Interview 4080 - Allan Kingdom

We kick off the next installment in the Interview 4080 series with our old friend Allan Kingdom. Hailing from Saint Paul Minnesota, Allan made his way down to Chicago to shoot a music video for something off his forthcoming new project.  After the shoot, Allan swung by the studio and chopped it up with us. 

Allan Kingdom has grown a lot since he first visited our studio in 2014. His growth has been personal as well as professional. He's more known, and more self-aware. In this interview, Kingdom talks about his debut album, working with Kanye on All Day, being a part of Flume's Grammy-winning album, and what we could expect on his new album. Check it out below.

Words By: Nico Rud

What’s going on man, introduce yourself

What’s up everyone, I’m Allan Kingdom.

How was life growing up?

Life growing up was cool. I moved around a lot. I lived in Canada, Wisconsin, and did most of my upbringing in Minnesota. Minnesota was cool, very interesting.

At what age did you begin to witness your creative talents?

I’ve always noticed I was creative. I used to draw a lot as a kid; from there I got into singing and poetry as well. Eventually I just had to pick what it is I wanted to do.

When did you get into music?

I got into music professionally around 17-18, a few years after I moved to Minnesota.

Talk to us about the meaning of your name Allan Kingdom

The first name I was making music with was Allan K, and over time I quickly learned I could build my own ideas and kingdom.

Was your first project Trucker Music?

Yeah, that was my first official project. Trucker Music was cool because I was starting to learn how to perform, record, and produce my own music. After putting out Trucker Music I started to get recognized locally and made me more popular. I’ve been growing steady since 2011.

In 2015 you were apart of Kanye West’s single All Day. How did that come about?

Bon Iver and a few other people in Kanye’s camp happened to be listening to my music. Kanye happened to be in the Midwest and reached out to me to come by the studio. I ended up coming by the studio and began to show him my music and what I’ve been working on. At this same time, Kanye was working on "All Day" and we were vibing together in the studio and yeah, I ended up being able to be a feature on the song.

Did that song help expose you to a whole new audience?

I felt like it was just enough and not overbearing. It was enough where I could still get my message out as Allan Kingdom. I would say now 50% of the fans know me from that song, where as the other 50% have known and grown with me over these past 6 years.

Last year you released Northern lights. Talk to us about that project

Each project I have put out was evolution. Northern Lights was about putting out a project on my website and seeing how it would do. A lot of things I felt I needed to get better at happened because of Northern Lights.

With Northern Lights being a year old now, can we be expecting a new project from you soon?

Yes, I’m currently working on my new project now. No release date yet, but on this project there are a variety of young collabs and producers I felt like were a good representation of what’s to come in modern music.

What brings you to Chicago?

I came to Chicago to work on this new music video with Cole Bennett from Lyrical Lemonade and continue working on my new project. 

How’d it feel to be apart of [Flume's] Grammy winning album?

That was amazing. For me, I look to create the best music and hope that the world takes it in and appreciates it.

As times goes on, do you want to continue being independent, or are you looking to get a deal with a record label?

I just want the message in my music to be as clear as possible and take it as big as I can go. If that’s with a record label then that’s with a record label, if not, then I have no problem to continue being independent.