Naptown Connect: K-Von The Great

K-Von, born as Kevon Smith, was born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 6^th, 1994. Growing up, K-Von never thought of himself as a rapper, but just a true fan of hip-hop. Growing up, he listened to artists like, Jay-Z, Tupac, Biggie, Lil Wayne, Ice Cube, and Nas. It was around the 7^th grade when his older cousin got him into doing music. From then, K-Von realized the talent he had, and took it full force. In 8^th grade, K-Von met who is now his former manager / producer, Big Curt. Curt spent a lot of time getting the young man’s sound and understanding of the music business together. It wasn’t much longer that K-Von was featured on a Cleveland, school tour w/ national, hometown artists, Machine Gun Kelly, & Chip the Ripper. By then, K-Von was already into his second year of high school when he released his first real project, "On My Grown Man Album." The album featured ten original records produced by Curt.

At the time of doing music, K-Von also attended middle schools to speak to kids about why education is important, and non-violence. While attending classes, he noticed kids had a lot of excuses to why they thought they couldn’t be successful. He then stressed how he came from two drug addict parents, which caused him to be raised by two of his dad’s sisters. His message to kids is, “don’t let your past dictate your future.” After attending a class one day, he sat down and came up with what is now his new single, “I Will Achieve.” “It was basically a way to encourage and give hope to all the kids I spoke with and all the kids I haven’t met.” Says K-Von.

On July 4^th of 2011, he released a music video to the record, and featured a Cleveland poet by the name of Derrick Holifield. The song has been featured on numerous blogs, and has even been shown to many kids in classrooms by the teachers. In September of 2011, K-Von moved to Raleigh, NC. Since being there, he’s been featured on Duke Radio Station and K 97.5fm. K-Von has since moved back to Cleveland, Ohio. He is a senior at Euclid High School, and from there will attend college to get a degree in recording arts. Honestly, it’s safe to say K-Von should have a long lasting career, and will lead a lot of kids in the right direction at the same time. Be sure to check out the “I Will Achieve” music video on YouTube now. Also, follow on Twitter @kvon216.