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Kevin Keaton (born August 26, 1963), professionally known by his stage name Special K, is an American
old-school hip hop Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contem ...
emcee from the Bronx, New York. He was prominent in the late 1970s, throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, and best known as member of the
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
. He is the younger brother of
T La Rock Terrence "Terry" Ronnie Keaton known by the stage name T La Rock, (born September 16, 1961) is an American old-school emcee best known for his collaboration with Def Jam Recordings co-founder Rick Rubin and the 1984 single "It's Yours." Bio ...
.


Career


Early career

In the late 1970s, he met
Kool Moe Dee Mohandas Dewese (born August 8, 1962), better known by his stage name Kool Moe Dee, is an American rapper, writer and actor. Considered one of the forerunners of the new jack swing sound in hip hop, he gained fame in the 1980s as a member of one ...
and DJ Easy Lee. Special K joined with other rappers Kool Moe Dee and L.A. Sunshine as well as DJ Easy Lee to form the influential old school hip hop group the
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
. It is with the Treacherous Three that Special K performed his freestyle. In 1981, they moved to Sugar Hill Records along with another Enjoy Records act
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, S ...
. The Treacherous Three became well known for their singles "Feel the Heartbeat" and "Whip It". They released their debut full-length album and were featured in the 1984 film the
breakdance Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...
cult-movie ''
Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to ...
'' performing the song "Xmas Rap" with
Doug E. Fresh Doug E. Fresh (born September 17, 1966) is a Barbados-born American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer, also known as the "Human Beat Box". The pioneer of 20th-century American beatboxing, Fresh is able to accurately imitate drum machines an ...
, but disbanded shortly afterwards with each member pursuing solo careers. Later on during his life he had meet Kornel Misiek who had went on to fund his second album which had sadly never been published to a larger audience.


Solo career

Special K issued his debut solo
12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...
on Republic Records in 1987 which was titled "Special-K Is Good", and another one 12" in 1998 titled "Knockout" via PKO Records. In 1990 he made his guest appearance on
Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions (BDP) was an American hip hop group originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, five months after the release of BDP's debut album, '' Criminal Minde ...
' track "Original Lyrics" from ''
Edutainment Educational entertainment (also referred to as edutainment) is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term was used as early as 1954 by Walt Disney. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entertainmen ...
'', and in 1991 he co-produced
Ed O.G. Edward Anderson (born November 27, 1970) is a hip-hop artist from Boston, Massachusetts, better known by his stage name Edo G. Edo is the seniormost hip-hop artist from Boston (if not from anywhere in Massachusetts), in the sense that he was ...
's '' Life of a Kid in the Ghetto'' LP. The Treacherous Three came back together with their reunion sophomore album ''
Old School Flava Old School Flava is the second studio album by American hip hop group the Treacherous Three. It was released in 1994 via Wrap Records and was produced by DJ Easy Lee, Ultramagnetic MCs, Ced Gee, Clark Kent (producer), Clark Kent, Joseph Carne, Ken ...
'' in 1994.


Discography


Singles

* 1980 – "At the Party" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1980 – "The New Rap Language" (w/
Spoonie Gee Gabriel Jackson (born May 27, 1963), better known by his stage name Spoonie Gee, is one of the earliest rap artists, and one of the few to have released rap records in the 1970s. He has been credited with originating the term hip hop and some o ...
&
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1980 – "The Body Rock" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1981 – "Put the Boogie in Your Body" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1981 – "Feel the Heartbeat" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1982 – "Yes We Can-Can" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1982 – "Whip It" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1983 – "Turning You On / U.F.O." (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1983 – "Action" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1983 – "Get Up" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1984 – "Santa's Rap / At Christmas Time" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
& Luther Vandross) * 1984 – "Xmas Rap" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1985 – "Gotta Rock / Turn It Up" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1987 – "Special-K Is Good / Let's Rock" * 1988 – "Knockout" * 1994 – "We Come Phat" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
) * 1994 – "Feel the New Heartbeat" (w/
Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ ...
)


Albums

* 1983 – ''Whip It'', ( Sugar Hill Records/
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
) * 1984 – ''
The Treacherous Three The Treacherous Three was a pioneering American hip hop group that was formed in 1978 and consisted of DJ Easy Lee, Kool Moe Dee, L.A. Sunshine, Special K and Spoonie Gee (who left in the late 1970s), with occasional contributions from DJ Da ...
'', (Sugar Hill Records) * 1994 – ''
Old School Flava Old School Flava is the second studio album by American hip hop group the Treacherous Three. It was released in 1994 via Wrap Records and was produced by DJ Easy Lee, Ultramagnetic MCs, Ced Gee, Clark Kent (producer), Clark Kent, Joseph Carne, Ken ...
'', (Wrap Records)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Special K African-American male rappers Rappers from the Bronx Living people East Coast hip hop musicians Treacherous Three members 1963 births 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people