WHOWHATWHERE VOL. I| MEET KING KEVY KEV

cearaj5
Jan 21
10 min read

King Kevy Kev poses before the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, modeling his Forever Untitled brand.

KING KEVY KEV, a jack of all trades, spills on how to ace the creative industry in 2025. Whether you’re a rapper, a photographer, or a clothing designer, you need to step your game up and get like Kev.

DALLAS boasts one of the nation's most happening music scenes. In this industry, it pays to have a foot in every pond. With the rise of instagram influencers and rappers now making it big from TikTok videos, the entertainment industry is no-longer a fit for one-trick ponies.

This is what sets apart artists like King Kevy Kev, aka, Kevin Branch. He’s a 5-trick pony, so to speak.

Branch has his mind set for greatness, though he knows it doesn’t all happen overnight. He’s the owner of his own record label, a clothing designer, a songwriter and performer, a learned guitarist, photographer, actor, videographer, and entrepreneur. Over the course of his six plus-year career as an entertainer, he’s kept busy with constant collaborations and features with up-and-coming Dallas names in music, fashion and other sectors. And he’s only 23.

WhoWhatWhere sat down with Branch to step inside his creative and entrepreneurial minds, which after our conversation are likely operating in tandem, always pushing out fresh content for the masses. Branch enlightens WWW readers with advice that you simply must know as an entertainer going in to 2025- from staying focused to finding solid mentorship to mastering a live performance.

But business isn’t everything- you need soul to be a gifted artist and Branch has definitely got it. From his musically gifted grandfather to his grandmother who has an eye for taking photos, Branch has talent in his blood. I started our conversation by asking him burning questions about his beginnings, inviting him to stroll down memory lane to get an idea of how he evolved into the man behind the music we know today.

But King Kevy Kev didn't come to be based on talent alone. Branch is no stranger to perserverance and drive. He doesn't sleep on himself, so you shouldn't either. Keep reading to see why it's best to tune into to his wavelength before you get left still living in 2024.

Here’s what he had to say for WhoWhatWhere:

WWW: Thanks for joining me today, Kev. Give me the basics. Where are you from, how old were you when you started experimenting with music?

KB: My family bought me my first drum set, like a little [play set] drum set [when I was younger]. From there, I took on the skills of learning how to play the acoustic guitar, drum, went into band, learned how to do percussion and stuff like that.

WWW: Ok, so you definitely started out when you were younger. Nice.

KB: Definitely. I started writing music first, like writing poetry. Fell in love with that and then once I start getting good grades in English for my poetry, I ended up one day going to the studio and just recording one day with my cousins pressuring me to do a song and I just fell in love with it.

King Kevy Kev performs in front of a live audience in Texas.

WWW: So, you come from a musical family, so to speak?

KB: Yeah, my grandfather, he plays the bass and he also plays the piano, I believe, but mostly the bass. Yeah, I think he was in a band, too.

Later, I started uploading music to SoundCloud, [my] sophomore year of high school. My very first song on Apple Music, when Nipsey Hussle posted on Twitter about the breakdown of how much you get paid for [uploading your music to different] each streaming platform. [At the time,] I dropped a lot with Lit Riq.

WWW: I see you’ve done a few live performances before. How different is performing live from shooting a video or just recording in the studio?

KB: It’s very different, because performing and recording a song is like two opposite things, even though it's in same category, but recording the song is way harder than performing, and what it can really be vice versa, because I record myself so I record myself in my room, so all my songs I put out, I record it so it's different too, because, like, I'm used to it so I can do whatever I want to alone, but when you go perform, it sometimes it can get like, okay, either you get the right energy from a crowd or you don't, because I performed not too long ago, and people just staring at me, and I forgot my words.

I didn't forget all of them, but they just have some complications, but it's different. When you perform in front of people, those same words that you recorded, you have to remember [them] to the “T.”

I started out [performing in front of] a couple people at shows wherever I went. I've performed at the back to school festival [hosted by] For Oak Cliff multiple times. First year, not too many people. The second time, [there were] like 15,000 people. So yes, I was scared, but rolling back the footage, I was screaming, but I was turnt up at the same time. That’s why getting footage for artists when you perform is always key, so you can learn how to perform the next time.

And it's always great to get your video performances recorded. So you know, to think “Oh, I'll do this next time!”

You really got to study yourself, too. I always study other people, but study yourself too.

WWW: Who are your top 5 musical influences, any genre or time period, in order?

KB: Chris Brown, Lil Boosie, Timbaland, T-Pain, and Tory Lanez.

Chris Brown for sure, like, I end up changing some of my music because of Chris Brown, like, I want to layer my music just like him.

WWW: And Boosie? You know, I have to ask about him, because I'm from Louisiana.

KB: That is my favorite rapper! If I had to choose one, Boosie is my favorite. He helped me through like times in my life, like he has time to music, he has that struggle music. He has music that you can relate to. When you going through things, he's the one artist that can [relate] to almost everything in my life that I went through.

T-Pain- great lyricist, hook master- hook king. I love his story of where he did hooks for people for free and he didn’t get paid until years after. To see him still in the game [after all this time]- that’s somebody for sure is in my top five. And he’s versatile, too!

[Ty dolla sign] came with “Beach House EP” (2014) as his first tape. Somebody gave it to me- they were just passing them out when I was living in Irving, and I ended up getting one. I think I still got “Beach House” [the original tape]. And he [Ty Dolla Sign] produces his own music, too. I like people that are authentic, like that.

WWW: The advent of über captivating 30-second clips on social media has made overnight music sensations all the rage. What are your thoughts on instant fame and/or having patience in trusting the process?

