Kay P

Kay P – The Return of Trill Kay

The small but growing number of artists who’ve managed to convert Soundcloud notoriety into real world success comprises one of the more interesting musical phenomena of the last few years. Our own Joe Price can likely speak to it better than I can, since he’s chronicled Bones, the quasi-leader of TeamSESH, one of the more established crews to fit this description. Comprising Bones a loose, cross-national network of rappers and producers, TeamSESH has sold out shows across the country, moved considerable amounts of merchandise, and generally translated a digital fan base into a physical one in an age when we meet online fame with intense skepticism.

TeamSESH isn’t the only example (Brockhampton, who inspired a fan to travel across the country for a show, and The Stand4rd spring to mind), but it feels like the one that best represents Internet aesthetics spilling into the physical world and attracting a flesh and blood audience.

It seems fitting that Hightstown, NJ rapper Kay P’s music is similar in tone and raucous energy to that of some of the TeamSESH guys, pointing perhaps to DNA that has allowed the latter to bring mosh pits to parties like Los Angeles’ Low End Theory (typically known for lineups heavily favoring producers and DJ’s in L.A.’s beat scene and artists that are a bit more avant garde). Kay certainly has his own dense mythology and iconography to unravel, but it too feels indebted to an Internet aesthetic—particularly its incorporation of anime and Japanese kanji. As far as I know, Kay P hasn’t yet impacted on terra firma the way TeamSESH has, but his ingredients point to the sort of artist that could, to paraphrase the title of a great essay the aforementioned Mr. Price wrote for P&P last year, turn URL to IRL. - Pigeons & Planes

Kay P just dropped his new EP TROTKING aka The Return Of Trill Kay, New God. Stream the project below, and let us know what you think in the comments. Follow Kay P on Soundcloud for more new music. - Elevator Mag