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 (''Kre ...

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 Ravensburg ( Swabian: ''Raveschburg'') is a city in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg. Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and an impo ...

. 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 Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, 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 States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, where contacted Eko Fresh 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 Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

. In late December 2006, he met rapper

Bushido is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. There are multiple bushido types which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. ...

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 on ...

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

on the labelsampler ''ersguterjunge Sampler Vol. 3 – Alles Gute kommt von unten'', with the lead single "Alles Gute kommt von unten" (with

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''. W ...

) 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 rec ...

in Germany and Austria. He later served as Bushido's back-up during his live performances. Kay One won the '' Juice'' 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'' 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. T ...

, Philippe Heithier, 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 ''

'' 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 ersguterju ...

'', which was released in March 2012 by

. The first single "I Need a Girl (Part Three)", featuring American R&B singer Mario Winans, 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

's YouTube channel. Bushido tweeted 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 M ...

: 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

. 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 abo ...

. On 24 November 2012, released a video featuring American rapper Red Café, titled ''Bottles & Models''.

Discography

*'' Kenneth allein zu Haus'' (2010) *''

'' (with

) (2010) *''

'' (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