Rapper and Flint native Kai Edwards prides himself on having a unique style and sound.
"I really don't sound like nobody but myself," Edwards said. "That's pretty much it. My music basically just describes me and tells my story."
Edwards, a transgender male, said he won't rap about something if he can't personally relate to it.
"I rap about everything that I've been through as far as real life situations," he said. "I really don't rap about anything else except my story, my life and how I deal with life and problems that I've been through; and how I got out of it and goals that I see myself accomplishing in the next few years."
Now 25, Edwards wrote his first rap when he was 17.
"The first rap I ever wrote was called 'I'm Too Fly,'" he said. "It was basically about being fly, the way I dress, where I shop at, spending money, stuff like that."
Though he's been rapping for years, Edwards said he only recently began to concentrate on it as a profession.
"I'm finally in a position to take it serious," Edwards said. "I'm working on my first project. I just got done with finishing my EP and I'm working on my mix tape."
Eventually, Edwards hopes to move from rapping to artist management.
"I don't just want to be a rapper," he said. "I do want to venture into managing and I'd like to open a youth center one day. Ultimately, I want to do artist management and own my own record label."
Being transgender, Edwards said, gives him a unique musical perspective.
"I look at a lot of things differently because I know what I had to go through and overcome dealing with this situation," he said.
In addition to rapping, Edwards is a member of Detroit's ballroom community and is currently the father of the House of Herrera.
"It's a different life," Edwards said of the ballroom scene. "It's an escape. If you don't have any family or anything to look forward to it can actually be the best thing to happen to you. You have a platform to be who you want to be and express yourself and your own art. You can just really be yourself."
Through the House, Edwards has become something of a leader in his community.
"I don't really follow nobody," he said. "I'm in a different light now and I have a lot of young kids in the community who look to me to show them the way. It's just my job to try to show people a different route and it's the reason I say I love leadership. When I get around young guys or the youth, period, I try to do the best that I can to guide them in the right direction so they don't end up in jail or dead somewhere."
This year, Edwards is producing the annual mini-ball at this year's Hotter Than July picnic in Palmer Park.
"I put it together all by myself," Edwards said. "The title of the mini-ball is Freedom because that's the theme of this this year's HTJ. They don't have to bring it like anything specific. They can just come as themselves. I have all cash categories. They are open to all.
"The experience of putting together the ball was fun," Edwards continued. "It was kind of hard but I got the job done way before the deadline so I'm kind of proud of myself."
Detroit's Black Gay Pride
The 2016 Hotter Than July celebration features nearly a week of activities for the LGBT community now through July 31.
The week began with a candlelight vigil at the Blue Spruce Memorial Tree in Palmer Park where longtime community activist Ron Doe remembered those we have lost to HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other illnesses. This set the tone for the entire week.
On July 28, the play "Before It Hits Home," written by playwright Cheryl West is featured. The performance will take place at the Virgil Carr Center at 311 E. Grand River Ave. where the Poor Man's Art Collective is currently exhibiting.
HTJ continues with an annual gathering on LGBT issues beginning at 8 a.m. July 29 at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary at 2930 Woodward Ave. This year's event features several panel discussions including community engagement, experiences of the transgender and gender non-conforming community, an inter-generational discussion, and caregiving, among other topics. These discussions will feed into the overall theme of "Where do we go from here?" Roland Stringfellow, senior minister and teacher for Metropolitan Community Church-Detroit, will give the keynote address. Admittance is free following registration.
The pinacle event of the festival, the Palmer Park Picnic, will kick off the weekend at 10 a.m. July 30. The picnic receives over 20,000 guests who gather to celebrate culture, self-empowerment and identity. Sunday services include a 10 a.m. worship service at Whosoever Ministry located at 2930 Woodward Ave. The festival will close with a Sunday brunch hosted by Imagine This Productions beginning at 12 p.m. at the Charlevoix Gallery at 14505 Charlevoix in Detroit. Advance tickets are required.
Check http://www.lgbtdetroit.org/hotterthanjuly/ for updates and for information on other HTJ events.
