Never in my lifetime would I have thought that choosing to go by my real name instead of my rap alias would gain so much attention (more than the music itself). To the rest of the world, I changed my name but personally, I just dropped my rap alias. I’ve heard a million reasons why I changed it (some pretty ridiculous) so I’m going to set the record straight. So for those of you who want to know or care enough to read then feel free to continue reading because this is my final time addressing it. To those who could care less….well, continue caring less! This is a long read and we are in the Twitter age where people aren’t fond of reading more than 140 characters…

First of all, I’ve had the rap name Supastition since 1998 and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished under that alias. The name was chosen because there were people who believed in me and others who didn’t. Not to mention I had some of the worst luck during that time…or maybe it was just bad decision making?   After I recorded Chain Letters (my 2nd album), some of you might remember me saying that I was never going to do another Supastition solo album again. Before I even had time to explain it in detail, people ran with it and started with the foolish rap term ‘retiring from rap’ (BB King never retired from the blues and he’s about 200 years old it seems!). As far as Supastition projects, it doesn’t get any better than the Deadline/Chain Letters series. Those were my best interpretations of what a hip hop album should be. I’m not interesting in spending the rest of my career trying to recreate or outdo those projects. The “Leave of Absence” EP was basically just me seeing if I was still inspired to make that kind of music. Although I loved it, I was at a crossroads and I had to force myself to finish that project because in my heart I wanted to go in another direction. Plus most people around me were saying i was insane for choosing to start over.

A few years back, my wife and I had a car accident that basically set us back seriously (financially and personally). During the accident, I literally saw my life flash before me although never believed it was possible until it happened to me. At the point I asked myself…if I were to leave this earth at this very moment, would I be proud of everything that I’ve done so far as a person and as an artist? The answer was NO. During that whole ordeal, I never so much as received a phone call, text, or email from some people who I considered family or friends. I realized that I had surrounded myself with artificial people (artist and producers) who were only around for the moment and I was just a stop on their way to the top. When you hit your lowest point you truly see who is in your corner. That’s when I decided that it was time to tear the house down and build something new. I know some of you may associate me and enjoy hearing me work with certain people but if they aren’t genuine people then I refuse to have them around me nowadays. I don’t care how great of a producer or rapper you are. Too many dudes are fueled by egos, money, and fame to ever be genuine people. I made some great music as Supastition but I’m choosing to start a new chapter. Nothing to cry or complain about…there are plenty of Supastition releases that people bought or didn’t buy.

All of that combined with the feeling of being stuck in this tiny ’super underground’ box helped me to decide what direction I truly wanted to go in. I’m no longer 21….I’m a grown man with a family and I choose to make music that reflects my age and lifestyle. As Supastition, I made music based on what I thought ‘real heads’ wanted to hear and what I grew up listening to. As Kam Moye, I make music based on my life experiences and thoughts regardless of who likes it or not. It’s about having the freedom to create whatever I like without the expectations. The music is a lot more personal and optimistic than before. By now people should know that I can rap so why spend my entire life trying to prove that I’m just as good as (insert_favorite_rap_hero_name). I don’t care about being Top 5 on any body’s favorite rappers list, whether I’m underrated/overrated, who has beef, or whether I rapped better than someone on their own song or vice versa. I realized that there’s more important things FOR ME to talk about. As teenagers and young adults, we haven’t really discovered who we are yet or we don’t find our normal lives interesting enough so we like to take on aliases, crew names, etc… I can’t make music that’s 100% me if I’m using a name that only represents half of who I am. I’m comfortable in my skin with who I am and I’m proud to be making music that tells my story. We listen(ed) to rappers with names like Ice Cube and Q-Tip so I think as long as the music is good then it’s pointless to focus on anything else. When I start making ignorant strip club anthems then maybe a change isn’t a good thing.

So here I stand….Kam Moye. I didn’t see a need of sending out a press release to let people know that I’m going to be myself from now on. I appreciate all of the fans and supporters who have chosen to continue listening to me. I’m always gonna be Supa to some people because that’s who they were introduced to. I still record guest appearances as Supastition sometimes because I still love to rap my ass off. But as far as solo albums….nah, its Kam Moye from here on out. This time around people aren’t listening to my music because of the Okayplayer/?uestlove name attached to it or because you thought I was down with the Justus League or whoever. I’m interested in gaining the support of some genuine people who are interested in my movement or my music. Not because of a co-sign, a label marketing plan, or whatever. Just those who enjoy the MUSIC itself. I may lose some followers & fans but I look at supporters like your friends from high school and college. They fit into your life when you’re young and carefree but not every one of them will still be active in your life when you decide to grow up and live more responsible. They are all part of your journey but not everyone will be with you in the end. As for now, I just created what I feel to be my most powerful album to date so please don’t miss out on great music because you’re too busy caught up in a name change. I’ve traveled around the world and gained the respect of some of the legends that I grew up listening to. I’ve paid dues since the early 90’s… now can I live?

Kam Moye ‘Splitting Image’ in (select) stores and widely available online on October 27, 2009.

-kam