Myles Parrish - Rhythm, Family and Personal Life

Back in 2010, Myles started out the way most of his peers did – by vlogging on YouTube. His early works were mostly fragments of original songs and sketches, but slowly and steadily, he started building a fan base.

The turning point came in 2011, when Myles chanced across Kalin White – an old acquaintance - at the premiere of Justin Bieber’s ‘Never Say Never.' The two had met earlier at a party at Myles’ house, and the meeting at the premiere gave them enough time to catch up. This is where the idea of a potential collaboration took shape. Soon, the two were meeting up at Myles’ house for jam sessions. While the lyrics were co-written, Kalin was the singer, and Myles made the beats and eased into his role as the rapper.

In April 2011, two months after their fateful meeting at the premiere, the duo released on YouTube their first single, ‘More Than Friends,’ and the catchy tune became an overnight hit. The warm reception convinced them to put their individual careers on hold and focus on the partnership. It was a gamble which paid off almost immediately, as their next major hit, ‘Summertime Love,’ came on the heels of their maiden hit.

"I was just like…making beats in my room and I just had a microphone from Guitar Center that I got and he came over and we put out a song like that weekend and got a cool response and just thought, ‘Yo, we should keep making more music,’" reminisces Myles about the early days of their collaboration.

The thing about millennial artists is that they don’t have to wait around, hoping to be discovered. Avenues to showcase your talent are at your disposal, and if you’re any good, fame and applause comes knocking at your door. It was no different with Myles Parrish and Kalin White. Within a few months, the two were staging concerts all around, attracting a fan base which came to be known as ‘KAMFAM’. Not surprisingly, the recording labels got interested.

In 2013, the duo released their first EP, 'Chasing Dreams' and followed it up with ‘K&M University.' The career high came in 2014, when ‘Republic Records’ signed them. Two more extended plays – Chase Dreams and Dedication – were released in the same year, with the former entering the Rap Albums Chart at No. 6. As a follow-up to their EP, the duo went on a headlining tour, which was well-received. With the release of their debut album and a ‘Next Big Thing’ nomination at the ‘Teen Choice Awards’ in 2015, the duo seemed to be hitting all the right notes, until the unexpected happened.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Fans all over the world received the shock of their lives when Kalvin and Myles issued a joint statement on March 30, 2016, announcing their decision to separate. The news was received with disbelief and dismay, with the KAMFAM pleading for a reunion. So, what went wrong between the two?

In hindsight, perhaps there were cracks in the wall to begin with. In a 2014 interview, the two were asked about their friendship offstage, and the ambiguous answer went like this: “We kind of have really different personalities. Kalin is really super-social, so he’ll be at a lot of parties whenever we’re in L.A. But I’m more laid-back, I just like to chill and make beats. So a lot of times, we just do our own thing because we’re actually pretty different.”

Perhaps music was the binding force between these two, whose personalities and tastes were poles apart. Differences might have eventually crept up and got the better of the two. The official release on the now-defunct website said, “After a lot of thought, we've decided to take a break from making music together to focus on individual aspirations.” It’s a statement that answers very little and raises a lot of questions.

A few months after the separation, Myles released a solo titled “Don’t feel the same," which was more an introspection of what went wrong between the two than a song. Whatever drove a wedge between the two friends and long-time associates, one can only hope that they’d resolve it and get back together – for the sake of hip-hop aficionados and all of KAMFAM around the world. Or perhaps this is for the better. Only time will tell. For now, let’s hope Myles Parrish keeps doing what he does best – making music!