Trocon Markous Robert Jr. (born November 20, 1989), better known by his stage name FKi 1st, $1T or 1st Down, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. He first became known as one half of the Atlanta-based production duo FKi with fellow producer SauceLordRich (or Daye Rich), which was formed in 2007. The duo produced for music industry artists in

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

during the 2010s, resulting in credits on ''Billboard'' Hot 100-charting singles such as " Dope" by

Tyga Micheal Ray StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson

, " Watch Out" by

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...

, " Make It Rain", " Bring It Back" and " Ayy Ladies" by Travis Porter, as well as the

quadruple platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

-certified single "

Weekend The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...

" by

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...

. In his solo work, Robert has co-produced the singles "

Work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an ani ...

" for

Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea ( ), is an Australian rapper. Born in Sydney, Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 in order to pursue a career in music. She earned public recognition ...

in 2013, " White Iverson" for

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His music blends various genres including hip-hop, Pop music, pop, Contemporary R&B, R&B, Tra ...

in 2015, co-wrote " Deja Vu" for the artist the following year, and " Pick It Up" for Famous Dex in 2017.

Early career

Prior to his musical career, Roberts was a cashier for

Sam's Club Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is a chain of membership-only warehouse club retail stores in the United States owned by Walmart. It was founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam's Wholesale Club. , Sam's ...

Career

Beginnings

Roberts embarked on his music career in the production and songwriting team FKi with Sauce Lord Rich. The duo grew up together in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. When they first met, they realized they had the same music interests and tastes and started to build their own production company. The duo studied audio engineering at

Full Sail University Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center f ...

."FKi, Music, Atlanta." FKi, Music, Atlanta. Web. 20 July 2015. FKi subsequently began working with Collipark Music, where they were introduced to Travis Porter and produced the singles "Make it Rain" and "Bring it Back", inside a basement with a microphone and an Mbox. In 2009, FKi shared studio space with Jon Jon Traxx,

(then known by her birth name, Amethyst Kelly), and Natalie Sims. In 2011, Roberts met American EDM producer

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

at a small local club in Atlanta, who introduced him to

. They flew out to Los Angeles to

Mad Decent Mad Decent is an American record label founded by Diplo. The label has helped introduce Brazilian baile funk and Angolan kuduro to clubs around the world. In the early 2010s, it popularized moombahton, a genre of electronic dance music create ...

studios and to produce Azalea's '' TrapGold'' (2012) mixtape, which Robert also executive produced. He opened for her TrapGold European tour.

2014–2015

In 2014, Roberts met

and contributed to his breakout single " White Iverson". It was released on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

and received one million plays within three weeks. Hisborger noteworthy productions include "Watch Out" and "A Milli Billi Trilli" for

, "

" by

, "Sloppy Toppy" by Travis Scott, and "Pleazer" by

Tyga Micheal Ray StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson

, among others more. Alongside these tracks, Roberts produced a songs from Lil Uzi Vert's debut mixtape with

DJ Drama Tyree Cinque Simmons (born April 22, 1978), known professionally as DJ Drama, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record executive and music promoter. He initially gained recognition as the DJ for Atlanta-based rapper T.I., and continued to gai ...

and Don Cannon's Generation Now label, '' Luv Is Rage'' (2015)—"Moist", "Wit My Crew x 1987", and "Nuyork Nights at 21". Roberts has DJ'ed at numerous events such as Low End Theory, Brownies & Lemonade, Trap City, Control Avalon, and more. In August 2015, he opened for

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

at the El Rey theatre in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and Drais Beach Club in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. He also did so at

's Mad Decent Block Parties in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Phoenix during 2017.matrixartists.com

2016–2017

In May 2016, FKi 1st released his solo EP ''First Time For Everything'' on

. The EP features artists including

, Njomza,

ILoveMakonnen Makonnen Kamali Sheran (born April 12, 1989), better known by his stage name iLoveMakonnen (often stylized as ILOVEMAKONNEN), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his 2014 single " Tuesday", which initially gained recognition ...

, and Danny Seth. In April, FKi 1st joined Diplo & Friends at the Heineken House at

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

. He also went on to tour with Fetty Wap on his Welcome to the Zoo Tour,

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

's Purpose Tour, and

's Hollywood Dreams Tour. Robert won a BMI R&B Hip Hop Award for his work on " White Iverson". Robert was the executive producer for Post Malone's debut album ''Stoney''. Robert teamed up with fellow Atlanta rappers Drugrixh Peso and Yakki to release the single "Do What Bosses Do" through his own label Zooly the Label.

2018–present

In February 2018, he started the ''Good Gas'' series of albums featuring artists such as

, ASAP Ferg, and MadeinTYO. He released the album ''Tokyo Project'' in December 2019. During 2020, Robert produced

Don Toliver Caleb Zackery "Don" Toliver ( ; born June 12, 1994) is an American rapper and singer. He emerged to fame in 2018 with the release of his debut mixtape, ''Donny Womack'', and his feature on the song "Can't Say" by fellow Houston rapper Travis Sco ...

's "Crossfaded", Kash Doll's "Wake Up", S3nsi Molly's "Don't Call Me Bo" and Parlay Pass's "Honda". In April of that year, Robert and singer Victoria Kimani released the collaborative album ''Afreaka''. On April 1, 2021, the Street Dream Team album was released and featured Robert, Band Gang Lonnie Bands and Good Gas. In the following June, Robert and Good Gas released the song "Bushido" for the '' Fast and the Furious 9'' soundtrack. On June 1, 2022, Robert released the album ''Last Player Alive''; its deluxe edition contains guest appearances from Kash Doll, Buddy, Guapdad 4000,

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (also known as Tung Twista), is an American rapper. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastest ...

Coco Jones Courtney Michaela Ann "Coco" Jones (born January 4, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born in Columbia, South Carolina and raised in Lebanon, Tennessee, Jones began auditioning as a child to pursue a career in entertainment. Sh ...

, and

8Ball & MJG 8Ball & MJG is an American hip hop music, hip hop duo from Orange Mound, Memphis, Orange Mound, Memphis, Tennessee. They met at Ridgeway Middle School (Memphis, Tennessee), Ridgeway Middle School in 1984. In 1993, the duo released their debut al ...

. That same year, he produced

's single " Neighbors Know My Name" and Peezy's song "Hustlers Vs. Scammers".

Musical style

FKi 1st's musical style ranges from trap to EDM. He has referred to himself as the black

. His record production and songwriting team, FKi, does a blend of glitch hop,

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

and trap. Their sound was first heard on their premier

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

''Transformers n the Hood'', which was presented and produced by

, alongside HXV as well as Mayhem, and received attention from electronic, hip hop and trap music forums throughout the US and abroad. FKi went on to produce

's entire ''TrapGold'' and in 2012 served as the official DJs for her European tour. FKi has also collaborated with other producers like Borgore,

Flosstradamus Flosstradamus is the stage name of American DJ and musician Curt Cameruci. From 2007 until 2016, Flosstradamus consisted of Cameruci and Josh Young from Chicago. The duo announced they would both be pursuing solo careers, with Cameruci to continu ...

, The Invisible Men and

, among others.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''First Time for Everything Part 1'' (2016) * ''Tokyo'' ''Project'' (2019) * ''Last Player Alive'' (2022) * ''Last Player Alive (Deluxe)'' (2022)

Productions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1st, FKi FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st FKi 1st 1989 births