Mr. Kinetik with Rusty Redenbacher and The Movement

Hip-hop artist Marc Williams has been creating music under the name Mr. Kinetik for over a decade. Williams recently recorded a live set for Small Studio Sessions, and he brought along an all-star group of musicians - including the legendary Indianapolis vocalist and emcee Rusty Redenbacher. WFYI’s Kyle Long spoke with the duo after their performance.

WFYI's Kyle Long - Mr. Kinetik, you have a lot of roles in the community here in Indianapolis, and I wanted to ask you about a couple of those. Some of our listeners and viewers will recognize you from your work with Butler University. You're the MC and DJ for all the men's basketball games at Butler University at the Hinkle Fieldhouse, tell us about your work with Butler.

Mr. Kinetik - It's a dream come true. I asked if I could do that in 2009 and still get to do it. It's a wonderful way to just be a part of my alma mater and still get to see basketball games at Hinkle. So yes, it's been wonderful. It's lovely. Every time I get to step into Hinkle and do that it's, you know, this is awesome, every time.

Long - You also are an educator here in Central Indiana, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you're currently an assistant principal at a school here in Central Indiana.

Mr. Kinetik - Yeah, I always say that I was a musician before I was an educator. But now it connects in a way that I think is a way to show students that just because you have a "day job" or whatever, you still get to pursue your passions outside of that, and you get to be connected to them. And so, that's just that's kind of how it always works out with my kids. They ask about it. And that's usually what I tell them. Right here.

Long - You're very prolific as an artist. You're a beatmaker, MC, DJ, you're constantly putting out new projects. I know you've made over a dozen albums, do you have an official count of how many projects you've put out?

Mr. Kinetik - If you count from the time I started making music, and releasing music - is somewhere around 40. So, it's much longer than I thought, yeah, I'm like, that's insane. 

Long - Congratulations. That's incredible. One of my favorite projects that you've released, and I think one of the most significant in your catalogue of recordings is a 2011 record you put out called "The Professor and The Hustler," featuring Rusty Redenbacher. And you have a history even prior to the release of this album. Tell me about your connection with Rusty, and kind of what keeps you two working together so closely.

Mr. Kinetik - So I met Rusty through my roommate at the time. We recorded a first record at the time, and you know, it's been almost 14 years later. I'm still, still down with each other. It's my brother.

Long - Rusty. Tell me about your connection with Mr. Kinetik, what kind of brings you two together artistically?

Rusty Redenbacher - His soul is real, he's probably like the most genuine dude I know. He's got a quest and a thirst for knowledge to know stuff and to do things better every chance he gets and it's just been that way ever since we met. I just love being around him, so working together is a no brainer given to me.