HCC’s Got Talent
Living a double life just got easier when a theater student by day and music artist by night brings his talent to Housatonic.
Thomas Kinchen does not define himself solely as a rapper, but prefers the condensed form and all that makes him a music artist. Oddly, his ideas formulate from Anime cartoons and videogames. “I can’t explain how it happens, I pause the game when lyrics come to mind,” Kinchen said. He writes his lyrics at random whenever triggered by events in life, then takes it to the studio. When it’s ready to hit the tracks, he spends four or more hours with a recording engineer experimenting with different beats.
Thomas Kinchen as “Kennith Lyric”
“It’s not about the music business. It’s about the music; music is therapeutic and it gives me a chance to talk to people,” Kinchen explained. “I am not really social but with music it gives me a chance to tell my story.”
The 20-year-old student uses the alias “Kennith Lyric”, derived from his middle name, on his album. His songs on Soundcloud, already with numerous likes from fans, are free to download.
“I respect it,” said a twitter fan Michael Rodriguez, who tweeted to Kennith Lyric’s profile. “Keep working…what you have is great!”
Initially, it all started in fifth grade when Kinchen overheard his friends rapping in the hallway and decided to jump in with his own lyrics and “to my surprise I got a really good reaction from them and the crowd that gathered around,” he said. That motivated him to keep writing.
He later moved on to different genres such as: POP and R&B, then he produced his first song in the studio- a freestyle from a song called “I’m ill”- in 2009. “I was nervous,” Kinchen recollected.
His favorite song from his current song list on Soundcloud is “Dreams and Aspirations.” Kinchen said it’s about chasing dreams. He sang a few verses from the song: “I have a goal, I got myself a dream and I’m gonna believe and prove that I can do anything.”
Kinchen wants listeners to really think about the lyrics of his songs. He wants to motivate and influence them. For example, “‘Envision the Good Life’ isn’t my idea of a good life but what you as my listeners view a good life to be,” he said.
Ten years from now he hopes to broaden his fan base on a world tour with “people supporting my brand of entertainment,” Kinchen said. He wants his loyal followers to continue singing his songs and downloading his album.
His message to those who want to pursue music as a career is “to do what you do best and stick with it.” Kinchen- a.k.a “Kennith Lyric” has a new album Legion of Misfits coming out at the end of this year.
Thomas Kinchen poses for his album
To check out Kennith Lyric’s music, he can be found on his twitter music page @mr_lyricist or his instagram page is @Kennithjlyric. For free song downloads are available on his Soundcloud music page at https://soundcloud.com/kennithlyric.