Ron Roze and Kino, the twin artists from Baltimore that make up rapper duo Kenron, have come a long way since they first took an interest in turning their passion for music into a career. While music was always both a source of joy and coping mechanism for the twins in childhood, Kenron only just started making music in December of last year. Now, they have almost 10k streams on Spotify and 2 hit music videos with over 190k views on Youtube, seeing one of those records, “Getaway”, become viral on TikTok.

With 2 albums—including their first, “In My Feelings”, set to be released tomorrow—and new visuals on the way, they continue to inspire their audiences with their music and careers and hope to give back to their families and community in the process. 24HipHop had the chance to speak with Kenron about their sound, goals, and passion for music— everything that makes them next up in the music world. Read our conversation with the twin rapper duo below! 

Describe your sound and musical style. 

Our style of music is melodic and has a reggae type of rhythm and beat style most of the time. This [is] what our fans have told us. We found it ironic because our family is Jamaican. We guess it’s in our blood.

Where does your musical inspiration derive from?

Growing up, we never really had fun like all the other kids. Our mother struggled in the home during the week after she moved us to Baltimore County. She used to play Michael Jackson when he performed on TV, and we would always get so excited, dancing, singing, and running around the house. Our mom used to come home stressed everyday, but our spirits were lifted when we watched Michael Jackson. And on the weekends when we would visit our father and grandmother, we saw violence, mental health issues, and depression. Due to mental health issues and street ties, we experienced and saw a lot of pain and hurt every day. All we saw was sadness and anger in the people that we loved dearly. We studied and understood this pain, and used it to inspire our father. We used to sit in the car for hours listening to Tupac, Jeezy, Dipset, and The Lox with our father while he reminisced on his hardships. Seeing the effect music had on our father emotionally, we started writing music together just to rap it to our father. It would always make him cry and give him joy and inspiration. Eventually, making music for our father’s happiness became our passion because it was a way for us to express ourselves in ways we didn’t know how with a conversation. Music pretty much became our coping mechanism.

When were you really moved to be involved in music?

Seeing our mom be so independent while living in a room the size of a closet hurt us. That’s when we really became ambitious. We said we’d raise money to get a laptop and start recording music on a Macbook. We used Garageband. We realized we needed more money to make it in the music industry, so we made an agreement in 2014 to graduate college to get the funds to take care of our family and pursue music. 4 months after graduation, we hit 195k on our song “Getaway” in December of 2020 and met many big names in the industry. That’s 6 years of having a passion and a promise, and we’re actually fulfilling that promise. We meant what we said and we’re going to accomplish it.

What are some of your favorite highlights/memories that you have from being in the industry?

When we did our second performance in a club, it was a movie. People we didn’t know were singing our song, women [were] screaming, it felt like we were superstars already. Older women [were] telling us their children listen to our songs everyday. Children [were] running up to us in the mall to take pictures. Definitely a great feeling. The last few months have been a rough ride, but we’ve had some great moments. We got to travel a lot, and went to events hosted by Carlos Brown called “Real Network Promotions”, [where] we got connected with good people in the industry and got to speak with and meet some big names. Big shouts out to Carlos. We’ve also been shooting videos in California, traveling with our brothers, and most importantly, learning from a lot of our mistakes. But the best moments so far are after we achieve any accomplishment in music. We see our mom get inspired that we may actually be someone one day. Nothing tops that glimmer of hope we can provide for her and our siblings.

What community events have you contributed to/in?

We used to contribute with the Growing Griots years ago, a program dedicated to the youth of Baltimore city. It was all about learning how to conduct yourself as a Black man and inspire the youth through storytelling. We also used to be involved with mentor programs to help the youth with guidance in school. We also used to have foster children live with us to give them some guidance. All we do is try and help people for the better.

What do you represent? 

We represent being misfits. We struggled with many hardships and insecurities that ended up sparking a level of ambition to prove something to ourselves— starting at the bottom, being the laughing stock at schools for wearing the same clothes for three years, being awkward, not being able to read or write properly in elementary school, teachers telling us we wouldn’t be anything in life, family doubting our dreams, and seeing every father figure we looked up to die, get locked up, or become junkies and alcoholics in front of our eyes. All the people we looked up to were illusions, so now we’re on our own trying to figure out who we are and how we fit into this world. Being misunderstood all of our lives is a part of who we are, and we’re sure most people in the world feel that way too… We are the roses that grew from the concrete. 

What advice do you have to youth who want to pursue a career in music?

If music is your primary passion, go for it! Stay true to yourself and sound, be unique, and block out all the negativity that comes with it, whether it’s from friends, family, or strangers. People will be negative towards your music and passion, but just be fearless and stay out the mix. It’s your life. Do what makes your heart and soul happy. If you’re not passionate, don’t try it. It’s a dirty game and it’s tough. We’ve gotten snaked a few times already. Fearless people can make it in this industry, but only with passion. Passion creates a purpose in your life, so no matter what, it must be pursued.

Is there a motto or quote that you live by?

Our slogan is “Grind now, shine later”, and for good reason. We represent the hard times, and showing that you may have to struggle and sacrifice now in order to enjoy and get what you want in life. This represents our life and message to others. All our life, we’ve been grinding. We’ve had some fun moments, but we’re still not shining. The shining part is what we’re chasing.

Stay tuned for Kenron’s first project “In My Feelings” to be released tomorrow with a new visual! You can stream and watch Kenron’s music and videos on Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube, and keep up with them and their work by following their Facebook and Instagrams @Kenron_Roze and @Kenron_Kino!