Kid Loco shares stylistic affinities with fellow French artists Air and Dimitri from Paris yet aligns even more closely with the enduring French pop lineage shaped by Serge Gainsbourg. Born Jean-Yves Prieur, he picked up the guitar at thirteen and performed with multiple French punk bands in the early 1980s. Toward the close of that decade he also turned to production, exploring reggae and hip-hop alongside the group Mega Reefer Scratch. In 1996 Prieur constructed his personal studio, adopted the Kid Loco moniker, and issued the Blues Project EP on Yellow Productions. One year afterward the album A Grand Love Story surfaced, drawing acclaim across indie-rock and electronica circles. A dedicated remix collection followed in 1998. Prieur joined St. Etienne’s Sarah Cracknell on a version of “The Man I Love” for the Gershwin tribute Red Hot + Rhapsody and has supplied remixes for Stereolab, Pulp, Mogwai, the High Llamas, Dimitri from Paris, and Talvin Singh. The reworked Prelude to a Grand Love Story surfaced in 1999 as Loco’s first full-length release aimed at the US market, while the remix set Jesus Life for Children Under 12 Inches arrived later the same year. With his second proper album, 2001’s Kill Your Darlings, Kid Loco advanced to a major label.
