Khemo

Hakeem Bradley (Born in Greenville, SC) is and American hip-hop artist/poet better known by his stage name, Khemo. He is mostly known for his diverse, lyrical wordplay and ability to sense a brilliant tune of an instrumental. With an undeniable talent in grade school, he went on to win two poetry contests for the state of South Carolina at a very young age. But the passion wasn't derived from sitting in a classroom in front of a literature books that taught, only the basics of how a poem was to be structured. The artist from within was formed by countless numbers of hours he spent at home studying the lyrics of great hip-hop artist of the 90's Era; such as 2pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Outkast, Nas, and DMX. He once responded in an interview, "I would sit by the radio at night and just listen to it until one of my favorite songs came on. Once I heard the beat beginning, I would press the record button to copy it to my cassette tape. Then I would be up all night trying to learn the song before I went to school the next day. Just so I could be the cool kid that knew all of the words. (laughs) But the real reason behind it was that it gave me life and hope. I really wanted to be like these guys that I looked to up to. And I still do." His passion for music continued throughout high school, where he didn't have enough time to focus on it as much as he had once dreamed; due to playing sports and balancing out one of the top GPA's in the school. It wasn't until after college he began to actually explore into the music world. After making his studio debut in the summer of 2014, he was looked at by all of his peers as a natural that sounded like a he had been recording for years. "I guess all of those years of practicing in the mirror, finally, paid off once I stepped behind the mic," he replies, after being asked about his almost instant success. His highly anticipated debut EP, "The Art of Rap," was released on October 24th, 2016. His follow up album was released exactly a year later on October 24th, 2017. His stage name is a comparison of the treatment, "Chemotherapy," and a mixture of his first name, which represents him being the "Answer For Cancer." The cancer would be a reference to the more simplistic and popular music of today's day and age that has gotten away from the basic concepts of hip-hop, which involved versatile lyrics and perceptions of reality that were more relatable to a wider variety of people. To tune into some of his latest music, you can find him on Instagram & Twitter under his user name @Iamkhemo or his Facebook fan page "Khemo."