K’ona Lisa is next up to take over the female rap game. Describing herself as a “hard ass artist,” the Houston native is first and foremost a mom and a wife, married for 7 years with 4 beautiful girls. But don’t let that distract you from her music, K’ona makes bangers.
Whether she’s singing or rapping, the 25-year-old takes her craft very seriously. When she raps, she likes to “pop a lot of s##t,” she adds with a chuckle. When she sings, she hopes to use her voice to connect with emotions. Whatever lyrics escape her mouth, she likes for other people to say it too — giving her reassurance knowing they’re feeling it also.
Carl Crawford, nicknamed “The Perfect Storm” is also known to be the one who discovered Megan Thee Stallion, investing $1.5 million into jumpstarting her career.
Now, he puts that same trust and passion into his newest signee, K’ona Lisa. Currently, her single “Lit Lit” has been taking over airwaves and strip clubs across town, a record produced by Houston legend June The Jenius.
AllHipHop: How’d you find your way to 1501 Entertainment?
K’ona Lisa: Instagram. Shout out to instagram, just me doing freestyles. I live in Atlanta and somehow, someone in Houston saw one of the freestyles I did. I did a freestyle to Megan [The Stallion] “Cash s##t” when it was hot. It had just hit the radio, I’m like “I’ma go and do a freestyle to that.” I actually did know who 1501 was when I did the freestyle. I ended up doing the freestyle and somebody in Texas posted it. He commented under it saying, “this s##t is hard!”
The crazy thing about it, I was just listening to Megan’s song “Realer.” In the song she says, “I’m the 1501 Queen.” Literally I’m listening to the song, then I get the notification “1501 just tagged and said it’s hard.” I tell my husband like “wtf?” So I go on his page and of course, I see it’s Megan The Stallion’s label. That was definitely exciting. I built a rapport with him from there. He came to Atlanta and got me. It was over a span of two months he watched me. Since I knew he was watching me, I was going hard.
AllHipHop: What were you doing?
K’ona Lisa: A lot of videos, a lot of freestyles. Any song that was hot, any beat that was hot, I was doing a freestyle to it. I guess he saw the consistency and the hunger.
AllHipHop: Do you freestyle everything or do you write?
K’ona Lisa: I write. Modern day when people use the term “freestyle,” a lot of people misconstrue it with “freestyling off the top of the brain.” But the definition of a freestyle can also be writing a random select of words, off the top to a beat. That’s what I consider a freestyle. I’m a writer. I don’t necessarily come off the brain. I like to sit down and write, think about metaphors. Structure a song.
AllHipHop: How long have you been doing this?
K’ona Lisa: I’ve been writing for a while. I wrote my first song in the third grade. I took it to my sister and she helped me. I remember the song and everything. I’ve been writing since the third grade, no cap! [chuckles] I love writing.
AllHipHop: How was the independent grind before 1501 came into the picture?
K’ona Lisa: When I say always, I’m dead serious. I probably videos on YouTube before Instagram was even Instagram, 10 or 11 years ago. Where if I take them off privacy and put them out to the world, the date would show 10 years ago.
As a kid, I didn’t really have the support that I would’ve wanted, so I was doing the YouTube grind. Doing freestyles and singing on YouTube. Once I became of age, I started putting the money into myself. Started perfecting my craft, getting my sound together. 2 or 3 years ago, I really started putting the bag behind myself. Going broke, literally.
AllHipHop: “Lit Lit” is a banger! Bring us back to studio session.
K’ona Lisa: That’s wassup. I did “Lit Lit” with June The Jenius, shout out to him. He’s a Platinum-selling producer, dope as hell. We made that beat from scratch. He was able to really capture my sound, he perfects that very well. The studio session was a vibe. It was me and him, and a few other people. It wasn’t too much going on. I like to have candles. I like to have weed. I like to have a little liquor to get in a vibe. s##t, I did my thing.
AllHipHop: How are you balancing being a mother of 4 and a rap career?
K’ona Lisa: It’s hard. It’s new. My kids are 5, 4, 3, and one. They’re with my mama right now, so they’re definitely in good hands. I thank God I have her, but it’s definitely hard. Because it’s new to me. I’ve never been away from my kids until I got with 1501, had to start moving around and traveling. Prior to that, I had never a day been away from kids. It’s new but I’m a Libra. I’m all about scales and balances so I’m figuring it out. It’s trial and error as I go.
AllHipHop: How does it feel to have people saying that you’re new Megan of 1501?
K’ona Lisa: I don’t necessarily like the comparisons, to be called the new Meg. I’d definitely say I’m K’ona Lisa, the new hot female artist that’s coming up after Meg. We just happen to be on the same label, chasing the same dream. I hate the comparison actually. [chuckles] Not even going to cap, because it’s not even a comparison. If you listen to the music, y’all are reaching. But coming up behind a female who’s running this s##t right now is very exciting. It’s very exciting because I know my capabilities, and I know what I’m going to do. I’m big on manifesting s##t.
AllHipHop: What are you going to do?
K’ona Lisa: I’m going to take over this s##t! [chuckles] I’m going to take over the rap game. I’m going to take s##t over. I manifest s##t. I speak s##t into existence. I put the work behind what I say. I have the talent. When I say take over, I don’t necessarily mean downing any other females, but I know my level of determination and my strive to just win. I got 4 girls to feed so I’m hungry. I’m very hungry to prove to the world that I’m going to do it. I’m going to be at that level, if not higher. It’s exciting.
AllHipHop: What are some goals for yourself as an artist at this point in your career?
K’ona Lisa: I want to drop this project. I want this project to really capture a core fanbase. As of now, I have 14K followers. My page adds up, the fanbase is there. I want it to continue to grow, but I want it to be deep. The stage that I’m at right now, you’ve either watched me or you’re watching me at the stage that I’m about to really excel. I want to establish a real core relationship with these people who do see the vision before everybody else just hops on the wave.
Another thing is that I want to hit the charts. My goal is to hit the charts with two or three songs this year. The music is going to speak for itself. I’ma just keep putting in the hard work. So I would definitely say tap into my fanbase, hit the charts, and keeping making music. I want to collab with a lot of other females.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8hWaYdAtuu
AllHipHop: Who have you collabed with?
K’ona Lisa: I’ve collabed with Renni Rucci. I f##k with her, she’s a real one. I’ve collabed with Martina Marie. She’s out of Houston as well, I f##k with her. Those are the only two females at this point. But I do have a feature with Duke Deuce, he’s with QC. I have a feature with Bankroll Freddie, he’s with QC.
AllHipHop: You tight with Quality Control?
K’ona Lisa: I saw they were up and coming and I was f##king with their sound. I’m like “s##t, let me get them on my project.”
AllHipHop: Anything else you want us to know?
K’ona Lisa: Listen to my project HERE. iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, whatever it is, I want you to be riding in your car. I want you to have in it your ears. I want you to be cleaning your house. I want you to be doing something where you can really focus on the music, really listen to it and give an honest opinion. Take the time to listen and hear, it’s on the way. A whole lot of 1501 s##t!