Maryland Native & Meghan Trainor Producer Kevin Kadish on Baltimore: Violence Is ‘Never the Answer’
Producer-songwriter Kevin Kadish — who worked on hits like Meghan Trainor‘s “All About That Bass” and grew up 30 minutes outside Baltimore — has weighed in on the riots that erupted Monday following days of peaceful protests over the mysterious death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.
“Baltimore is no different than any other American city,” he told Billboard senior editor Frank DiGiacomo. “Unfortunately, what happened to Freddie Gray is not an anomaly. It happens all over the country. The difference is the way that the citizens of the community react to the tragedy.”
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But after acknowledging the initial tragedy, he turned to the big picture and opined that violence is not the long-term solution for the city:
“The thing that the rioters in Baltimore don’t seem to understand is that they are burning their OWN neighborhoods and in turn only hurting themselves,” Kadish said. “In the long term, this serves no purpose. It is juvenile and reactionary. All it will do is lead to their arrests and cost the city, not only its dignity, but taxpayer dollars and tourism revenue, which will in turn make the situation worse.
“Ray Lewis had it right when he said ‘violence is not the answer.’ It’s never the answer. My family is praying for Freddie Gray’s family, Baltimore and everyone affected by this horrible tragedy.”
The Owings Mills, Md., native was a frequent collaborator on Trainor’s debut album, Title. He worked on 11 of its 14 tracks, including the singles “All About That Bass” and “Lips Are Movin’.” He has also received composer credit for working with artists like Miley Cyrus, Jason Mraz and O.A.R.
–Additional reporting by Frank DiGiacomo
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