Oakland native and multidisciplinary artist Kai Kahani—recognized within the music world as Shorty-G—acquired her MS from the USC Thornton Faculty of Music’s prestigious Arts Management program this month.
With a recent diploma, a brand new interactive musical venture within the works, and the momentum of her 2024 album “Lemon Meringue: The Entire Pie”, Shorty-G is supplied with the technique and imaginative and prescient for a profitable post-collegiate profession.
“Once I was making use of, I used to be searching for mentorship and steering in songwriting,” she mentioned. “I’d made a bunch of songs, however I hit a plateau. They had been all beginning to sound the identical.”
Whereas initially drawn to a Grasp’s in Composition, Kahani landed on the Arts Management program, an interdisciplinary hub for artists with imaginative and prescient. “I learn up, did my homework on it, and I utilized.”
What she discovered went far past hooks and choruses.
“[The program] wasn’t what I anticipated—however it was higher than I imagined. I assumed it will be extra music-focused, however it turned out to be about the way you create management qualities throughout artistic organizations.” Shorty-G didn’t simply be taught to be a greater artist—she turned a strategist.
Now she’s channeling that management into constructing an modern, Web3-based interactive platform for her subsequent venture, “The Creators’ Information to Killing Monotony.” Having been concerned in leisure tech earlier than USC, that is an unsurprising—and extremely spectacular—evolution in Shorty-G’s conceptualization and rollout journey.
“You don’t personal your Discord server, or Twitch. And also you positively don’t personal your social media…if TikTok shuts down tomorrow, that’s it for lots [of influencers and business owners],” she defined.
“We’re constructing an interactive storytelling platform that I can personal, that artists can personal. All the pieces we do on-line at this time lives in Web2—however Web3 is about possession. How do you personal the stuff you interact with on-line?”
Her music and tech crew contains longtime collaborator William Crockett, mixing engineer Sahej Khinda, photographer Jackie Venise, and videographer Anthony Lee. Collectively, they’re launching each a web-based utility and a full web site to create what she calls “an lively listening expertise.”
“A lot of music now could be that passive listening expertise. I really like that music is within the background of virtually every little thing we do. However I feel with the rise of secondary listening, we’ve misplaced among the interplay and neighborhood facet of music—until you’re in one of many fan cults. In case you’re not a stan artist, you don’t actually have individuals participating along with your work the way in which they used to,” she famous.
“Even with Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s beef, there was a neighborhood facet—no matter what facet you had been on. All people was interacting and fascinating collectively. How will we create that once more? How will we introduce that type of engagement to a brand new viewers, for a brand new artist?”
Curiosity being the gasoline to her hearth, Kahani is remodeling these questions into actual, tangible options not just for herself, however for anybody eager about digital possession and musical engagement.
A logo of steadiness, Kai continues to be very a lot an artist. Her 2024 album “Lemon Meringue: The Entire Pie” is getting a visible reboot within the type of a brief movie.
“Other than rap, I really like filmmaking,” she says. “Now that I’ve been by means of the Arts Management program, I really feel extra outfitted to do each.”
Favourite programs like “The Entrepreneurial Mindset” gave her instruments to form her personal lane. “The primary ‘no’ is the start of the dialog,” she discovered. “And if somebody says no, ask why not?”
As she blends music, movie, and future-forward know-how, one factor is obvious: Shorty-G isn’t simply making music—she’s designing the way forward for artwork.
Align your self with Kai Kahani through Instagram: @kaikahani
