After Hours with Cade Episode 5: Kane Kuhtti

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - On After Hours with Cade, we sit with local artists to discuss Lawton and Southwest Oklahoma’s impact on their career and how it’s helped shape their artistry.

My fifth guest is Kane Kuhtti, a local R&B musician who advocates for unity, change, and strives to make an impact on the youth.

Kuhtti came to Lawton when she was around 11 or 12, living in Germany before becoming integrated with Southwest Oklahoma.

“I got here in 2003 from Germany,” Kuhtti said. “I was actually really into music when I was a kid just singing, you know, in the back of my mom’s car, my dad’s car. I had a love for music in Germany, and then when I got here, it was introduced as a hobby, as a lifetime thing.”

She attributes her involvement with the community to her ability to get along with anybody.

“Raised in Lawton, I think it has to do with me being involved with everybody all my life here, just always into something, whether it’s good, sometimes bad, but I just kind of built relationships with everybody. When I started taking off with my music, I felt like this was where I had to start it. I had to start here where everybody knew my story,” Kuhtti continued.

Coming from a country like Germany, Kuhtti was used to a different lifestyle, so coming to Lawton, she had to have an open mind. Once she did, she saw greatness.

“I have more of an open mind here. I feel like this particular town has so much talent all the way around in everything. It doesn’t matter if it’s music, drawing, etc. The craziest thing, a lot of the biggest artists around here I actually started music with. We can start with Lannie Lan3; I started doing music around them,” Kuhtti said.

“A lot of these people are good people I grew up with playing basketball and stuff, so people that were already into studios at that age kind of put me in there. They realized I could sing or, you know, was just into music and put me in there. That’s what clicked it for me, and I started learning that this was really something you could do.”

Kuhtti has had a colorful life with multiple paths taken, something she channels into her craft.

“I got a lot of trouble as a kid, so I’ve made music about trouble and all type of stuff. I’ve always been one to make music about how I feel, so the older I got, and when I started changing my life a lot, I had to make my music about changing my life. I didn’t have to; I just chose to, and it was really touching everybody, so I kind of stick along the lines of that and just go with however I’m feeling.”

Even though Kuhtti was raised in Lawton, she’s making more significant moves career-wise, residing part-time in Atlanta, where she just signed a distribution deal thanks to her hustle and determination.

“I went out there with everything I had by myself, and I demanded a management distribution deal with higher-up people that I’ve been actually watching for about five years. I’ve been getting in touch and making relationships with a lot of people. I’ve always been back and forth to Atlanta.”

“I want to shout out Boom Man. I got into a meeting with one of the biggest people that helps independent artists get out there. He also helped Gucci Mane and a lot of other people. He just kind of, you know, puts it forward, so if you really have what it takes, you’re gonna do everything you need to do to get in front of this man, and that’s what I did. It took me about five years, but I made it happen,” Kuhtti continued.

Even though she resides in Atlanta, she’s back and forth between there and Lawton monthly. Her ultimate goal is to bring talent from Atlanta down, as well as host various events for the community.

“The whole point is now that I have the relationships in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton, all the surrounding areas, and the support from them - that’s one of the biggest things was having everybody support and love - I’m gonna bring it back home, and we’re gonna make it happen out here.”

The entertainment industry is a cut-throat world, and while some artists focus on beating out others, Kuhtti hopes to bring her knowledge and support other up-and-coming artists.

“I want everybody to be pretty much their own bosses with this. Everybody that has a passion for anything they want to do. I’m trying to aim to get every angle out here because people complain there’s not much to do, but you got to make something to do and not bad stuff. Everyone has a passion and a purpose for something, so if don’t nobody help you find it, then I’m gonna be the one to try to help people find it,” Kuhtti said.

After being able to experience the music scenes in other areas, Kuhtti says the main difference is unity, something Lawton could use a little bit more of. “A lot of people want to be the one to do everything out here, and it takes a team.”

“An artist has to have a producer, videographer, promoters, and all that. It takes a team, and people don’t want to work together out here. So, I’m kind of doing that to make people work with each other, trying to put them in positions that they wouldn’t even care that they’re around each other as long as they’re doing what they love to do,” Kuhtti said.

Kuhtti’s latest single, ‘Off Top,’ highlights her goals of talking about overcoming past decisions and a rough past, something that drove her to want to include a real Lawton police officer in the music video.

“I always come here [Lawton Nutrition] and get Herbalife tea to get my day going. Craig and his brother have been a big influence on me and the community, getting out with people for positivity. Over the past two years, I’ve been coming up here, and he’s always here around noon. He’s cool; it’s not even like he’s a police officer. He’s here just like a regular person.”

“We have talks and we joke about stuff. Out of nowhere, I was just like, ‘man, I want to get him in one of my videos,’ because a lot of my videos I’m talking about being in trouble, but coming out of it and actually doing something with yourself, you know, getting tired of yourself, basically,” Kuhtti continued.

“One day, I presented it to him, and he went for it. He was like, ‘I don’t see a problem with it.’ And he was like, ‘let me run it through the chief, and I’ll get back with you,’ and the chief was going for it. It’s a big thing for the town, but really for the whole state.”

As an advocate for positivity and life development, she says finding a way out of a dark path is all about finding oneself.

“We have a problem growing up wanting to be like other people or being followers, but you always have to be a follower to become a leader. So, it’s not that anything from your past is not supposed to happen. Whatever you go through, it happens. But it has to do with what you’re going to be in the future or what you’re going to do with it in the future,” Kuhtti said.

“I don’t take back things from my past. I just love that I have learned from them and become who I am from it. So if people can understand that your past doesn’t make you, then there’ll be just fine in the future.”

For the rest of 2023, Kuhtti says fans can expect an EP, album, and potentially more. “I’m actually going to be working with major artists and doing a lot of major things. It’s going to be a lot of big things going forward.”

“Everything I’ve been doing these past years has been by myself. I’ve just done everything and learned the right avenues and angles to be able to make everything I’m doing happen. So now I need a little help. Everything’s pretty much gonna be under the management deal that I have right now until I own my own,” Kuhtti continued.

She says her drive and character set her apart from other artists in Southwest Oklahoma.

“Like I said, I love to see other people winning. I love to see other people doing what they love to do, and I support that. I think me being a big supporter for everybody for a long time is probably a lot of the reason why I have a lot of support now.”

You can find Kane Kuhtti online at @realkanekuhtti for Instagram, @kane.kuhtti for Facebook, and Kane Kuhtti for Spotify and Apple Music.

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