Introducing: Kevin Rudolf

18-11-2008This Month 18th Nov 13:24

Kevin Rudolf

At first glance, Kevin Rudolf’s enigmatic anthem “Let It Rock (featuring Lil Wayne)” seems to have air-dropped over radio out of nowhere, becoming a genre-defying game-changer that has put the alluring artist smack in the cross-hairs.

Truth is – the urban music world’s been waiting for a cutting edge hit-maker with a rock pedigree to turn the page on the current musical landscape. Kevin Rudolf answers the call, stepping up with reigning hip hop imprint Cash Money Records to deliver a riveting album debut, In The City.

Produced and written by Kevin, the new CD mines his reservoir of innovative production skills, righteous songwriting and smoldering rock guitar chops. The New York City native showcases the kind of streetwise riffs and adrenalized punk aesthetic he wielded when navigating the hardscrabble world of studio hit-making prior to In The City.

He earned his gun-slinging rep as an in-demand guitarist/producer for some of music’s most adventurous artists, offering his scorching guitar brand to trailblazers such as Timbaland, Nelly Furtado, and Black Eyed Peas among others. Unlike most prodigies, Kevin continued to refine his legendary skills under the radar even as he began to craft songs for his own debut.

His first album shines with the same confident but shadowy mystique (online bloggers searching for even a photo of Rudolf has made a guessing game as to his origin and back-story.). In the age of Facebook-flaunting myspace-taunting GPS tracking wannabes, there still remains a refreshing mystery about him. But one look at the cover of his new CD – a silhouetted Rudolf, guitar-at-the ready in front of an ink blot of an urban landscape that would make The Clash proud – and you realize his DNA of rock, rap, and soaring song-craft is in his genes, and not tacked on as some last minute record company marketing plan, with a healthy irreverence that hasn’t fallen through the cracks.

“I grew up in New York City. You have to learn how to survive, but hopefully in a way that’s true to you,” he says. “That means putting your head down once in a while and just saying F*** it, too. I promised myself if I got here I’d let my music do the talking. It’s the same way when I work. I’ve always let the music channel through me.”

Born in Manhattan, Kevin’s mom was an aspiring rock singer who instilled in him early on a love for music. He picked up the guitar at age 11 and knew he had a passion for it. Rising in the New York underground music ranks, he got his first big break collaborating in the studio with the likes of urban music pioneer Timbaland. “I met him through a friend of mine,” recalls Kevin.

“At first I just went into the studio to absorb what I could. I brought my guitar as sort of peace offering so I wasn’t feeling completely useless. Soon I was playing parts on songs.” His work landed on a few key Timbaland releases (such as Timbaland featuring Justin Timberlake gems “Release” and Scream”). Co-production stints with heavyweights like David Banner would follow. Soon Kevin had built up an impressive resume of collaboration – Nelly Furtado, Black Eyed Peas, Lil Kim, LL Cool J and others.

But all the time he was also writing songs for his own solo offering. “I kept the dream alive by steadily working on my own music.” With typical Rudolf intensity, the vision for his debut album, In the City, would become what he calls a “loose concept album” that reflects on his New York City upbringing and what some might call – he says – “urban disenchantment.”