Tour Tales | KieroLovesYou remembers "Mario Kart" races with Lil Yachty and cannabis connections with Trippie Redd
In this installment of “Tour Tales,” KieroLovesYou discusses driving himself from city to city to open Young Thug’s “Hy!£UN35 Tour,” being the cannabis connoisseur on Trippie Redd’s “Love Me No More Tour,” and working with B-Real.
KieroLovesYou has deejayed, hosted, and spread love on tours with Lil Yachty, Kodie Shane, Trippie Redd, and Young Thug to name a few. “[Lil Yachty] has a song with Carnage called ‘Mase In ’97.’ Every time he did that song, he would throw fruit snacks, chips, and all of the stuff in the green room into the crowd and tell them, ‘When this beat drops, everybody start throwing this shit.’ They would have to cover equipment and get ready for this because it would look like a school lunch fight, KieroLovesYou told REVOLT.
In this installment of “Tour Tales,” KieroLovesYou discusses driving himself from city to city to open Young Thug’s “Hy!£UN35 Tour,” being the cannabis connoisseur on Trippie Redd’s “Love Me No More Tour,” and working with B-Real. Read up!
Who was the first major artist you went on tour with?
I was doing concerts venues like The Observatory, The Novo, The Fox [Theater]. I like to look at it as my triangle offense in Southern, California — O.C.L.A.I.E. I.E. is Inland Empire, where I’m from. My first really big break was opening up for Young Thug in Pomona, California at The Fox (May 15, 2016 on the “Hy!£UN35 Tour“). After that show, his production team invited me out to do the show in Hollywood the next day. I emcee and host as well as DJ, but for that opportunity, I was hosting. I got the crowd hype and was really comfortable on that stage, so they invited me onto that tour. I thought I was going to get on the [tour] bus. Nah. I just brought a 2016 Honda Civic with 50 miles on it four days earlier and drove it city to city opening up every show. I was tearing it up with crowds. I was throwing weed into the crowd from out of the pound bags. It was causing pandemonium. Thugger and his whole team were fucking with it. After I opened, I would stand outside of the stage, bust out my weed jars and do what I had to do to get enough money to go to the next city.
What was a memorable show for you on that tour?
The San Francisco show. I remember throwing a pound of weed into the crowd with Thug on stage. Lil Yachty was on that tour as well.
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What do you remember about Thug’s performance?
He was a rockstar. He was on another level. He was an icon. Yachty was opening up for him and I went on tour with him next. Shout out to Wack 100 for getting me on that with Nicky D’s opening up for Yachty. That was my first nationwide tour where I didn’t have to drive my own car and I got paid. I didn’t get paid for the Thug opportunity, but it worked out perfectly because Nicky D’s had a song with Yachty and Thug. So, when we were at the music video for it, everything came full circle.
How was touring with Yachty as Nicky D’s DJ?
Nicky D’s is the Irish kid from the I.E, so it was funny doing all of these shows around America and the crowd sees this white kid ripping shit up. I also had opportunities to play a few songs before I brought him out and start the concert. That’s what I like doing — setting the tone. I was able to deejay for all of these crowds and tell them, “If no one else told you they loved you today, Kiero loves you.” That’s how I would come out on stage. That led to more touring. With COVID restrictions recently, I’ve been focusing on podcasting and my media side. I was interviewing people like A$AP Ferg and Tyler, the Creator early in their careers before I was deejaying. I wanted to get back into that, so I got into working with B-Real this last year.
What was your experience on the Yachty tour off stage?
On my first day on tour with him, I saw he had a flatscreen TV behind the stage plugged up with Mario Kart and I was like, “Oh, we’re going to be cool.” We played Mario Kart and I lost the first race. My Kiero Loves You merch has the Super Nintendo logo on it and I was wearing it that day, so he looked at me and said, ‘How are you going to have that hat and not be good?’ I won the next race. He had an N64 and played all the Mario Kart games Yachty’s a gamer. I’m a gamer too. I stream on Twitch now. Nicky D and I would murder shit on that tour opening up. Kodie Shane was on that tour and I met Matty P, RIP. Matty P and Kodie got to see me grow throughout the years because I worked with her on different tours over the years. She opened for the Trippie Redd [“Love Me More Tour”] I was on in 2020.
