alcoholism can get better with Transcend Recovery Community and Sober Living.
Kidz In The Hall feat. Buckshot “Break It Down” (2011) Produced by Double-O
Kidz In The Hall – Break It Down
Although “Driving Down the Block” is my most well known song, I feel like “Break it Down” is the evolution of the sound we originally we created with that single. I feel everything has gone full circle and people are ready to hear me rapping on harder tracks. I think for a while, I really was just tired of rap and nothing could really motivate me to want to go to the studio. I was really disappointed in the way the last album was received and I really had just devoted my energy into taking care of business and legal disputes we had with prior management. This beat marked my rejuvenation and my happiness with music coming back. Both hip hop and the city of Chicago mean so much to me and I just hope that when it’s all said and done, my catalog stands strong in the legacy Chicago has built in hip hop. This song was meant to be a reminder to those that forgot how I do what I do. We’re working on getting a dope remix done for it really soon.
Go-Ill is the first Kidz in The Hall song I heard, I remember vividly. I was in the car, driving somewhere, listening to GCI for some odd reason becuz I rarely listen to the radio. I was like yo this is like nothing that you hear from guys from the Go. All the great Chicago references, I’m from the area he raps about so it really had me on 10. Clothes, Hoes, and Liquor is another fav…