Aaron Alexander

You know that thing where you think you’re pretty good at something and start promoting it like crazy online, only to look back in a few years and cringe at how bad that shit was? I don’t get that feeling with Aaron Alexander. For someone with fewer than 500 followers, this Kansas City kid sounds scarily polished. Just take his latest single “Storm,” which ebbs and flows like its title suggests: unleashing fierce raps and rumbling bass on your ears one minute, easing them with lush pianos and soothing vocals the next. This is a well-crafted song if nothing else.

Aside from “Storm,” last year’s rAdiAnt Redone project is Aaron Alexander’s only other offering. It’s a more soulful, jazzy listen that wears its Erykah Badu, Roy Ayers and Charlie Parker influence on its sleeve, suggesting that the only thing more interesting than Aaron’s voice is his ear. Plus, Chance The Rapper follows him on Twitter, which is never a bad thing to put on your résumé. - DjBooth

Kansas City artist Aaron Alexander impressed us with the thoughtful rap of "Badu2" in September of last year and today he's back with a new song and video. "Faces" comes from his upcoming album Memento Mori, and is delivered with his first ever video. As Alexander understands, videos are an incredibly important part of the package for anyone, but especially for newer artists trying to stand out from the crowd.

"This is my first visual; I’ve always wanted to make a video," he explains. "I’m a huge film buff so the experience of making visuals was an amazing experience. I see a lot of artists gaining traction off of cool videos, so we made a cool video." More than a dark, somewhat menacing video, "Faces" is also the work of a talented rapper with a keen ear for the production that suits him best. Musically and visually, it's impressive, but Alexander has an overarching vision for the song and album too.

"'Faces' is more or less things that I am seeing as I grow up, I used to be really naïve but with age comes growth," he explains. "I now know how to recognize when I’m being taken advantage of. The video is chronicling that growth, within the context of the project of course. I started the album two years ago after watching the Death Parade anime, episode 11, where they mentioned the phrase Memento Mori. It sounded incredibly dope so I did a bit of research. After a bit of research, the aesthetic and sound I was going for was clear. The album is equal parts about death and dying as it is life itself." - Complex Media

Celebrated visual artist Jean-Michel Basquiat was quoted saying, “Since I was seventeen I thought I might be a star. I’d think about all my heroes, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix… I had a romantic feeling about how these people became famous.”

Basquiat and his creations have become a source of influence for many well-known Hip Hop performers. The late one-time graffiti artist has also served as a motivational force for a rising rhymer out of Kansas City, Kansas.
Not long ago, Aaron Alexander released the Basquiat-inspired Radiant Child, produced entirely by fellow Kansas Citian Bwill. However, the duo felt the audio fidelity of Radiant Child did not properly represent the sound they wanted to share with the world.

As a result, the two high school friends remixed 8 tracks from the project and repackaged it as rAdiAnt Redone. Musician Eric Christopher assisted with the development of the EP as well.

Alexander was able to set forth on a path to grabbed the attention of listeners thanks to his parents and others helping him to avoid the pitfalls of Kansas City. Now, he and Bwill are part of a growing Kansas/Missouri Hip Hop scene which includes other up-and-comers such as Zarin Micheal, Gee Watts, and Rory Fresco.

“People are starting to carve their own lanes and not box themselves into ‘what KC is supposed to sound like,’” says Alexander. “It’s a beautiful thing, I foresee a run like Chicago had in 2013 sooner rather than later.”

As Aaron Alexander helps direct more eyes and ears toward the movement emerging from his home region, AllHipHop.com readers can get a better understanding of the 21-year-old independent emcee via the “Three Questions” interview series.

What are your five favorite Hip Hop albums from Midwest artists?
I am going to throw my own caveat on this one. I can only use one album from each artist. No particular order: Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Lupe Fiasco – The Cool, Chief Keef – Finally Rich, Chance The Rapper – Acid Rap, and Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon II.

If you had to live the life of any anime character who would it be and why?

If I could live in any anime world it would have to be in the Pokémon world. Nobody has to go to college. They make like 3-4 racks every battle. It’s lit.

Basquiat was very interested in the idea of fame. Are there any limits to what you’re willing to do to be listed among the greats?

I will do everything that I can do to be seen as great, not just a great rapper but a great artist. The only thing I worry about is losing myself in that process. I’ve watched people get swept away in trying to live a life that they weren’t cut out for. It’s a terrible thing. I will always take a step back and ask myself if what I am doing is making me happy, because I am not going to put my happiness in jeopardy over a job. Music is my self-expression. If I ever get in a situation where I can monetize it, I’d hope that situation would allow me to express myself like I’ve been doing. - AllHipHop

In a continuation of one of the most dynamic rapper-director partnerships in Kansas City hip-hop, Aaron Alexander and Kendu The Stampede have teamed up again to present the video for Alexander’s latest single.

