Hailing from Hull, U.K. is a 19-year-old artist that goes by the name Downtown Kayoto. Comparisons to Daniel Caesar and Frank Ocean can be drawn from his music but he is truly a one of a kind artist. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an artist do what Downtown Kayoto does. Nobody is doing that over in the U.K., let alone globally. He started to get attention from BBC Introducing and started to drop more music and then organically came into contact with his current manager Willem in February. Downtown Kayoto’s organic nature with his manager transfers over thoroughly to the manner in which he makes his music; completely natural. He truly enjoys the process. He also has been featured on Radio 1 Track of The Week and is currently working on his new EP, taking everything he’s learned so far to perfect his sound.
Downtown Kayoto recently dropped his new single “ROX” about a month ago and it’s everything you could ask for in a hype/energetic song. Behind “ROX” is a much more hidden message than first visible to the eye. He talks about his anxieties and things that have bothered him about himself while speaking through the medium of someone else. He spoke in the voice of a person named “Roxanne” because he found it easier to talk about those things in that way. When you first listen to “ROX”, it comes across as an upbeat song but when you pick apart the lyrics you find that he’s speaking about himself through the lens of someone else. Pure artistry.
It blows my mind that nobody has discovered Downtown Kayoto yet and I can’t wait to see his career grow in the near future. “ROX” streaming now on all platforms, go give it a listen.
Written by: Austin Saffer