Q&A: With Emotional Lyricism and Connection as Storytelling, KAIRO Contributes to a Cultural Shift in Pop Music With Debut EP ‘Love Letters From Houston’
FOR THOSE WHO LISTEN AND THOSE WHO CREATE — music is elemental to a sense of aliveness. More specifically, the love song — both a product of man’s fascination with love and an accompaniment to its inevitability — has and continues to serve its purpose as an outlet, as a means of working through the ups and down and the ins and outs of its complicated experience. For Nigerian-born, Houston-raised twin duo, KAIRO, music finds its position as individual and collective expression, as connection and as storytelling. Inspired by icons of pop youth, including Khalid and Justin Bieber, the brother duo forefront a newer generation of R&B-pop, in which the intersection of both genres crafts a listening experience that is refreshingly pastel with an old-school youthfulness and honesty.
The release of KAIRO’s debut EP, Love Letters From Houston, punctuates the beginning of their artistry, one that showcases the inimitable strength of brotherhood in the making of their very own sonic and visual world. The distinct pleasure of Love Letters From Houston lies in its breezy simplicity, where each track’s frank observation of love’s multiplicities eases its listener into a state of comfort, and we see that, where music serves a comfort for its creator, music finds comfort in its receiver. Through prioritizing narrative, KAIRO allows for a natural glide through the depth of facets that comprise love in their EP: love as an act, love as an emotion, love as the basis of perspective, love as good and bad, and love as connection.
The EP is tied together by a nonchalant vibrancy that underlines its vocals, with its danceable but mellowed percussion and stripped-back production. Sonically, the twins utilize their vocals to their unique advantage, placing harmony front and center as an instrument itself. Immediately alleviating, the sound of layered vocal euphony softens the mind, crafting a world that finds assurance in an acceptance of truth, an acknowledgement of thoughts as they are: honestly and blatantly, embracing of the present.
Beyond KAIRO’s ability to accompany the emotional and observational circuit of relationship and new encounters, Love Letters From Houston marks the continuation of a significant shift in the culture of pop music, a genre lush in its historical disregard of authenticity and insufficient representation. “We did not have many artists in pop that looked like us growing up, so for us to even be in this position — to share our story, our music, and to be able to show others what’s possible — is so wild to us,” KAIRO said.
Significant to their process and artistry is their contribution and hopefulness in rewiring the rigid constructs and systemic obstacles of the music industry, reflecting on their roots, culture and experiences as fundamental to their love of their craft, and something vital to practice. As KAIRO celebrates the release of their debut EP, the duo continues to build upon the world they have begun — one where their music is a companion to their growth and their growth finds its expression through their music.
Continue reading below as KAIRO unpacks their journey, roots, and debut EP, Love Letters From Houston.
LUNA: Congratulations on the release of Love Letters from Houston! Such a refreshing melding of R&B and pop. Your sound is lovely, and everything down to your lyrics, melodies, and visuals are simultaneously stripped-back and detailed — so great!
KAIRO: Thank you so much!
LUNA: Tell me a little bit about your journey as artists. How did your love for music begin and develop into what it is now?
KAIRO: We started singing in our dad’s church when we were around 10 years old and ever since then we grew a love for music in all genres, primarily pop. We grew up with Disney Channel artists like Jonas Brothers and other pop stars such as Justin Bieber and Khalid. In high school, we started writing music but never really developed our voices and sound until now. Everything came from relentless practice.
LUNA: It’s so lovely that music connected you from such a young age. Could you talk me through your creative and musical process? How do you approach a track from the conception of an idea to the production and the vocals?
KAIRO: One of us usually writes the hook and then we bring it to our producers to flesh out the instrumentation and production. Once there is a base instrumental framework to work with, we go in and write our verses and bridges.
LUNA: Is the whole process highly collaborative?
KAIRO: Yes, definitely!
LUNA: I guess, as twins, a lot of the things you encounter individually are shared with the other so there is a uniquely unified perspective. How do you incorporate differences in vision and creative process?
KAIRO: Every song is very collaborative and written together, unless we decide to write a specific verse that means something uniquely to one of our lives. We spend most of our lives together so thankfully it’s quite natural to have a shared experience.
LUNA: Your bond really does translate through to your sound. Your music is charged with a very warm energy, with this super intricate instrumentation and layered with these vibrant harmonies — your chemistry shines through. What inspires the act of making music for you?
KAIRO: Our journey through life really inspires our music. Everything we write about has been about feelings and experiences that we’ve personally gone through, and we just express that through our music.
LUNA: Having been surrounded by music for most of your life, it must’ve felt quite instinctive to fall into music-making. What would you say draws you toward music?
KAIRO: We grew up in a musical home with our dad exposing us to all types of music: pop, R&B, everything! Back then, it just felt natural that music would somehow find its way into our adult lives.
