Avant neo-soul meets jazz musician Kid Be Kid, emerged from her retrospective scene and redefined what is possible when it comes to making music with new EP Lovely Genders. The Berlin-based artist’s exceptional talent and skill shine brightly in Lovely Genders, out via Springstoff. Many people are astonished to hear an artist singing and beatboxing at the same time, without a loop station. Kid Be Kid takes it to the next level with her music, and fans of the fine art of beatboxing know that this form is not new. Kid Be Kid is perfect for fans of LUT, 5K HD, and Aaron Parks.

Timing out at not even 20 minutes, Kid Be Kid’s Lovely Genders is short: just four new tracks and an outro. The first single “Monument” had been released prior to the drop of the EP and came with a promotional video. The video for “Blood” dropped a few weeks ago. Features on the EP include Julia Kadel and French Jazz pianist Simon Denizart, both exceptional in their art. It is evident that Kid Be Kid is taking her sound in new directions with Lovely Genders when compared to her debut Sold Out. To begin, she embraces synth to round out the low-end frequencies, which gives her sonic senses more range. She sings, beatboxes, and plays instruments, but there is also a lot of layering on this record. It is apparent that she is a maturing artist, because she did not reduce her do-it-all-yourself attitude, but rather expanded her musical vision. 

The tracks on Lovely Genders are jazzier when compared to Sold Out. Kid Be Kid ably authenticates the jazz and soul traditions. The first track “Blood” begins with a gush of extemporized, off-time synth which builds wordless, nonconforming vocalization. Contemporary fans may hear some allusions to Frank Ocean, because of Kid Be Kid’s mournful singing voice. The soft piano starts after half a minute and the beat drops again, with Kid Be Kid beatboxing. Her oral percussion is far from straightforward – that is not how she handles rhythm in her music. Either she is distorting beats against cheerful piano riffs, switching up time sigs, moving back and forth to double-time, or doing all three. Kid Be Kid continues to keep listeners on their toes. After about one minute, she brings in a ‘straight’ beat but challenges us by playing with the tempo when making hi-hat sounds with her tongue and teeth. Her vocals then occupy the line between talking, singing, and beatboxing. 

The next track “Monument” starts with fresh vocals and a deliberately sifted synth, a combination that calls up an ocean breeze and icy-cold temps. Kid Be Kid fiddles with the dichotomy of feelings someone experiences when saying goodbye to a loved one – delightfulness and despair. The beat drops at 43 seconds in, where she skillfully wavers back and forth between two tempos. Rising and falling piano thrives, and she seethingly beatboxes. By the time the track settles on a piano downbeat that fades out, intricacy and clarity combine for an impressive outcome. 

Jazz fans will most definitely like the third track “Slide” which features Julia Kadel and Simon Denizart, because of the several piano lines that compete for the listeners’ attention. It is thrilling to listen to the three musicians playing off each other. Kid Be Kid uses a play on words to demonstrate how she uses language as a rhythmic machine. “Slide” deliberately conveys some serious ear candy, especially when experienced with headphones on.

“Lovely Genders” is the most conscious track. It opens strong then settles down into a beat-less terrain of synth and several tracks of vocal improv. The track takes up the matter of gender and the obscurity of the lyric “we were beautiful” – or “we wore beautiful,” “we walk beautiful,” and “we are beautiful” – which proposes moving back and forth across a wide range of gender identity. Then singing “won’t step into a role, it ain’t my style” and “won’t push you to roll it/ain’t my style,” she sings “come together, fuck the fear, lovely genders,” – a daring and brave political statement about openness and fluidity, and acceptance and tolerance. 

“Outro,” the last track on the EP, is another beat-less synth piece, where Kid Be Kid explores sound and tone. This song is a kind of ‘ciao, bella’ track as it is a tight closing track, as it makes listeners wonder how Kid Be Kid will develop in the future with her sound. 

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