Gaston teen sets his sights on second album
When Kadir Muhammad approached Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, he was hopeful. The two have something important in common: Kingfish, a Grammy winning blues guitarist, became known for his music as a teenager.
Muhammad, known professionally as "The Giftt," released his first album last year, at the age of 17.
"Before I really knew what blues could really be, I had found him, and I was like, 'I'd like to meet him and ask him some questions one day,'" Muhammad said.
Muhammad approached Kingfish backstage on April 4, at a concert in Charlotte. In an interaction that Muhammad's father filmed, he asked the performer to be his mentor. It was, Muhammad said, the biggest moment he's experienced since he graduated high school last May.
"It meant the absolute world for him to just, one, take the time and be able to sit and talk to me for a few minutes, but then also… teach me these things that I really don't know, that I haven't experienced yet," he said.
Muhammad is working on his second album. He feels he has grown since his first, and his music, he says, reflects that.
"I've learned to let things go, and that's reflected more in my music," he said.
He's also performing locally. His next performance will be July 4 at a Dallas festival, and there are other performances planned in Gaston County and the surrounding area.
In five years, Muhammad says, "I want my music to be heard by people and by other musicians who will appreciate it."
In 10 years, he says, he hopes to win "at least two Grammys, maybe three."
He laughed.
Muhammad lives in Gastonia, but he hopes to eventually move. He's considered Mississippi and Tennessee, but he doesn't yet know where he will land.
"Still figuring it out," he said. "Somewhere in that general vicinity of places."
He hopes to release his second album by the end of the year.
"It'll be fully produced, written and composed by me," he said.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston teen sets his sights on second album