LUNA: What, then, is the purpose of music for both of you?
KAIRO: Music is an outlet for us. It allows us to share our innermost thoughts and feelings into words with the hope that others can feel seen and heard.
LUNA: Music holds so much power in that regard — it finds a way to be so personal for everyone that engages with it. I know you said that you grew up listening to Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, and the Jonas Brothers — these super significant names in youth pop — and now you are taking the reins as fresh faces for a newer generation of R&B-pop.
KAIRO: Yeah, Justin Bieber, Khalid, Ed Sheeran, and the Jonas Brothers have been massive influences for us.
LUNA: Beyond that, are there any other art or creative forms that accompany and inspire your artistry?
EJ: I’m currently in film school, and that discipline inspires our music as it allows me to think ahead about how we want to execute the visuals of a song, sometimes as we’re still writing it.
AK: I am taking art classes in school and I design clothes. This helps in creating the aesthetics and visuals of our videos and live performances.
LUNA: It’s not common to see artists that are family, but when there are there seems to be a very natural, grounded nature to their artistry. How do you both fuel or complement each other, as artists and also as people?
KAIRO: We bounce off each other in everything that we do. It’s so easy to look at each other and instantly know what we’re trying to do because our thoughts and goals are always aligned. We use this to our advantage in our music and in life.
LUNA: Definitely. It must be affirming to know that you are able to create and share such monumental memories together.
KAIRO: Yes, for sure. It also allows us to feel safe, whether in rehearsals or on stage, because we can feel that we’re there to catch one another. That’s also why we have so much fun performing because we’re intrinsically playing off each other.
LUNA: Do you ever reflect on your growth together and appreciate how far you’ve come?
KAIRO: Oh yes. We used to write so many songs growing up and throughout high school that looking back now were… not good. But those were amazing moments for us back then and even now. It’s a wonderful reminder of how far we have come and that practice is what led us here.
LUNA: Your new EP, Love Letters from Houston, has a focus on love, connection, observations on relationships, and people. Along with the sound itself, the subject matter ties together the entire thing. I love how nonchalant and honest it is. What about love and the thoughts or emotions associated with it are you drawn to in your music?
KAIRO: The idea of being infatuated with someone and being willing to risk your own emotions is one of the many ideas that fuelled our creative process during the making of these songs.We wanted to take that idea and lyrically simplify it to allow anyone who listens to really get the message and connect with it when first listening. By setting this basic foundation of love in our music, we can go back in future projects and expand on those ideas with more intricate and complex lyrics and ideas, which we’re already doing.
LUNA: How do you approach your lyrics? They are almost journal-like and conversational — super refreshing and open.
KAIRO: Every lyric is written with the intent to be so brutally honest. We highlight some of the minutia because it’s those hidden moments that mean so much.
LUNA: Yeah, there is a distinct level of observation that underlie the lyrics.
KAIRO: Exactly — those shared glances that no one else sees, those spots that are special only to you two. It’s as if we write a scene from a period of our lives and the words in the songs are the script we’ve given ourselves.
LUNA: I love that. Stripping these strong emotions and big chunks of life back until they are small moments: the details that make up a memory. Each track does this in its own way, and we are taken on this journey through each of these scenes. Could you walk us through the EP?
KAIRO: We start off with “Someone Like You,” which explores the feeling of gratefulness for the person you’re in love with to the point that you feel unworthy of that person’s love but you deeply appreciate it. “Love On TV” is about questioning your first love as you compare it to the love you see that is seen in movies, TV shows, and the journals we all write our fantasies in. Then, “Anymore Anyway” is about the post-breakup situation where there are lingering questions that persist, but at the same time you’re past the point of return that could encourage you to rekindle the relationship. It’s a sort of acknowledgment of the history we shared, the memories, and how that person will always have a special place in your heart. “Daydreams” captures that initial feeling of butterflies and infatuation with someone new that leads to you thinking about them 24/7 — even in your dreams. And the last song, “Can You Love Me Tonight?” is a reminder, a love letter, to your person — the one that lights up your entire world. It’s also a reminder of how far you two have come, even with the little hiccups of a relationship, and so you ask if you can fall in love all over again.
LUNA: As a body of work, you’ve really found a way to explore so many facets of love and interaction. I can really see how dedicated to crafting the narrative you are. How do you translate this stylistically and into your sound? I love the brass instrumentation that underlies the latter half of “Love On TV,” the percussion layered in “Can You Love Me Tonight,” and the stripped-back guitar that kind of ties your EP together. You also use your vocals as a big part of the production, as instruments themselves.
