LYNN — The artistic collective Keep Moving Forward (KMF) Lynn has spent the past year building its team of 10 to collaborate on creating music that expresses themselves and highlights the talent in the city.
Everyone in this collective — which was created last year — is related to Lynn, whether they grew up or moved there, and have always had a passion for creating music.
The collective members consist of Jay Moon, Wst. Taylor, KMF Tre, KMF E, Quan, Tea, Chew, Tyler Lovett, Limitless, Kashi2x, and graphic designer Jordan Todd.
The name came from Tre’s cousin, who told Tre to keep moving forward when he was going through a tough time, which Tre said really resonated with him and encouraged him to start creating music again.
When creating the collective, members of the group realized they were in the same boat, creating their own music and trying to branch out of the North Shore. After discovering their matching personalities and shared love for music, they decided to work together and create KMF.
“We started meeting new members of KMF and everyone worked out, like pieces of the puzzle fitting together,” Tre said.
Through KMF, the collective is hoping to work with other Lynn artists to help them progress in the music industry, while sharing insights on what they’ve learned and how to grow as an artist.
“We all know each other and we’ve all been doing this (music) individually, but we all bring something different to the table,” Limitless said.
Although they are all primarily solo artists, they do work together in the studio and recently released their first collective project in the form of Keep Moving Forward.
They’ve also visited New York City together to work in Quad Recording Studio — where Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Busta Rhymes, Lil Baby and more have gone — and shot a music video in Los Angeles.
“We all got together and made that happen and that made us believe in ourselves more,” Moon said. “Even the guys there that work with the stars on the daily tell us that we got something, while we’re all from Lynn looking at Times Square from the recording studio. It was unreal.”
Having this experience impacted the coalition’s perspective on their future in music, making them feel appreciative of the opportunity and that they can keep pushing to achieve more.
“Everyone was just so taken back and grateful for the experience as a whole,” Lovett said. “The only reason we’re making these things happen is because we came together as a group and got behind one another to keep this going.”
The collective has returned to Quad multiple times, making it feel like a second home, and brought back what they learned there to share with artists in Lynn and throughout the North Shore.
KMF has its own recording studio in Salem, where they work with other local artists not in the collective to help them produce their own music.
KMF is actively looking for a location to open a studio in Lynn, with the goal of building its record-label headquarters there, so that the KMF members can continue to work with and sign Lynn artists and bring them to Quad and other big-time recording studios.
“I want to build that music hub for not just hip hop, but all genres,” Moon said. “The main thing I wanted to do was help build the city up.”
Having the opportunity to go to their studio and see people from Lynn who are passionate and talented is something the collective said they hope will encourage other local artists to pursue their dreams.
Music to the members of the collective has always been a way for them to express themselves, while being able to use their lyrics to speak for those who can’t.
One of their shared goals of creating music is to reach out and connect with those who are going through similar situations or need a voice.
“KMF is working with everybody and we look at the whole city as KMF, because it’s a Lynn thing more than anything,” Moon said. “Keep Moving Forward Lynn doesn’t just have to stand for music, but can stand for the city life, the direction the city wants to go in … and we just know that we’re going to always be accepting of everyone from Lynn that has a talent and that driving force.”
KMF has hosted some live events at the homes of some of the members during their Backyard Boogies and are looking for venues to schedule future performances at. The collective can be found on Instagram at kmflynnmusic and online at kmfsound.com.
