ATLANTA — Growing up in Warner Robins, Georgia, popular rapper, producer, DJ and engineer Kiid Maestro says music was always in his blood.

“I grew up in the church and my dad was a pastor, so I was always around during choir rehearsals,” he said. “I would always sit at the piano. That evolved into me playing the drums. I did that for a long time. I was in marching band, played the saxophone and was involved in the chorus.”

Kiid Maestro, whose real name is Brandon Ross, said he learned about the process of making beats when he was in middle school and high school.

Due to the lack of studios and resources in Warner Robins, he would focus on making beats at home and would share them with his friends at school. He used different music programs on his computer such as Mixcraft, Fruity Loops and other services to produce music.

“Then I started rapping because I didn’t have the network at the time,” he said. “People told me to keep going and that got me recognized around the city. That evolved into recording myself.

He moved to Atlanta in 2014 to chase his dreams. His name was inspired by fellow hip-hop producer Maestro.

“Shout out to the original OG Maestro. I loved that name and that means something when you hear that word and that name,” he said.

Kiid Maestro was introduced to Lil Wayne through a mutual friend DJ T.Lewis, who is Lil Wayne’s tour DJ and a popular producer in Atlanta. He met DJ T.Lewis during a studio session in Atlanta with a mutual friend and built an instant connection.

“I met DJ T.Lewis during a recording session that I was doing with Street Execs at the time. He was working with an artist that I was working with on the production side. He liked my sound, and our working relationship grew from there.”

When DJ T.Lewis learned that he was a DJ for hip-hop group Travis Porter, he reached out about his desire for a DJ tech for when he does shows with Lil Wayne.

“He took me on the road to do the tech work for him and make sure everything is right when he goes on the stage. That grew from me being a tech to now a playback engineer,” he said.

Around the beginning of 2022, he started traveling on the road as a playback engineer and doing tech for Lil Wayne.

“T.Lewis handles the bulk of the setlist for each show and picks the songs. He’ll go back and forth with Wayne and the rest of the team to make sure he knows what songs he wants to perform,” he said. “Once we figure that out, I go into the program that we use. We have all of the tracks that are ready to go. I got my own rig; I got two laptops to manage. It’s definitely something that I enjoy and it’s a real growing point in my career.”

Kiid Maestro says he has developed a new appreciation and understanding for those that put in the work and energy behind the scenes. A key part of doing live shows is being reactive and ready because anything can happen.

Kiid Maestro recently released his new single “How Ya Feel” and is excited for fans to hear his new music. It was produced by Kiid Maestro’s friend Jagger Werks and co-produced by another friend Aonah.

“I like making music with people who I consider homies because that is how you can create the best art,” he said. “I started off producing but being an artist and just creating is something that I truly love to do. I am in a space and a place where I just create the music and create the art. People will gravitate to it.”

He listed hip-hop icons Lil Wayne, Drake, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams as some of his greatest influences.

“I remember staying up when Tha Carter 3 first dropped in 2008 and that was the first album I bought on iTunes,” Kiid Maestro said. “He’s the GOAT, no questions hands down. He’s influenced the whole rap game. Seeing what Wayne is doing at the level that he is now and it doesn’t seem to stop is inspiring. When he’s not on the road doing a show, he’s in the studio or on his skateboard.

Kiid Maestro said he’s also working on new music with Travis Porter and Tony Backwoods.

”I have worn a lot of hats and done a lot of things in the industry,” he said. “I want to keep growing and keep doing what I love to do.”

Kiid Maestro’s music is available on all streaming platforms. Fans can listen to Kiid Maestro’s music by clicking here.