How would you compare the performance styles of Young Thug and Yachty?
Yachty is a mosh pit show. He doesn’t want you to turn down. You’re going to sing along. When I was on his “Teenage Tour” [in 2017], he was also switching some of his stuff by doing slower and more melodic songs live. Thug does the same thing where he has melodic tracks but he also has hype anthems. I see similarities with them performing as well as with the YSL and QC camps. A lot of their camps blend over. But, also with Yachty, he has a song with Carnage called “Mase In ’97.” Every time he did that song, he would throw fruit snacks, chips, and all of the stuff in the green room into the crowd and tell them, “When this beat drops, everybody start throwing this shit.” They would have to cover equipment and get ready for this because it would look like a school lunch fight.
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You are a cannabis connoisseur. What rapper do you feel can hang with you smoking?
Trippie Redd. Trippie smokes a Backwood with a 1/8th [ounce] of weed in it on stage with all of that singing, running, and jumping. He’s a performing beast. They know me as the weed plug on a certain level because of Gas Co and all of these other brands I work with. I already plugged them up with the weed beforehand. When they saw me on the tour, it was, “Hey, what’s up? What did you bring?” I said, “I brought my turntables,” and they’d be like, “Nah, fuck that Kiero. Where’s the weed? Make a phone call.” That’s Sunny [2POINT0] right there. With Trippie, off the strength of me being a cannabis connoisseur, I was the one going to dispensaries while they were shopping for clothes. I’d go in and tell the dispensaries, “Hey, I’m Keiro. This is what I do on tour. Show us what you got.” I got blessed with a lot of bags because of Trippie.
What was your show like with Flash Gottii?
Shout out to Wack 100 again on that one. He has a high-energy set and Wack put us together. He’s a rap rockstar from Kansas City. You put him on stage and this motherfucker goes stupid. We were only scheduled to do two weeks on that tour. We were about to fly home and we were saying bye, but Trippie told Flash, “Do the whole shit with me, bro. You can do the whole shit.” We did the whole tour. I went from being out two weeks to being out six weeks. I didn’t even hesitate to agree to that. Little did I know, COVID was going to hit the last three days of the tour. That was scary.
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Early in the pandemic, there was so much uncertainty about COVID, but shows were still happening.
Yeah, there was a week of just sketchy ass shit. Do you know what was cool? I already don’t pass my weed, I’ll give you some weed and tell you to smoke your own. B-Real taught me that. That’s how you don’t get sick. I also would carry hand sanitizers in my pocket. So, when I’d see people backstage, I wouldn’t dap them up, I’d just squirt some hand sanitizer.
What city had the craziest crowds?
Miami. We rocked the shit out of that. Then, for Trippie, he had Lil Pump, Tory Lanez, and Lil Wayne come out as surprise guests. That brought a whole different energy to the whole show. That show was a different one.
What goes into a Trippie Redd show?
Trippie taught me a lot about how his performances go as far as how he sets up his songs, talks to the crowd, and what he does when he knows the banger is coming. Shout out to LiveTouch, his engineer and DJ. They got magic together. People started doing backflips to start the mosh pit, so he’d have people open the pit. There would be one dude in the middle and he’d say, “When this motherfucker backflips, start the track.” Then, a kid would hit a backflip and everyone would just go crazy. That happened at one show by accident, but he started doing it every show after and still does it.
What do you have coming up this year?
I’m doing more with the Kiero Loves You brand, kierolovesyou.tv. I’m also falling into a position with event coordination. I’m sort of the catalyst out here who puts shit together and holds it together. To achieve, but to maintain is another thing. I’m doing a grand opening for this dispensary. I’ve been working with B-Real and Dr. GreenThumbs, and learning a lot. Now, I’m expanding into marketing and event coordination for these other dispensaries where I could put artists in there to perform. I could put brands in there to market. I come from doing the black market events out here in California. Now, I’m going from that life to this new modern age legal market, and I’m finding my position with these businesses that celebrate my skillset. I’m blessed. I don’t just get to deejay, I get to be in the background and connect the dots.