Kygo talks success and criticism from Norwegian media

Catching breakfast away from your own home can be considered something of a luxury, but what if that breakfast was with Kygo? In a midtown hotel, the melodic mastermind sat down with ‘The Paper’s Beatrice Hazlehurst, opening up about a variety of subjects in an in-depth interview.

At the age of 25, Kygo rose to stardom through his own determination which cast his identity into the limelight of the electronic music scene. Watching YouTube tutorials and teaching himself to produce music, he subsequently pioneered the electronic music sub-genre ‘Tropical House’, which lead to multiple remixes, co-signs, and working with some of the biggest artists in the world, including John Legend and Selena Gomez.

From star-struck meetings with Avicii, to having his tracks requested by Diplo for his radio show, Kygo has undoubtedly had plenty of exciting moments on his rise to fame. He describes The Weekend as “incredible”, having remixed several of his tracks.

“I’ve been talking a lot to Abel, sorry, The Weeknd. That’s kind of my dream collaboration, so hopefully… He’s amazing. His old songs, like Trilogy, would have been huge radio smashes today, if more people had known about him.”

Kygo’s career blossomed faster than any self-promotion and stunting could spur. In the early stages of his career, he would consistently play smaller stages which would become overcrowded after far too many people turned up.

“The first big kind of arena or show I did we booked this huge venue in Norway, and me, as a Scandinavian, I was nervous we wouldn’t fill it, whereas Miles [his manager] was like, ‘No you’re playing this venue.’ That was really nerve-wracking, I didn’t want to f*** up in my own country. It sold out.”

Fast forward to date, and Kygo is no stranger to larger crowds and the biggest of stages. However, with success comes critics, in particular, the Norwegian newspapers.

“I get the worst reviews ever from Norwegian newspapers. I remember when I released my first original song and it got like three out of six. Because it was ‘boring’ and this and that. It actually hurt.”

Of course, the song Kygo is referring to is ‘Firestone‘ and we all know how successful that was. However, Kygo has elevated his career above and beyond, with a residency in Ibiza, millions of fans across the globe, his music nearing a billion streams on music platforms, and an upcoming documentary, both him and his fans needn’t care about the reviews.

Check out the full Interview with Kygo here and watch the trailer for his new documentary ‘Kygo: Stole The Show’ below.