Kay One

As one of Germany's leading hip-hop stars, Kay One lit up Europe's underground rap scene in the mid-2000s with his aggressive, hardcore delivery and gangsta attitude but he later developed a style based on upbeat hooks and cool, electro-rap bravado.

The son of a German father and Filipino mother, Kenneth Glocker grew up listening to his older brother's hip-hop albums in the southern town of Ravensburg, and first started rapping with friends at the age of 13. He came to wider attention at 16 when he competed impressively in the Royal Rumble freestyle rap battle tournament in Stuttgart and with his group Chablife featuring Jaysus and Scandaliz he headed to Berlin for a deal with Royal Bunker Records where they released their first album Chabo Mambo in 2004.

He further developed as a solo artist under the guidance of controversial rap star Bushido and his debut album 'Kenneth Allien Zu Haus' in 2010 featured singer-songwriter Phillippe Heither. He was also part of the rebirth of supergroup Berlin's Most Wanted alongside Bushido and Fler and his second album 'Prince of Belvedair' included his popular anthem 'I Need a Girl (Part Three)' with the US R&B crooner Mario Winans. But Kay One and Bushido had a high profile fall-out in 2012 with Kay One leaving Bushido's Ersguterjunge label overnight with many of his videos being deleted from YouTube soon after. He renamed himself as Prince Kay One on fourth album 'Rich Kidz' in 2013 and responded to the criticism with the 25-minute track 'Tag Des Jungsten Gerichts'. His later albums 'J.G.U.D.Z.S.' and 'Der Junge Von Damals' came out on the AP Allstars label and produced hits including German number one 'Senorita' and 'Louis Louis', a re-working of Modern Talking's 1986 Euro-pop favourite 'Brother Louie'.