Kelman Duran, born in 1984 in 1984, in La Ermita, Espaillat, Dominican Republic, migrated to Washington Heights, New York, in 1989 and later studied at CalArts before settling in Los Angeles, where he emerged in the Afro‑Caribbean dance scene. He first gained attention with the 2017 album 1804 Kids, a homage to the Haitian Revolution and Afro‑Caribbean sounds, followed by the 2019 studio album 13th Month, which explored Sioux calendrical motifs and his experience at Pine Ridge reservation. Rolling Stone recognized him as "an artist you need to know" in January 2019, underscoring his influence in electronic music. In 2021, he released Night In Tijuana, blending jazz, electronic, and ambient textures. He contributed to Beyoncé’s 2022 album Renaissance with the tracks "I'm That Girl" and "Heated" and composed the soundtrack for the French film Rodeo (2022).
