Keith Ape

Keith Ape took his stage name from the painter Keith Haring and the primate he regarded as his spirit animal. The Seoul native brought the city into trap territory with his breakthrough single “It G Ma,” which surfaced on New Year’s Day 2015. Sporting bleached, unkempt hair and a punk-Bathing Ape visual style, he projected a psychedelic persona that echoed American peers Lil Uzi Vert and Flatbush Zombies. His first EP, Born Again, appeared three years later.

Born Dongheon Lee in Bundang, South Korea, the artist described himself as a troubled youth who turned to hip-hop after idolizing Nas and AZ. He left high school early to focus on music, issuing his initial recordings in 2010 under the name Kid Ash. Those tracks reached the Cohort crew, who invited him to join in 2012. He appeared on crew member Okasian’s debut project Boarding Procedures and generated further attention by reworking a Bobby Shmurda song into the track he titled “Hot Ninja.”

The OG Maco-inspired “It G Ma,” originally a Korean-Japanese collaboration with Kohh, Loota, JayAllDay, and Okasian, altered his path. The ominous trap cut gained traction both domestically and abroad, particularly among Korean listeners in the United States. Keith Ape joined 88Rising on the strength of the single, performing at SXSW and in Los Angeles and New York City. A subsequent remix credited to A$AP Ferg, Father, Dumbfoundead, and Waka Flocka Flame followed; the title phrase itself means “Never Forget.”

After the viral hit, he released the horror-tinged “Psycho” featuring Robb Bank$ and “Diamonds” featuring Jedi P. In 2017 he appeared on the collaborative cut “Gospel” alongside Rich Brian and XXXTENTACION, then dropped “Achoo” with Ski Mask the Slump God a few months later. That same year he contributed “Japan 88” to the 88Rising crew compilation Head in the Clouds. In 2018 he issued his debut EP Born Again, which contained the single “Ninja Turtle” with Wifisfuneral.