With a rare gift for turning his hometown experiencesinto natural melodies,Kidd G has found tremendoussuccess by staying true to his roots. As a kid growing up insmall-townGeorgia, he first started creatinghis own songs at the age of 15, and soon arrived at a gritty but melodicsound equally inspired by classic country and hip-hop. On the heels ofhis chart-climbing breakthrough single “Dirt Road”—an October 2020 release whose videosurpassed5 million YouTube views in little overa monthand now has 13M views to date—Kidd G has recentlysharedhis debut EP; the powerfully heartfeltTeenage Dream.Now having surpassed1.5M monthly Spotify listeners, his tracks have seen radio play from KIXX Country Radio in Australia, and reached new peaks on highly coveted country playlists including Amazon Music’s ‘Country Heat’ (peaked at #2), and Spotify’s ‘Hot Country’ (peaked at #10). Kidd G is now back in the studio and eager to share all new music that will continue to showcase his unique raw talent. Born Gabriel Horneand raised in the townof Hamilton (population 1,130), Kidd G got his startsinging at the age of 11 with the fullsupport of his music-lovingfamily (his great uncle played bass in Fleetwood Mac, and both his parents are hobbyist singers). Within several years he’d set upa makeshift studio in his bedroom and startedrecording with his friends,partlymininginspiration from new agerapperslikeJuice WRLD. One of his first viral moments was his video, “Letter to Juice”, a minute-long verse over a melancholic beat paying homage to the late artist. But while early tracks like his debut single “Sorry” lean toward traditional hip-hop, Kidd G laterbrought an element of old-school country into his songwriting. “I love country because it feels so natural to me, and you can really tell stories in the songs,” he notes, naming Hank Williams Jr. among the artists he grew up on. As he continued postinghis musicon SoundCloud, Kidd G soon amassed a dedicated following undeniablydrawn to his down-homecharm and thehonest detail of his lyrics. With the arrival of “Dirt Road,” that following grew exponentially as Kidd G saw the nostalgia-soaked track gain serious traction on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and land on coveted Spotify playlists like Fresh Finds Country and Next From Nashville.Teenage Dreamis a perfectshowcasefor Kidd G’s sound and sensibilities, merging potentbeats with earthyguitar workand his warm yet dynamic vocal delivery. On the EP’s title track, for instance, Kidd G shares a poignant portrait of high-school love, beautifully capturing each memory in his bittersweet drawl and masterfulflow.“That song’s about my truck, my ex-girlfriend, the place where I live,” he says. “I love my town because it’s simple and slow,but there’s always something fun going on.”Although he collaborated with producerslike Morgan O’Connor andBonnie DymondonTeenage Dream, most of the EP was written solely by Kidd G, who purposely avoids putting any pressure on his creative process.“I really just go off my emotions and whatever I’m feeling at the time, then start laying down some ideas,” he says. “Once I come up with that main hook for a song, the whole thing comes together.” It’s this type of honest songwriting that recently caught the attention of CMT, who hailed his hit song “Dirt Road” as “earwarming and undeniable”. Thanks to that deliberately laid-backapproach, allof Kidd G’s musicunfolds with a carefree energythatlightensanymood. “A lot of my songs come from me just getting stuff off my mind, and I hope it helps other people get through the day and get through their problems—maybe make life a little easier for them,” he says.But as Kidd G reveals, the ultimate test of a song’s power invariably happens in his hometown. “Most of the time when I’m making a songI’m thinking about how my friends will react to it,”he says. “That’s when I know something’s good: when I’m working on it and I startthinking, ‘I can’t wait to get back home and showthis tomy friends.’”And as he looks to the future, Kidd G plans to maintainthat hometown spirit while massively expanding his musical horizons. “My goal is to get a platinum record,” he says,“reach No. 1 on Billboard, sell out arenas, and perform in front of millions of people.”
