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"This is my favorite joint right here," Federline says as cranks the volume on "Down South," a crunk tune with the opening lyric, "Put your middle fingers up if you really don't give a f---."
Kevin Earl Federline was born on March 21, 1978 in Fresno, California, and raised on a steady diet of hip-hop, from Run-DMC on.
Through his love of rap he learned to dance, which occasionally helped keep him out of trouble. In his Tenaya Middle School yearbook he was named "Most Likely to Be Seen on 'America's Most Wanted'," and he was heading in that direction until he packed his bags and moved to Los Angeles to pursue dancing.
"When I got out of my situation in my hometown ... I found a whole new way of life," he says, recalling his initial years in L.A. working with everyone from Michael Jackson to Pink to Justin Timberlake. "I actually was doing something that I loved to do. I wasn't doing some job where I hated going to work every day. I was tickled when I got to travel all around the world. I called my mom crying. You know, I'd never really been outside of California too much before then. And that's what it's about for me, doing what your heart desires and your soul desires. And if you just listen to it, you'll figure it out."
After settling down with Britney, Kevin knew he had an opportunity to finally pursue music as an artist first and dancer second, so he booked some time at nearby Document Room Recording Studios, where he is today.
"I didn't know what route, what direction I would go until I got in the studio and then everything happened naturally, everything turned into this real hip-hoppy stuff," he says. "I have other stuff I tried that actually sounds pretty good, alternative stuff, rock stuff, but I'm gonna go this route 'cause this is what I grew up with. This is what's in my blood. I don't know no different."
Within hip-hop, Kevin wants to go all in sorts of directions, musically and lyrically, which is what attracted him to Disco D and his other producer, newcomer Notes.
"Everything they've thrown at me is so diverse," he exclaims. "My favorite is when you walk into the studio and hear something you didn't expect to hear. ... That's the element of surprise. You just get hit with the beat upside your head and it's like, 'Put me in the booth right now. I don't even need to write nothing down. Let's do it.' That's it for me. It's like a rush, man."
Disco D, who worked on 50 Cent's The Massacre, says he wanted to take Federline as left field as he would go while still reflecting his personality. "Kevin has a lot of guts for doing what he did on 'PopoZao,' taking a stab at a new developing style from a totally different country and culture," he says.
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