Samuel William Christopher Watson IV
(born March 7, 1974), better 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 ...
Krizz Kaliko, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and voice actor. He is a longtime collaborator with fellow hometown native
Tech N9ne
Aaron Dontez Yates (born November 8, 1971), better known by his stage name Tech N9ne (pronounced "tech nine"), is an American rapper. In 1999, he and business partner Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. He has sold over two ...
and was signed to
Strange Music from its inception in 1999 up to forming his own label Ear House Inc. in 2021.
Career
Krizz Kaliko began his musical career in the late 1990s when he began working with local producer IcyRoc Kraven. Another local rapper by the name of Tech N9ne was also collaborating with IcyRoc at the time, which led to the two rappers meeting. At the time, Tech N9ne was working on a song titled "Who You Came To See" and Kaliko made a comment that the song could have a better hook. Tech offered up the opportunity to prove his case, and Tech was blown away when Kaliko did. Tech would bring Kaliko into his "inner circle", which would eventually result in Kaliko signing to the new-found label Strange Music co-owned by Tech N9ne and Travis O'Guin.
Since then, Kaliko has often contributed to albums put out by Tech N9ne, be it being featured as a rapper or simply providing background vocals for tracks on the album. Although most of his work is that of his collaborations with Tech N9ne, he has also performed similar tasks for former labelmates
Kutt Calhoun
Melvin Lewis Calhoun Jr. (born January 1, 1977), better known by his stage name Kutt Calhoun, is an American rapper and business executive from Kansas City, Missouri. After getting his start in the late 1990s underground rap scene of Kansas Ci ...
,
Rittz, and fellow labelmates
Skatterman & Snug Brim,
Ces Cru, and
Prozak
Steven T. Shippy, better known by his stage name Prozak, is an American independent rapper and film director from Saginaw, Michigan. He's a member of the group Project:Deadman with Mike E. Clark as well as the group Bedlam with Madness and Stap ...
. Other collaborations include tracks with the
Kottonmouth Kings
The Kottonmouth Kings is an American hip hop group formed in Placentia, California in 1996 by D-Loc and Saint Dog. The group advocates for legalizing cannabis, and their lyrics frequently refer to smoking marijuana. The group plays hip hop, ...
,
Potluck,
E-40
Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, ...
,
T-Pain,
Twiztid,
Andy MineoChris B and
RM from South Korean group BTS .
His debut album, ''Vitiligo'', released on May 6, 2008, charted on several
''Billboard'' charts, including peaking at number 19 on the Top Independent Albums in the week of May 28, 2008. In the same week, he peaked at number 167 on the ''Billboard'' 200.
His second studio album, ''Genius'', was released on July 14, 2009.
A number of his songs can be heard in the background of the strip club scenes in the movie ''Big Fan'' starring Patton Oswalt.
Kaliko chose the title ''Shock Treatment'' for his third studio album. Other titles he considered were ''Son of Sam'' and ''Walk on Water''.
''S.I.C.'', his first EP, was released on May 17, 2011. In June 2011, he was featured on
Winnipeg's Most's second single, "Forgive Me", from their second album, ''GoodFellaz''.
On May 15, 2012, Kaliko released his fourth studio album, titled ''Kickin' and Screamin. It is currently his highest charting album on the
''Billboard'' 200. The album has features from long-time collaborator Tech N9ne, as well as rappers
Twista,
Chamillionaire
Hakeem Temidayo Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire (), is an American rapper. He was the founder and an original member of The Color Changin' Click from 2001 until the group split in 2005. He began his ...
,
T-Pain,
Twiztid and Rittz, while the production is almost entirely handled by
Seven.
In November, Kaliko released his second EP, ''
Neh'mind''. The song "Damage" featuring
Snow Tha Product
Claudia Alexandra Madriz Meza (born June 24, 1987) known professionally as Snow Tha Product, is an American rapper, singer, actress, youtuber, and podcaster. She was signed to Atlantic Records from 2012 until November 2018. Since then, she has ...
was made the lead single. A video for "Damage" was shot and released on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
on December 14, and received over 100,000 views in two weeks.
On August 27, 2013, Kaliko released his fifth album, ''Son of Sam''. It features guest appearances from Tech N9ne, CES Cru, Kortney Leveringston, IcyRoc Kravyn, and his wife Crystal Watson. The album debuted at number 56 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 8,000 copies in the United States.
On April 8, 2016, Kaliko released his sixth studio album, ''
GO''. Unlike his previous albums, which were predominantly hip-hop, ''GO'' is his first R&B/pop album. The album features labelmates Tech N9ne, Stevie Stone, Rittz, CES Cru, Wrekonize and JL B.Hood. It went on to chart as the number 4 Rap album on ''Billboard'' and number 28 in the Top 200.
On October 6, 2019, Kaliko announced his intention to leave Strange Music on social media. On October 20, 2019, however, he appeared to have a change of heart, signing a new contract with Strange Music on stage.
On September 18, 2020, Kaliko returned with his seventh album, ''Legend'', his first project in four years.
On May 15, 2021, it was announced during Kaliko's virtual concert event "The Reveal" that he had officially left Strange Music to form his own label Ear House Inc. with his wife Crystal.
Kaliko voiced
Dinobot in the third chapter of ''
Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy'', released on July 29, 2021, as well as Leroy Smith in the English dub of ''
Tekken: Bloodline'', which released on August 18, 2022.
Personal life
Kaliko is afflicted with an autoimmune form of
vitiligo, a skin condition characterized by smooth, white patches on various parts of the body, caused by the loss of natural pigment.
Several of these patches are clearly visible on his face. He used the name of the disease as the title for his
debut album.
Kaliko has also been diagnosed with
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevat ...
.
He named a track on his second album after the disorder.
Filmography
Discography
* ''
Vitiligo'' (2008)
* ''
Genius'' (2009)
* ''
Shock Treatment'' (2010)
* ''
Kickin' and Screamin''' (2012)
* ''
Son of Sam'' (2013)
* ''
GO'' (2016)
* ''Legend'' (2020)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaliko, Krizz
1974 births
African-American male rappers
American hip hop singers
American male voice actors
Horrorcore artists
Living people
People with bipolar disorder
People with vitiligo
Rappers from Kansas City, Missouri
Underground rappers
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American musicians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American rappers