KAIRO: I think the main stylistic choice that we made on this EP was stacking our vocal harmonies. Being twin brothers that have been singing side by side for 21 years, there’s an inimitable tone that we wanted to put at the forefront of this EP. This allowed us to sparsely complement the top-line with each instrument and bring more dynamic moments to each song.
LUNA: Definitely — the blend of your voices have an artfulness to them, an effortlessness too. The EP must’ve been such a great process for you both. Do you have any memories during the making of the EP that you hold dear?
KAIRO: Yes, definitely. We would always go to the gas station near the studio to pick up snacks whenever we had writer’s block or if we had finished a song quickly. We were there all the time, but the walk there was always fun because it allowed us to get out of our heads for a moment and just enjoy the time together and to appreciate the blessing that this all is. We are so lucky to have found our producers that helped us grow as musicians over these last two years of working on Love Letters From Houston.
LUNA: It must be so fulfilling to have completed the project as this screenshot of this shift in your lives. How do you feel reflecting on yourselves as the people that started Love Letters From Houston compared to the people who finished it?
KAIRO: This EP means the world to us because it’s the first body of work that we invested our blood, sweat, and tears in without even knowing how it would all come together.
LUNA: Of course. I guess it’s not only the fact that it is your first major project, but also this marked the beginning of your journey as artists. Is that an alleviating and exciting thought — the vision of what’s to come?
KAIRO: Yes! We had been wanting to be taken seriously as artists, and after two years of relentless hard work, we’re proud to say that this debut EP sets the tone for us going forward as artists. If we can do it once, we definitely know that we can do it again, and that assurance started with the creation of this project.
LUNA: Definitely! I know you are originally from Nigeria and came to Houston with your family. Nigeria has such a deeply rich musical history, and there are so many Nigerian artists who are gaining long-deserved recognition in a more global and mainstream scene. You have WizKid, Burna Boy, Fireboy DML, Tems, CKay. Looking back, you have people like Sade Adu who have made such a pivotal mark internationally. What elements of culture and cultural experiences do you carry through with you throughout your artistry?
KAIRO: Nigeria is our homeland. It’s an honor to be from there and call that culture ours. Growing up, we wouldn’t see many — if any — Nigerian artists in the mainstream pop lane in America. Africans, much less Nigerians, were never at the forefront of culture as much as others. I think the mindset that most immigrants carry to this country is that of determination. When coming here, even though we grew up in Houston, we were constantly reminded of our privilege and that it is a blessing to be in a place like this.
LUNA: What do you hope to be able to contribute in a time where international sounds are being amplified and more space has been created for diversity in music and the arts?
KAIRO: We hope to play a part in this cultural shift and awareness that’s already happening here. The “classic” pop star image is no more, it’s time for a new face to come forth into the light. This time just make it two faces that look exactly the same!
LUNA: Haha! The music scene in Houston is absolutely thriving, too, and across so many genres. Is it inspiring for you to create in a place that has such an active atmosphere?
KAIRO: Houston is definitely a very poppin’ place for artists of all kinds, and it’s so cool seeing and meeting people in different stages of their careers. Having this community of dream chasers all around you really pushes you to bring your best to the table.
LUNA: It must be! Are there any other places you hope you can travel to, perform and continue to make music?
EJ: I want to go to Paris — I really want to learn French and about French culture.
AK: I want to go to the UK and play festivals there.
LUNA: What do you hope your listeners gain from listening to your music and this EP?
KAIRO: We hope they really resonate with the lyrics and the stripped-back feel of everything. We did that purposely because we want to show people that before anything — before any crazy production — we are lyricists and vocalists first.
LUNA: You've created a body of work and, subsequently, a world of your own. In KAIRO's world, what does it look like? How would you describe the world of your music?
KAIRO: Wow, that’s a deep question. We would say that KAIRO’s world is about connecting the dots between real-life situations and emotions to art. Bringing people in to see new music from fresh faces that we never were able to look up to as kids. Seeing two black men do what we’re doing now in this lane of pop would have been so amazing to see growing up, and we’re so happy to step in and fill in that role for our generation and the ones that follow.
LUNA: Truly! You’re paving a path in a genre that can often lack the same diversity that other sectors of music and art have. Is there anything surprising about you that you want to tell your listeners?
KAIRO: We are twins! (laughs) In all seriousness, we have been writing music for so long. We think any artform or passion takes time and dedication, and it took a long while before we became confident enough to start this as an actual career. People often see the highlights of your journey and close their eyes to the hard work it took to get there. We think we’re living proof of that.
LUNA: Thank you for that, I agree completely. It becomes easy to idealize the process as someone who just engages with an end product. Finally, what are you looking forward to? Is there anything you have coming up that we should look out for?
KAIRO: Well, we just released the debut EP of our careers and it’s something we have been cherishing for years now. We definitely have some more stuff on the way, maybe a remix? Another EP? We shall see!
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