Dongheon Lee (이동헌; born December 25, 1993), known professionally as Keith Ape () and previously known as Kid Ash, is a South Korean rapper from

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. He is a member of a crew called 'The Cohort'. Ape's breakout single "잊지마" ("It G Ma") was released on January 1, 2015, and was ranked by ''Billboard'' K-Town at number five on their list of the Best K-Pop Songs of 2015.

Musical style and reception

Keith Ape has been called the "Korean

OG Maco Benedict Chiajulam Ihesiba Jr. (born April 23, 1992), better known by his stage name OG Maco, is an American rapper from College Park, Georgia. He is perhaps best known for his 2014 debut single "U Guessed It" which peaked at number 90 on the US ...

" and noted for an exciting concert performance at 2015's

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

showcase, among other performances which included

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...

Desiigner Sidney Royel Selby III (born May 3, 1997), better known by his stage name Desiigner, is an American rapper and singer. In December 2015, his debut single "Panda" reached number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2019, he was released fr ...

Waka Flocka Flame Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. Signing to 1017 Brick Squad and Warner Bros. Records in 2009, he became a mainstream artist with the release of his singles "O Let's ...

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, and more. His concert at

SOB's SOB's is a live world music venue and restaurant in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan. S.O.B.’s is an abbreviation of Sounds of Brazil. Larry Gold started SOBs in June 1982, and he currently still owns the space. Gold opened the ven ...

in 2015 was listed as one of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' top 40 picks, "unrestrained mayhem", and "a clear inheritor of

Southern rap Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memphi ...

rowdiness".

Controversy

On February 4, 2015, he was accused by American rapper

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...

. OG Maco claimed Keith Ape and friends had mocked him by using black stereotypes to sell music in their video of "It G Ma". He also claimed that they had

plagiarized Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

the basis for their track from his debut single "

U Guessed It "U Guessed It" is the debut single by American Hip hop music, hip hop recording artist OG Maco. The song was released on September 25, 2014 by Quality Control Music and was written by OG Maco and Hip hop production, produced by Brandon Thomas. Th ...

". As of August 13, 2015, OG Maco collects royalties from "It G Ma", and has since deleted his tweets regarding his accusations of cultural appropriation. Nonetheless, he declined an invitation by Keith Ape to be part of a later remix rendition of "It G Ma".

Discography

Extended plays

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ape, Keith South Korean male rappers 1993 births Living people Musicians from Seoul Rappers from Seoul