#DaFiveFingerDiscount: Kato – Kato’s Revenge [Editorial]

Since it’s a little too early to speak on any upcoming projects, I’ll choose 5 from my last release, Kato’s Revenge. These are the 5 most diverse songs from the album + a bit of back story on how they were made.

1. & 2. “Popular” ft. Sy Ari Da Kid & K. Camp / “On Em” ft. Sy Ari Da Kid & Cool is Mac – I was in the studio one night and I had told Sy to come through the studio so we can work on something. It was our first time in the studio together, and he showed up an hour late, like all rappers, and I started playing some beats. The first beat he chose was On Em, and he was gonna write that one on the spot and record it there. I kept playing a few more beats and the next beat he said “THAT one is crazy, set that aside for me, I’mma put K. Camp on it.” So I set it aside and he took it home that night. Within the next few days to a week, he came back to the studio and played Popular from other the beat I gave him. Everyone in the studio knew it was a hit from the second we heard it. I got all the sessions from Sy and Camp, and we mixed everything at the studio and started running with it.

3. “Decatur Booty” ft. ForteBowie, Denzel Curry & Jus Nice – I was working on a collaborative album during A3C at Stankonia Studios. It was me, 808 Blake of SMKA and another producer named Prolyfic. We were inviting a ton of artists to the studio to record a full album within 3 days. On one of the days, we had ForteBowie, Denzel Curry and Jus Nice all come to the studio around the same time. Forte heard that beat and set it off – I think it took him no longer than an hour to write and record his verse and the hook. At the same time, Denzel was right behind him writing his verse and then Jus came through and put his verse down. It was really as easy as that, and the song was done within a day out of pure collaborative effort from these 3 talented dudes.

4. “Pimpin Mane Remix” ft. Rittz, Jackie Chain, Scotty ATL & RaRa – So, Pimpin Mane originally only had Jackie Chain, ScottyATL and RaRa on it. It was recorded during an SMKA 3-day recording session at 882 Studios, where we had over 50 artists and 20 songs recorded within a 72-hour period. Some time after that project had happened, I ended up going on tour with my homie Jarren Benton as a part of Rittz’ nationwide tour. We had lots of fun on that tour and I first hand got to see how dope Rittz is live. After coming home from that tour, I continued working on Kato’s Revenge and was thinking about records I could put Rittz on. Pimpin Mane seemed like the perfect fit and I decided to put him on it and re-release it as a remix.

5. “Love U Better” ft. Drey Skonie & J Reyez – This song is the only R&B record on Kato’s Revenge. I’ve wanted to dabble in R&B for a while, and I finally got my chance, when I linked up with The Coalition, who is a team of talented writers in Atlanta. We brought them to the studio and I played them that beat and they got to work right away on a concept and melodies. They took that beat home that night and within the next few days, sent me a rough of Love U Better. After that, it was a LONG road to getting a completely finished record. Between touring, and just looking for the right artists, it took damn near an entire year for me to finish this song and get it mixed. When I found Drey and sent it to him, I went on tour again with Jarren and he sent it to me while I was on the road – I couldn’t stop listening to it. As soon as I got home weeks later, I reached out to J-Reyez and he laid a rap verse on it.