KB: If you can find [immediate] attraction, that's good, but I’ve had [...] my peaks. Blowing up overnight is cool, but you have to be prepared. If you're not prepared to blow up overnight, might as well kiss it goodbye. You have to have multiple songs in the vault, and you have to really be working, and have content. That's what I'm working on. Like, now, I’m dropping nothing but content, and being consistent. You can blow up within a good time frame if you are consistent. And that's one of my “M-O”’s. [At the beginning of my career], I wasn't consistent because I was trying to find the right people. But now you live and you learn.

King Kevy Kev models his merch from his Forever Untitled brand against the Dallas skyline.

WWW: Who do you get to record your videos?

KB: My cousin Angelica, @Acokeproduct. It's actually hard to find videographers [in this industry]. With multiple videographers [I’ve used in the past], I still have videos, like around three videos, that I never even got back from videographers, never saw the video.

WWW: You also do photography. Tell me what sparked that interest.

KB: My grandmother. She does photography for weddings and different birthday parties and events. And I remember going to, I believe it was a wedding or certain event [as a child] and every event, she’s always taking pictures. So, she would capture a moment, and I used to see her edit and do all of this stuff. I [...] gradually started learning what she was doing, and I just implicated that in my life- capturing a moment.

WWW: I'm a bit of a fashion nerd. I studied fashion history while doing my undergrad at SMU. I have to know, as a designer, who is a fashion brand/ designer you’d like to collaborate with in the future?

KB: Ok, I have two, is that okay? One is locally based, but he's global at the same time. My boys, at YK1K. And the second one, Louis Vuitton, oh yeah, dream collab- one day.

WWW: It definitely is possible. Everybody's collabing with everybody. Gucci was hardly considered high-end luxury last year, yet their collabs with The North Face and other brands have kept them relevant with younger audiences seeking innovative high-end fashion. Anything is possible.

King Kevy Kev stands proudly showcasing his merch in front of a colorful graffiti background.

KB: Yeah, facts.

WWW: Forever Untitled is a super hard name for a record label and brand. How’d you come up with it and how did the initial merch launch process go for you?

KB: I came up with the name because I'm always untitled. I don't have just one title to my name- I don't do just one thing. A lot of people like to put people in a box and tell you, "You need to focus on one thing."

I disagree. A teacher is not just a teacher. She [could be] a parent, she’s a mentor to some of the kids at the school, she's [...] someone's child- she has multiple titles to her name.

I want to be forever untitled, because I wanted to integrate that as a brand to show people that you don't have to put yourself in the box, find yourself. Some people want to just work one job for the rest of their life and die. Branch laughs. No, no, no.

So, Forever Untitled is actually my record label name, but before [the record label began], I had my merch. I sold out twice, but it wasn't like a big hype, and a lot of people gave me a lot of feedback. Like, “If you do something with your brand on it instead of your personal name, people gravitate to that first.” And then, so I changed [the name of my merch] to “Forever Untitled.”

Then I had to integrate everything- my photography stuff too- all under one umbrella.

King Kevy Kev poses in front of the Glendale shopping center in Oak Cliff, Dallas, TX, the site of a popular Nipsey Hussle mural.

WWW: Do you think more creatives should be multifaceted in their talents? For example, should more singers/rappers have clothing brands apart from just merch or should more painters have a side hustle engineering beats?

KB: I feel like you have to, like, if you don't, you're stuck in a box. And I don't remember what video or where I got it from, but you have to do multiple things. Shout out to Nipsey Hustle, because he was not only an artist, he was a CEO, like he had his own brand, had his own store about his block, and he really, like, inspired me to go harder with music or harder with my brand. I couldn't just be doing this [being an entertainer], it's not enough.

You can't have just one job and think that's gonna pay the bills. You have to have multiple streams of income.

So even though I have a nine-to-five or 40-hour weekly job, I still bust my butt doing my music and all this other stuff so I can make a better income for myself. You just have to have multiple streams to get somewhere, as an artist. You just can't just do music, you have to get brand deals, etcetera.

WWW: Artists rarely are candid when talking about mentorship in this industry. Do you have any mentors and how have they fostered your growth as an individual?

KB: “Og J” AKA J Holland, [is] becoming, [one] of the important [mentors] in my life. And yeah, when it comes down to certain things, of course, we may bump heads. We might not agree with certain things all the time, but [he] definitely gives great advice.

Branch has two other mentors in the banking and real-estate sectors, respectively, that have also heavily impacted his entrepreneurial mindset. He thanks them for their unique counsel that is unrelated to specifics in the entertainment industry.

And they all three come from different lanes, and are all very impactful, not only in my life, but in other people's lives too, and in the community.

King Kevy Kev performs live, microphone in hand, singing to the audience with style.

WWW: How do you manage being at the intersection of entrepreneurship and artistry?

KB: I can say it is easy and it's difficult at the same time. I'll have a moment when [my] music is popping. Or I'll have a moment when people want nothing but fragrances from me. [I've had] a moment when everything died down, and I just have photography, and people just want me to take pictures. So it has this balance to it, because I'm not always doing everything at once. So it's real, like, when I'm doing music, I'm not doing photography. When I'm doing a clothing line, I might be thinking about music, but it's kind of like I'm doing one thing at a time. Basically, I'm doing a lot. I always designate that time for good time management, a very important skill. I'm working on it myself.

WWW: Anything I didn’t ask you that you want the world to know?

KB: Always benefit from everything. Never limit yourself, always benefit from everything. Stop sleeping on yourself. Stop looking for people to believe in you before you believe in yourself.

Catch all the hottest tracks from KevyKev's next album, CEO The Album, at his listening party at Fivee Bistro Bar (IG @fiveebistrobar) 1319 Botham Jean Blvd in Dallas, TX on 1/22/25. Doors open at 7:30.