Xola Malik (formerly Stephen Spence) (born 1971), best known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Kid Sensation, is an American

rapper 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 ...

. Born and raised in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Spence made his debut as a guest rapper featured on

Sir Mix-A-Lot Anthony L. Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 1992 hit song "Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' ...

's album ''

Swass ''Swass'' is the debut album by Sir Mix-a-Lot. It was released in 1988 on Nastymix and re-released on CD by Def American Recordings. The album featured the singles "Posse on Broadway", "Square Dance Rap", "Iron Man" (a rap metal version of the Bl ...

'', where he appeared on the track "Rippn'". Spence has sold over one million units during his hip hop career, and has hosted hip-hop based shows such as ''

Yo! MTV Raps ''Yo! MTV Raps'' is an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-90s and on MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program (created by Ted Demme and Peter Dough ...

'' and

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's ''

Rap City ''Rap City'' is a music video television program block that originally aired on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network from August 11, 1989, to November 8, 2008. The program was an exclusive showcase for hip hop music videos, and featu ...

''.

Biography

Kid Sensation

Spence released his debut album, ''Rollin' With Number One'', on July 2, 1990 on the Nastymix record label. Several videos were released from the album. "Prisoner of Ignorance", which goes into detail about a young man's life of crime, shows Spence rapping from an electric chair and a jail cell. Spence also released the song "Seatown Ballers" and "Skin 2 Skin" as singles from this CD. Two years later, Spence released his follow up album ''The Power of Rhyme'', also on Nastymix Records. A single, "The Weekend", was the only single officially released from the record. Then-

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

outfielder,

Ken Griffey Jr. George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Marin ...

, performed on the track, "The Way I Swing." In 1995, Spence left Nastymix Records and record his third album, ''Seatown Funk'' on Ichiban International. The title track was the only single released from the CD.

Xola Malik

Spence retired his Kid Sensation moniker in the mid 1990s, and was later known as Xola. He went into music production, where he produced music for

Jackie Jackson Sigmund Esco "Jackie" Jackson (born May 4, 1951) is an American singer best known as a founding member of the Jackson 5, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Jackson is the second child of the Jackson family, a ...

of the

Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

, former

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

running back Shawn Alexander's local FSN show, and for the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks.
He formed Xola Music, where he recorded ads and jingles for various professional sports teams (

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

) along with some voice-over work. He recorded a track for Ken Griffey Jr. called "Back Home" in 2009. Xola also began acting in various commercials, and made his big screen debut in the movie, ''

Safety Not Guaranteed ''Safety Not Guaranteed'' is a 2012 American science fiction romantic comedy film directed by Colin Trevorrow and starring Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass. The picture was screened at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Scr ...

''. Malik currently lives in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. He has re-recorded and re-released his previous Kid Sensation albums without profanity. His latest CDs are ''Songs for Change'' (2010), ''Seasons'' (2012) and ''Looking Up'' (2016); the latter containing a collaboration track with

Sir Mix A Lot Anthony L. Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 1992 hit song "Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' ...

, titled "Love and Loyalty".

Discography

Albums

Singles

* 1987 - "Square Dance Rap" / "Ripp'n" (7", Promo) * 1989 - "Back 2 Boom" / "I S.P.I.T." * 1989 - "Breakdown" / "Seatown Ballers" (12", Promo) * 1990 - "Prisoner of Ignorance" (12", Promo) * 1990 - "Seatown Ballers" (12") * 1990 - "Skin 2 Skin" (12", Promo) * 1991 - "Ride The Rhythm" (Single) * 1992 - "The Weekend" (Single) (2 versions) * 1995 - "Seatown Funk" / "Gotta Lotta Love" (12") * 1995 - "What Comes Around Goes Around" (12", Promo)

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kid Sensation African-American rappers American beatboxers Living people Year of birth uncertain Date of birth missing (living people) Rappers from Seattle 21st-century American rappers 21st-century African-American musicians Year of birth missing (living people)