The newest track from Toronto legend k-os and newcomer KAGE E is proof that hot girl summer is for everyone, especially if you’re busy working the streets.
On “HOT BOY” the duo link up for a confident, crackling anthem that solidifies that shooting your shot really works—Toronto’s KAGE E, who is only 16, reached out to k-os on Instagram and their friendship blossomed from there. “He sent me a song called ‘Searchin’ that I loved,” k-os tells Complex of the DM that started it all. “I wrote a song called ‘Searchin’ years ago, so the title alone pulled me in. We’re in the same zone lyrically.”
Together, the two created what KAGE E describes as a Batman and Robin vibe when bringing the song to life. “We even had the Batmobile for the [video] shoot!” k-os says. “I’ve been looking for my Robin for a minute. But Robin has to have both confidence and humility to be a good partner to Batman and that’s a hard combo to come by,” he says. “[I] finally found it… or rather, it found me.”
“It’s mind blowing the innocence and honesty of youth,” k-os says. “The stuff KAGE says, it’s like he’s freestyle rapping all the time. Without trying,” he adds.
KAGE E was excited to be able to work with someone who he’d looked up to for so long: “k-os was a part of my ascendancy into music,” he says. “When I was younger I [used] to set my hand on the speaker and feel the beat run up through my arm and kinda work its way through. My dad liked his music loud.”
The track blends together k-os’ chameleon-like prowess with KAGE E’s youthful, bouncy vocals.
“Sometimes on Queen Street people would start groovin’ to the hook as we sat at the lights,” KAGE E adds. “[Moments] like those are the moments that made me want to make music. It was really dope when me and k-os connected. He’s a big influence.”
“HOT BOY” is the latest song k-os has dropped this year, following “SUPERNOVAS” and a quirky cover of The Cars’ “Just What I Needed”.
