K-The-I???

Affiliated with the Mush label, underground rapper K-the-I??? crafts rhymes that are both wordy and thoughtful over electronic beats that often pack a hard punch. Born Kiki Ceac in Cambridge, MA, he draws from science fiction, video games, psychedelic rock, and the experimental rap approaches of Company Flow and Madlib. His first recording appeared in 2002 as the self-produced “Nova Solar Search” on the Beta One compilation issued by Canadian label GigCity Records. A 12-inch single titled Teletron 1 arrived the next year, followed in 2004 by the CD-EP Fair Weather Under the Surface Negative on separate imprints. Mush—an independent with an eclectic roster that also includes cLOUDDEAD, Aesop Rock, Awol One, Busdriver, Daedelus, and Bigg Jus—then signed him. His first full-length solo album for the label, Broken Love Letter, surfaced in 2006 and was largely self-produced. The 2008 follow-up Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow was handled entirely by labelmate Thavius Beck and appeared overseas via Big Dada Recordings. By that time K-the-I??? had moved to Los Angeles, and he later joined Thavius Beck for tour dates supporting the album, among them a European stretch.