Kenneth Glöckler (born 7 September 1984) is a German rapper known as Kay One. He is also known as Prince Kay One.
Life and career
1984–2006: Early life, Royal Bunker and German Dream
Kay One was born in
Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...
as second son to his German father and
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
mother. He grew up in
Ravensburg. He began to rap as a 13-year-old, when he was with his brother and a friend in the woods. They began to freestyle about their experience they had throughout the day.
In 2001, at age 16, he attended the Royal Rumble in
Stuttgart, the biggest rap competition in Germany, and won after several battles. During that time, he and fellow rapper Jaysus had formed the duo Chablife.
At age 17, Kay One and Jaysus signed to underground hip hop label Royal Bunker.
However he left Royal Bunker in 2005 and moved to
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, where contacted
Eko Fresh
Ekrem Bora (born 3 September 1983), better known by his stage name Eko Fresh, is a German rapper of Turkish and Kurdish descent.ALEMEKO FRESH-EK IS BACKRetrieved 5 September 2010 Eko Fresh auf Twitter: "@xRay_RU halber Kurde halber Türke aber e ...
and later signed to his label German Dream Entertainment. Kay One later left German Dream too, due to the failure of his commercial success. Because of financial problems, he moved back to his home town in
Lake Constance. In late December 2006, he met rapper
Bushido and signed in 2007 to
ersguterjunge
ersguterjunge is an independent German hip hop label distributed by Sony BMG. It was founded by rappers D-Bo and Bushido in 2004, after he left the indie label Aggro Berlin. Bushido is the managing director. ''ersguterjunge'' is a reflexion ...
.
2007–2009: ersguterjunge and rise to fame
Kay One gained popularity with guest appearances on his labelmates albums and with free tracks on the internet. His popularity rose due to his close collaborations with
Bushido on the labelsampler ''ersguterjunge Sampler Vol. 3 – Alles Gute kommt von unten'', with the lead single "Alles Gute kommt von unten" (with
Bushido and
Chakuza
Peter Pangerl (born 22 February 1981), better known as Chakuza, is an Austrian rapper.
Career
After finishing an apprenticeship to become chef, he teamed up with DJ Stickle and MC J and formed the hip hop group ''Verbale Systematik''. ...
) reaching the
single charts
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...
in Germany and Austria. He later served as Bushido's back-up during his live performances.
Kay One won the ''
Juice
Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...
'' Awards in the category "Newcomer of 2008", because of his many leaked freetracks on the internet.
2010–2011: ''Kenneth allein zu Haus'' and Berlins Most Wanted
On 7 May 2010 he released his debut album ''
Kenneth allein zu Haus
''Kenneth allein zu Haus'' ("Kenneth Home Alone") is the debut album by German rapper Kay One, released on 30 April 2010 via ersguterjunge. It was also released as a premium edition with three added songs, while the standard edition features 18 s ...
'' with guest appearances such as
Fler
Patrick Losenský (born 3 April 1982), known professionally as Fler, is a German rapper and the CEO of Maskulin Music Group.
Career
2000–2006: Beginnings
Fler was first recognized in the rap scene through collaborations with Bushido. ...
,
Bushido,
Philippe Heithier Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to:
* Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present)
* Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer
* Prince Philippe, Count ...
, his former partner Benny Blanko. The song "Style & das Geld", that featured Bushido was released as promotional single. Lead single "Ich brech die Herzen" reached #67 in Germany .
Kay One joined the group
Berlins Most Wanted
Berlins Most Wanted (shortly BMW) is a Berlin rap group founded by rappers Bushido, Bass Sultan Hengzt, and King Orgasmus One. The date of the foundation is not clearly known, but the artists were represented together under the group's name on s ...
with Bushido and Fler in late 2010. The group already existed in 2001, composed of Bushido, King Orgasmus One and Bass Sultan Hengzt. The two singles "Berlins Most Wanted" and "Weg eines Krieges" were released on 8 October and the group's album ''
Berlins Most Wanted
Berlins Most Wanted (shortly BMW) is a Berlin rap group founded by rappers Bushido, Bass Sultan Hengzt, and King Orgasmus One. The date of the foundation is not clearly known, but the artists were represented together under the group's name on s ...
