The Break Presents: Kash Doll

When a boss walks into the room, it's felt. When it comes to rapper Kash Doll, there's no other word to describe her. The Detroit native doesn't mince her words and her brash music is starting to make waves beyond the Midwest. The former strip club dancer—who once made over $26,000 in one night—got her first big look when she remixed Tinashe's hit single "2 On." She got the internet's attention when she released the video for "Run Me My Money" and dropped her mixtape, Keisha vs Kash Doll, in 2015. The following year, she opened for Drake for the Detroit stop on his Summer Sixteen tour.

Things started to pick up for Kash Doll from there. She struck gold this past March when she released "For Everybody," a record that finds Kash rapping from both the side chick and the wife's perspectives.

"I really creatively did the entire thought process [behind 'For Everybody'] myself," she tells XXL. "I came up with the hook first and I just did something different. I didn’t even think people were going to like it. So how I made it a phone conversation was because of how I was rapping the first verse. After I did that I thought, I’m going to do both chicks. I’ve been both chicks to be honest, I witnessed both sides. I know women could relate to the things I rap."

"So I put the wife perspective because you have to understand where a wife is coming from. So when I did it, I really like the wife part; I don’t know why. And I always wanted to do a scene from Belly since my name is Keisha. I shot it in my house and I didn’t think it was going to do what it did, though."

Now with momentum behind her, Kash Doll is looking to become a household name. "Once I finish court and free my mind, I’m going to drop music, tours, concerts, for the most part that’s what I want to do," Kash explains. "My perfect 2017, I want to be a millionaire. If I can win an award and be well established in the industry, that would be a fresh start in 2018."

Learn more about Kash Doll in XXL's The Break.

Hometown: Detroit 

I grew up listening to: “I grew up listening to Aaliyah, she’s my favorite of all time. Aaliyah, Fabolous, Mary J. Blige, DMX, Jennifer Lopez, Rick Ross, Drake when I was in my older teens, Da Brat, Tyrese, that’s who I grew up listening to. In sixth grade, I made a rap. It was called 'The Sixth Grade Cadillac Rap.' That was my first time I wrote a song and everybody always wanted me to rap it. Rapping was something I always wanted to do."

"I just never thought I could be Kash Doll. I just thought it was something I want to do and just thought it will be something I just wanted to do; it ain’t something that I’m going to do. I never thought it would be who I am today. I was dreaming. I just wasn’t confident with myself back then. I thought it was impossible. I didn’t think celebrities were real."

"When I dropped a freestyle to a rap on Instagram three years ago and then someone paid for a feature and I did a video and I ended up opening up for Chief Keef. So I was like they paid me $2,500 for a feature, I’m opening for Chief Keef, he knows me and asked to take a picture with me, I could be a fucking rapper. And it was on and poppin’ then. After that I took me a long time to write but I ended up liking Tinashe’s '2 On' so I did my own version. When I did it, I put it out with a video and it got like 200,000 views in almost a hour. It was all over social media and the local radio station called and said they put it on rotation. I didn’t know how big that was until now when I learned what regular rotation is. I was like in the top eight at eight local. I started to get booked to come perform and people knew my song. It just blew my mind."

My style’s been compared to: “My name is compared to every female rapper. I hear Nicki Minaj, I hear Trina, I hear Lil' Kim. I don’t have one sound. I’m real versatile because I can sing. I just think my sound is overall… people just gravitate to what sound they like the most from me and what they can relate to."

Most people don’t know: “I’m a little sensitive and I’m a sweetheart; people think I’m ruthless because of my music. And I’m humble and very God fearing. My favorite actor is Will Ferrell, he’s funny as hell."

My standout records or moment to date have been: “My biggest moment is I have to say opening up for Drake. He DM’d me and asked me to open up for him when he came to my city for his tour. It was at the Joe Lewis Arena before they closed it down and I was a part of it."

"My biggest song so far is 'For Everybody.' I’m over 2 million views and counting and that’s without any real promotion behind it. It was all organic and social media went crazy. It did it’s own thing for itself."

My goal in hip-hop is: “I want to be an icon. I want to be a female rapper Beyoncé. I like entertainment. I want people to see me at award shows; I want them to get excited when they see me perform. I used to do choreography when I was in high school. I won trophy and belts for dance. I just really want my impact to be felt and be known as the girl that's from the hood but she’s this megastar that makes all types of music that women can just put on when they feel some type of way. Whether you’re in love, your man cheated on you, you got married, however, I want people to know that Kash Doll got a song for you to listen to and you’re going to ride out."

I’m going to be the next: "Beyoncé, because I love Beyoncé [laughs]. I want to be the next icon. That’s me, Kash Doll."

Follow Kash Doll on Twitter and Instagram.

Standouts: "For Everybody"

"Run Me My Money"

Keisha vs Kash Doll

"2 On (Remix)"

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