The UB Interview: Hip Hop Pioneer Kwamé Talks ‘The Different Kids’

Kwamé Holland was born in 1973 to Tahir Holland and Carol Drew.

He was named after Kwamé Nkrumah, the first prime minister and president of Ghana.

Kwamé and his younger brother, Nahim, were raised in the East Elmhurst section of Queens, New York.

His childhood neighbors were Eric “Eric B.” Barrier, Christopher “Kid” Reid, Christopher “Play” Martin and Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor.

Kwamé attended school with Azor‘s younger brother Steve.

Introduced to music at an early age, Kwamé received a drum set for his ninth birthday from his grandfather’s friend, jazz legend Lionel Hampton.

After hearing Holland‘s self-produced demo tape, Azor secured a deal with Atlantic Records for the teenager.

Kwamé, at the age of 19 was dubbed “The Boy Genius.”

Kwamé also had his own term for his style. “The Bone Age,” he explained. “It’s really a state of mind where you do things because you want to, because it’s able to be done and it’s safe and of your own free will.”

Kwamé‘s debut album, “Kwamé the Boy Genius” featuring a New Beginning, was released in 1989.

The album featured the hit songs, “The Rhythm” and “The Man We All Know and Love.”

The music video for “The Man We All Know and Love” featured cameos by the late great Malcolm Jamal Warner, rapper Dana “Dana Dane” McLeese, and Martin, Reid and Azor.

Deidra “DJ Spinderella” Roper of Salt-N-Pepa also appeared as one of Kwamé‘s love interests.

Kwamé‘s penchant for wearing polka dot clothing became his signature style and ignited a widespread fashion trend.

“The polka dot concept has two meanings – a political one and somewhat of a comical sexual one,” Kwamé once stated. “The two basic patterns are black polka dots on white background and white polka dots on a black background. The white dots represent South Africa where the blacks are the majority. And black dots represent today’s society and black contributions in a white – oriented society.”

The creative rapper/writer/producer with the distinctive blonde streak in his hi-top fade had stretched his imagination even further on the concept album “A Day In The Life – A Pokadelic Adventure,” with his six-member crew, A New Beginning. “The album really takes place in two days,” explained Kwamé at the time, whose father was a jazz musician who hung out with the likes of Abdullah Ibrahim and Sun Ra. “It takes place in the past, the present and the future all at the same time.”

Kwamé‘s sophomore album, “A Day in the Life: A Pokadelic Adventure,” also featured his protégé, vocalist Tasha Lambert.

Kwamé‘ at the time came up with everything from designing the album cover (lots of polka dots and E signature personal logo) to coming up with the video concept for the first single, “Ownlee Eue.”

The title spellings made his album tracks stand out before they are even heard.

Ironically, Kwamé‘s most enduring lyrics are the ones that he wrote for someone else.

While hanging out with Dana Dane and New Edition member Michael Bivins, Kwamé‘ wrote the rap verse performed by Ronnie DeVoe on BBD‘s biggest hit, “Poison” – the title track of the group’s debut album, released in 1990. After Bivins played Kwamé‘ a demo of the song, he wrote the verse on a napkin.

With the success of “Poison” and prepping artist Tasha Lambert, Kwamé‘ was ready to get more into R&B. “I’m going to make R&B music now, instead of staying in that one category of a rapper or rap producer,” Kwamé stated. “Most rappers sample other music, but I play all music. Others take 100% samples over raps, but I take maybe 30%-40% samples; the rest is stuff I play and compose myself.”

Kwamé‘s commercial approach met with resistance from the hard core traditional Rap audience, but I he admited his music or message isn’t targeted toward those fans. “I’m not an underground person so can’t produce hard core street rap. You can be commercial and still appeal to a street audience as long as you maintain some street element.”

The music video for the title song of Kwamé‘s 1992 album, “Nastee,” featured his older cousin, future movie star Mark “Vin Diesel” Sinclair, portraying his nemesis.

The video was intended to be an introduction for Sinclair, who Kwamé‘ had planned to produce as a rap protégé. The video was also notable for the absence of Kwamé‘s signature polka dots.

After “Nastee” failed to live up to the success of his previous two albums, he requested a release from his record contract in the hopes of securing another one at a different label.

When he was unable to secure a new deal, he was forced to move back in with his mother and little brother in Queens.

In 1994, Kwamé‘ released his fourth album,” Incognito,” on Ichiban Records.

In 1999, working under the pseudonym K-1 Million, Kwamé‘ began a successful second career producing tracks for other artists, including Mary J. Blige and LL Cool J.

He later produced songs for Will Smith and Christina Aguilera.

In 2004, Holland co-produced the Lloyd Banks hit “On Fire” with Eminem.

In 2006, Kwamé‘s brother Nahim passed away.

In 2012, he released the instrumental album “Break Beat Diaries.” While in 2015, Kwamé‘ founded Make Noise Records and signed R&B singer Vivian Green.

Vivian‘s album, “Vivid” produced entirely by Kwamé,’ featured the hit “Get Right Back to My Baby.”

Kwamé has also written scores and music for film and TV, including Drumline, Step Up 1 & 2, Freedom Writers, Coach Carter, and Fantastic Four.

In 2016, TV One spotlighted Kwamé on an episode of Unsung.

It started as a lark in 2024, when Kwamé was on the phone with DJ Tat Money and pulled up theme song to “Diff’rent Strokes.”

As Kwamé isolated the different sounds, he realized he wanted to rap to the instrumentation. Kwamé got the urge to rhyme again. It led to “Stroke Dif’Rent.”

This year Kwamé‘ has returned with the new high-energetic “The Different Kids.”

A self-produced project that showcases several facets of the multi-hyphenate’s artistic personality. “The album title explains how I always felt as a person,” Kwamé‘ explained. “I didn’t necessarily align with mainstream life. I’ve always felt different. Putting the Kids part of the title as plural, it’s a double thing. It speaks to the people who used to get into my music. I would refer to them as The Different Kids.”

Throughout “The Different Kids,” Kwamé blends witty braggadocio and captivating storytelling with precise, dexterous flows. He also weaves social commentary into his rewind-worthy rhymes.

“Adulthood” takes a realistic look at marriage, about how men and women can drift apart over the years. “I wanted to address things that are important to me, but not make it preachy,” Kwamé stated. “That’s the vibe of the whole album. I feel like I drop gems interwoven with the lyrics in different ways.”

“I decided I was only going to rap over beats I wanted to rap over,” Kwamé says. “I’m not going to allow what’s ‘in style’ or ‘out of style,’ dictate what I do. I try to be as absolutely creative as I can possibly be without anybody telling me, ‘No. You can’t do that,’ but myself. That thought process is the soul of the album.”

Aries from UB recently spoke to the hip hop pioneer about his new release “The Different Kids.”

Kwamé shares why he wanted to release it now and what song is getting the most feedback.

Plus he takes UB back to the start of his career and shares how that time, is in reminiscent to now.

And he tells us what artists he enjoys currently, the latest on Vivian Green and more!