“Journey Of The Spiritual Playboy” sees the KCK emcee contemplative as ever, stringing together catchy melodies as he ponders the value he finds in the material world. Kendu’s one-location shoot for the video makes it one of his most bare-bones efforts in recent times, but still provides an airy, dreamlike atmosphere for Alexander to swim through. Watch below. - The Pitch KC

Aaron Alexander (@Ignant_A): The Quiet Storm

Age: 21

Home: Kansas City, Kan.

A puzzling aspect of KC hip-hop is the stubbornness with which it has refused to reach out to its great big cousin: jazz. It’s unclear why so few hip-hop artists have harkened back to our city’s roots of Charlie Parker and Count Basie and other sound-shifting titans to forge a new path.

Enter: Aaron Alexander.

A native of Kansas City, Kan., Alexander has embraced to exceptional effect often-overlooked mediums like jazz, documentary film and Japanese anime. His debut EP, “Radiant Child” (produced by KC’s Brandon Williams) — and the subsequently remastered (with help from local musician Eric Christopher) project “Radiant Redone” — is an experimental, expertly executed jazz/blues/hip-hop hybrid inspired by the Jean-Michel Basquiat documentary of the same name.

It is also one of the more celebrated underground hip-hop records to come out of the city in the last few years. With tracks like “Badu2” and “Charlie Parker,” Alexander fuses multiple genres to create a musical rarity: a project that sounds like nothing else. It is that idiosyncrasy that has helped Alexander gain national coverage on major music websites like AllHipHop.com and Pigeons and Planes.

In the Pigeons and Planes short feature of Alexander, Jon Tanners writes: “Kansas City rapper Aaron Alexander’s ‘Badu2’ is only two and a half minutes long, but it unfurls patiently; a filtered introduction giving way to Alexander’s deceptively intricate and an equally detailed beat that breathes and builds before its abrupt end.”

“Our parents had us listening to jazz,” Alexander says. “I do all of my music based off inspiration. This is KC. Charlie is from here and so many other jazz artists. No one ever incorporates that into their raps. I feel like it’s kind of up to the younger generation to throw it back into the mix.”

Alexander is working with Williams and Christopher on the upcoming free album “Memento Mori,” which he says is inspired by anime and will feature a live band. He moves slowly; “Mori” will debut either next month or early 2017, more than two years after “Radiant Child,” but Alexander says the wait will be worth it.

“ ‘Memento Mori’ is going to be next level. I’ll take a project that makes you go, ‘Wow do you hear that growth’ over ‘This sounds like the other stuff’ any day.”

Essential tracks: “Badu2,” “Charlie Parker,” “Basquiat”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/back-to-rockville/article115484108.html#storylink=cpy - Kansas City Star Newspaper

In the age of instant gratification, Snapchat stories, and big, obvious drops, creations that take time to unravel and reveal themselves feel like fish swimming upstream, beaten back by the current into noisy oblivion. Kansas City rapper Aaron Alexander's "Badu2" is only two and a half minutes long, but it unfurls patiently; a filtered introduction giving way to Alexander's deceptively intricate and an equally detailed beat that breathes and builds before its abrupt end.

"Badu2" is an enjoyable paradox, a lesson in close listening and patience packed into an easily digestible portion. - Pigeon's & Planes

Kansas City artist Aaron Alexander impressed us with the thoughtful rap of "Badu2" in September of last year and today he's back with a new song and video. "Faces" comes from his upcoming album Memento Mori, and is delivered with his first ever video. As Alexander understands, videos are an incredibly important part of the package for anyone, but especially for newer artists trying to stand out from the crowd.

"This is my first visual; I’ve always wanted to make a video," he explains. "I’m a huge film buff so the experience of making visuals was an amazing experience. I see a lot of artists gaining traction off of cool videos, so we made a cool video." More than a dark, somewhat menacing video, "Faces" is also the work of a talented rapper with a keen ear for the production that suits him best. Musically and visually, it's impressive, but Alexander has an overarching vision for the song and album too.

"'Faces' is more or less things that I am seeing as I grow up, I used to be really naïve but with age comes growth," he explains. "I now know how to recognize when I’m being taken advantage of. The video is chronicling that growth, within the context of the project of course. I started the album two years ago after watching the Death Parade anime, episode 11, where they mentioned the phrase Memento Mori. It sounded incredibly dope so I did a bit of research. After a bit of research, the aesthetic and sound I was going for was clear. The album is equal parts about death and dying as it is life itself." - Pigeons & Planes