k-os

Perhaps the most significant Canadian rapper of the 21st century this side of Drake, k-os embodies hip-hop’s ability to synthesise various genres and musical traditions while elucidating a single person’s point of view. Born Kevin Brereton in Toronto in 1972, k-os soon moved with his Jehovah’s Witness parents to their native Trinidad. When he returned to Ontario in his teen years, he began work on a series of projects that attracted attention from music business professionals but left the exacting artist dissatisfied. He finally debuted in 2002 with the eclectic Exit, which was met with considerable acclaim; his follow-up, 2004’s Joyful Rebellion, sent shockwaves through the Canadian music industry and beyond, marking him as one of rap’s most essential new voices. Working in the tradition of pointed, socially engaged MCs like A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip—and folding in influences from funk, rock and his Caribbean roots—k-os has continued to push the form, and his deeply personal songwriting, into ever stranger, more evocative places.