Miss Ko is a Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter and rapper signed to

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. Ko has released three studio albums and is the winner of Best New Artist of 24th

Golden Melody Award The Golden Melody Awards (), commonly abbreviated as GMA, is an honor awarded by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, and Formosan-languages popular and traditional music in ...

in Taiwan, the first rapper/hip-hop artist to win the award.

Life and career

Christine Ko was raised in Queens, New York. She graduated from

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of th ...

and attended

Five Towns College Five Towns College is a private college in Dix Hills, New York. The college's degree programs focus on music, media, and the performing arts. History Founded in 1972, Five Towns College holds an Absolute Charter issued by the New York State B ...

. Ko released her first album in 2009, while based in New York. She studied Mandarin at

National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU; ), or ''Shīdà'' is an institution of higher education and normal school operating out of three campuses in Taipei, Taiwan. NTNU is the leading research institute in such disciplines as Education and Lin ...

, and during that time participated in a rap competition, which brought her to the attention of an executive at the music label KAO!INC. She left a master's program at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

to pursue her music career in Taiwan. In 2010, Miss Ko was regarded as a "newcomer to the scene," and Meredith Schweig observed that there were no other professional women rappers in Taiwan at the time.

2012–2015: ''Knock Out'' and ''XXXIII''

Ko released her debut album ''Knock Out'' on August 15, 2012. ''Knock Out'' peaked No. 1 on local music charts and won Ko Best New Artist at the 24th Annual Golden Melody Awards, in addition to "Most Outstanding Asian-American Youth Overseas" that same year. On December 31, 2014, Ko released her second album ''XXXIII'' (33), which featured various artists such as Crowd Lu, Billie, and Amber An.

2016–present: ''Queen of Queens''

In 2016, Ko signed with

. On December 22, 2016, Ko released her third album ''Queen of Queens.'' The album reached No. 1 on

i-Tunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and Spotify. Ko was nominated for Best Female Artist at the 28th Annual Golden Melody Awards. On March 27, 2018, Ko was announced as the spokesperson for McDonald's.

Discography

;Albums * Knock Out (August 15, 2012) * XXXIII (December 31, 2014) * Queen of Queens (December 22, 2016) ;Collaborations * "Walk This Way" by adidas unite all originals also feat.

MC Hot Dog MCHotDog (; born April 10, 1978) is a Taiwanese rap artist known for his use of explicit lyrics in his songs. In 2001, his four mini-CDs sold over 220,000 copies. In 2004, he toured with Chang Chen-yue in the North American Kill Kitty tour. I ...

and (2013) * "Melting Gold" by Soft Lipa also feat.

Show Lo Show Lo Chih Hsiang (; born July 30, 1979) is a Taiwanese singer, actor and host. He is commonly known by his nickname Hsiao Chu (Little Pig) (). Lo is recognized for his trademark dance music and comedic talent. He has over 50 million followe ...

(2013) * "疯起来/Feng Qi Lai" by

Sun Sheng Xi Sun Sheng Xi (; born 13 November 1990), also known as Shi Shi (), is a Taiwanese-South Korean singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2019, Sun won the Golden Melody Award for Best Mandarin Album for her fourth studio album, ''Shi's Journ ...

(2014) * "愛不來/No Love" by Khalil Fong (2014) * "跳進來/Jump In" by A-mei 張惠妹 (2014) * "Extrication" by (2016)

Other ventures

On August 14, 2015, Ko performed and threw the ceremonial first pitch for her hometown team, the Mets, at Citi Field.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:MISS KO 1985 births Living people 21st-century American singers Feminist musicians Brooklyn Technical High School alumni Sex-positive feminists New York University alumni American musicians of Taiwanese descent American women musicians of Chinese descent American feminists Musicians from Queens, New York American emigrants to Taiwan Taiwanese feminists American women rappers 21st-century women rappers Taiwanese rappers 21st-century American women singers Rappers from New York City American women singer-songwriters Taiwanese singer-songwriters Universal Music Group artists National Taiwan Normal University alumni Singer-songwriters from New York (state)