'' was released on 22 October.
2012–present: ''Prince of Belvedair'', the split-up with ersguterjunge and ''AP''
Kay One announced in early 2012 his album ''
Prince of Belvedair
''Prince of Belvedair'' is the second studio album by German rapper Kay One, known from his work with German rapper Bushido.
The album was released on March 16, 2012, by ersguterjunge as Standard and Premium Edition under Bushido's label ersguter ...
'', which was released in March 2012 by
ersguterjunge
ersguterjunge is an independent German hip hop label distributed by Sony BMG. It was founded by rappers D-Bo and Bushido in 2004, after he left the indie label Aggro Berlin. Bushido is the managing director. ''ersguterjunge'' is a reflexion ...
. The first single "I Need a Girl (Part Three)", featuring American
R&B singer
Mario Winans
Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his 2004 song " I Don't Wanna Know", which reached number 2 in the United States and number 1 in the United Kingdom. Wina ...
, released on 17 February and ranked #29 in the German charts.
On 30 March 2012 Kay One's videos, along with millions of their views, have been removed from
Bushido's YouTube channel. Bushido
tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
recently: "I don't have beef, with anyone". Following that, Kay One reacted via
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
:
The statement ends with the word "exguterjunge".
Bushido tweeted hours later: "Kay is not an exguterjunge for me, my doors are open for him". Kay One's answer via Facebook: "(...) Therefore you banned all my videos, with over 60.000.000 views (...)". Also Shindy, who has been recently signed to ersguterjunge, left the label.
On 10 April Kay One left ersguterjunge via
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
. Five days prior to this, Bushido announced the trademark of the phrase "Kay One" on the
German Patent and Trade Mark Office
The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (german: Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt; abbreviation: DPMA) is the German national patent office, with headquarters in Munich, and offices in Berlin and Jena. In 2006 it employed 2556 people, of which ab ...
.
On 24 November 2012, released a video featuring American rapper
Red Café
Jermaine Alfred Denny[Red cafe Profile](_blank)
Konvict Music. Accessed October 10, 2011. (born September 19, 1 ...
, titled ''Bottles & Models''.
Discography
*''
Kenneth allein zu Haus
''Kenneth allein zu Haus'' ("Kenneth Home Alone") is the debut album by German rapper Kay One, released on 30 April 2010 via ersguterjunge. It was also released as a premium edition with three added songs, while the standard edition features 18 s ...
'' (2010)
*''
Berlins Most Wanted
Berlins Most Wanted (shortly BMW) is a Berlin rap group founded by rappers Bushido, Bass Sultan Hengzt, and King Orgasmus One. The date of the foundation is not clearly known, but the artists were represented together under the group's name on s ...
''
(with Berlins Most Wanted
Berlins Most Wanted (shortly BMW) is a Berlin rap group founded by rappers Bushido, Bass Sultan Hengzt, and King Orgasmus One. The date of the foundation is not clearly known, but the artists were represented together under the group's name on s ...
) (2010)
*''
Prince of Belvedair
''Prince of Belvedair'' is the second studio album by German rapper Kay One, known from his work with German rapper Bushido.
The album was released on March 16, 2012, by ersguterjunge as Standard and Premium Edition under Bushido's label ersguter ...
'' (2012)
*''Rich Kidz''
(as Prince Kay One) (2013)
*''Jung genug um drauf zu scheissen'' (2015)
*''Der Junge von damals'' (2016)
*''Makers Gonna Make'' (2018)
References
External links
Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay One (Rapper)
German rappers
German people of Filipino descent
Living people
1984 births
People from Friedrichshafen
People from Ravensburg