Meet Kivion Iles

We recently connected with Kivion Iles and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kivion, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

Honestly, I don’t. I sit in that feeling not forcing anything and when it happens it happens. I’ve tried to sit down and get something creative out, sometimes it works but often times it doesn’t and I accept that. Now that I’m thinking about it I guess that’s my way of getting out of a creative block. I’ve come to find out my blocks happen when I’m overwhelmed, I usually have a million things creative in my mind when I’m working on a project and I sometimes work on so many different things at once and I get overwhelmed and then get blocked. So now I’ve realized that, I take my time and trust the process. Since I started trusting the process, I can admit I’ve grown so much creatively.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am Kivion iles and I’m a creative. My life can be so much fun from singing, writing and recording to vocal producing and vocal coaching. Vocal arranging if one of my favorite things to do because I love harmonies and the challenge that it brings. I’m starting small but building my way up to getting my name out there. I’ve worked with a few people so far; Such as my mom Kijafa on a song we wrote together along with our partner Chyna called “MOOD”, Alexandria Beck on a few songs that haven’t been released yet that I’m excited for, Brent Jones on his youth choir album called The Fire, my song was called “Flip It” and more. It’s so much fun meeting new people and working with different kinds of artists. I’m glad I’m doing what I’m doing. If you’re reading this and are interested in working with me, hit me up.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

That’s an interesting question. I’d say number one for me simply listening but paying attention, you can listen to something but not pay attention. Listening is probably the most important because you can learn so much by just listening. When I sit down and study my favorite artists I try and find things in the song I haven’t heard before and usually I do. We usually are distracted by singing out favorite songs and it’s hard to just listen but that’s where drive comes into play. When you’re serious about your craft you gotta have drive to get back the procrastination, admittedly that can also be hard at times but that shows your determination. Another skill I’d say is important and is probably my favorite, being a perfectionist; it’s a blessing and a curse. That’ll make you sit down and get it right until it’s done, but that can also block you because nothing is perfect. That’ll make sometimes drives me wild because I know things can always be better but it can also mess up what’s already beautifully crafted. My advice would be sit down and put yourself in some creative moments you’re not normally in to see how you’d react and that’ll tell you everything you need to get better at or focus on.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most impactful thing my mom Kijafa does for me is trust me with her creative process. She allows me to be me creatively and guide her with harmonies and writing songs and I love that so much. Small back story, for a long time my mom wouldn’t work with me cause I wasn’t ready yet. She never told me that or broke my heart, she let me find myself first and grow, once she saw I was determined to work with her and growing at a consistently rate she’d slowly being me into doing things with her. I’m very glad she did that, I wasn’t as nearly as good as I am now and she’s glad I was determined enough and motivated enough to keep going. When we are in the studio together and lets me take the wheel and allows me to be me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @_im_yaboy
• Twitter: @_im_yaboy
• Soundcloud: Kivion iles
• Other: If you’re interested in working, please hit me up. Music is my first love and I promise you won’t regret your choice.