Shift K3y

Lewis Jankel operates as Shift K3Y, functioning as a songwriter, producer, and vocalist who deploys falsetto across a sound that merges modern pop and R&B with traces of classic house and garage. Having first emerged from the dubstep world, he achieved his breakthrough via the garage-rooted dance-pop cut “Touch,” which rose to number three on the U.K. singles chart in 2014. The 2016 album NIT3 TALES showcased joint work with DJ Zinc, MJ Cole, and MNEK, while he separately produced and co-wrote material for Tinie Tempah, Bugzy Malone, Twice, and additional acts. His voice appeared on Becky Hill’s 2020 single “Better Off Without You,” and 2021 brought the collaborative release “Love Line” with Tinashe.

Born in London, Jankel made his first public appearance at age six, joining his father Chaz’s band the Blockheads for a live radio performance of “Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3” shortly after Ian Dury’s death in 2000. Two days before the broadcast, Chaz had intended to sing Dury’s part himself, yet Lewis questioned whether his father could deliver it convincingly. Chaz responded by challenging his son, who then memorized Dury’s lyrics, learned the keyboard lines, and translated the guitar solo to piano. The performance unfolded without incident. Years afterward, Chaz’s purchase of a software application ignited Lewis’s interest in production.

By age twenty he had gained recognition through the EPs Step in the City (Bullet Train, 2011), Let You Down (Buygore, 2012), and Left & Right (Bullet Train, 2012). He also supplied remixes for AlunaGeorge’s “Attracting Flies,” Iggy Azalea’s “Change Your Life,” Tinie Tempah’s “Trampoline,” and Bastille’s “Flaws.” After signing with Columbia in the U.K., he delivered his major-label debut in April 2014 with the updated garage-pop single “Touch,” shortly after supporting Skrillex on U.S. dates. Matching the number-three U.K. pop-chart placement achieved by “Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3” thirty-five years earlier, the track reached the same position. In August 2015, following two charting singles, he released the four-track EP Off the Record, issuing each song separately. Combining the two-part series of that name, he issued his first full-length, NIT3 TALES (Sony), in 2016.

Later singles included “Come Back” with AC Slater, “Soup Dragon” with DJ Zinc, and “Only You.” In 2018 he put out the three-track Bite EP, followed the next year by “Rhythm of the Drum” on Aftr:Hrs. After further club-focused releases, he returned to the pop charts via his feature on Becky Hill’s “Better Off Without You,” which peaked at number fourteen in early 2020. That year also brought “Do Me No Good” on Positiva. In 2021 he released “Morning” with Karen Harding and “Love Line” with Tinashe.