24-year-old rising rapper Kei had no plans of taking music seriously when she dove into it back in 2021. However, three years later along with awards for Best New Artist and Song Of The Year at the Boston Music Awards in 2022 and 2023, respectively, Kei has fully embraced a career as a music artist. It’s great that Kei came around to it as the young rapper has all the tools to be the next star that emerges onto the nationwide rap scene. I got to see it first during her recent performance at Boston’s No Hype Fest which featured additional performances from Seddy Hendrinx, Flee, Tyler Loyal, TeaMarr, Hennessy, and more.
While some artists embrace the spotlight, Kei attacks it and aims to somehow outshine the light that falls on her. Her brief was propelled by her infectious energy that demanded the attention of the crowd before her. It was impossible to turn away. Kei’s set earned a strong applause from the crowd and was definitely one of, if not the most memorable performance from the night. It’s all the result of hard work, dedication, and still having fun — a recipe that Kei tries her best to keep in her music.
Nearly two years removed from her last project Child’s Play. The Boston native is hard at work on her debut album, one she says is “reminiscent of my first project Baby Steps, but a lot more introspective, very personal, and telling the story of who I am and how I got here.” The journey towards that project continues with her upcoming single “Double Jimmeis,” a title that derived from her love of sprinkles on ice cream, a sentiment shared with the song’s producer, fellow Boston native Rilla Force. The track’s playful and bass-knocking beat was saved under the title of “double jimmeis” by Force and Kei felt it was perfect to stick with once the song was complete.
“It’s just a very fun record,” Kei says about the song which she made during a four-week artist incubator called Outlaud created by Boston artist Oompa. “It’s a very pure record. It didn’t take a lot of thought. It was really cool.”
With “Double Jimmeis” just hours away from coming out, we caught up with Kei to spotlight her as this week’s Uproxx Music 20 artist. Scroll down to hear her music and learn more about her inspirations, influences, and aspirations.
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What is your earliest memory of music?
I definitely would say it was with my dad in his bedroom where he had his studio equipment. You could definitely see that in my first project, Baby Steps like the cover art is literally me in his studio. Just him, producing, making music with his friends, and always being surrounded by sounds and music. A lot of my influences in music come from him. I even recorded earlier songs with him in his studio as we move from home to home. Always just having the studio set up and experimenting with making songs and recording with him, my dad definitely is my earliest memory of music.
Who or what inspired you to take music seriously?
I guess the defining moment for me, or who it was, was myself because I started doing music seriously in 2021, just diving back into the passion of writing and expressing my feelings. Everybody was going through such a pivotal time, there were so many changes going on. I just remember freestyling, smoking, and just every day, going at it, and having that feeling of, “Yo, this sounds good and I am tired of hearing it like all my voice memos or I have to spit it every time.” So I’m the one who took myself to the studio or connected myself with friends that connected me to a recording studio and I put myself in there, I paid for my sessions, and I put two of my records out on SoundCloud, and then I was like, Yo, I want this to, like be a thing. I learned how to develop it into like a project, and I got my DistroKid, and I put it out on platforms. I did that myself.
Do you know how to play an instrument? If so, which one? If not, which instrument do you want to learn how to play?
Okay, so technically, I don’t know how to play an instrument, but when I was in third grade at my elementary school, we had a music class and I learned how to play the recorder. I’m not sure if I would be lit at it now, but I would love to learn how to play instruments. I really am passionate about learning the drums, keys, and guitar. I remember as a kid getting a little cheap one [guitar] at Walmart and just having it. My dad knows how to play the guitar, but he never taught me. I kind of know how to fiddle with it now and fiddle with keys, but definitely drums, keys and guitar.
What was your first job?
My first official job was working at Burger King. I remember working at Burger King, and I was so excited. I remember my first day, my family came in and, was taking pictures of me at the register and I had a little jingle like, “Hi, my name is Kei and I work at BK. You already know you can have it your way.” Technically it was Burger King, but my first job has always been like youth center jobs and working at community centers with kids, but my first real job was Burger King.
What is your most prized possession?
My most prized possession, I would say my character and my personality. Who I am is the most precious thing to me. Being in a world filled with oversaturated personalities, not even just in music, [but] on social media and in real life [with] people creating these images or personas of themselves, I can say that to this day I’m still my inner kid. I’m still who I was five years ago, more mature, more experienced, and just growing over time. So definitely, my character — who I am and what I stand for — is my most prized possession.
What is your biggest fear?
My biggest fear is stagnation, not rising to my potential, and being in the same circumstances that I was raised in. To end up living the same lives that I’ve watched my parents go through, and not reach their dreams and the things that they wanted in life. That’s my biggest fear… outside of heights. I don’t f*ck with heights.
Who is on your Mt. Rushmore or artists?
Michael Jackson, Missy Elliott, Beyoncé, and Left Eye.
You get 24 hours to yourself to do anything you want, with unlimited resources: What are you doing? And spare no details!
Okay, the first thing that I’m doing is investing in properties for myself. I’ve always wanted a home to have something to myself and make sure that everybody in my immediate family is straight. I’m putting my siblings, nieces, and nephews in a trust fund or some type of financial thing for them to for them to be straight. After that, I’m hopping on a fight to somewhere in the world. I don’t even have a passport yet, but I want to travel the world. I would love to go to the place where my father and his family is from. My dad was born in England, but his family is from an island called Montserrat and I would love to go there. I would just travel the world, try all the different types of foods that I’ve never gotten to try, make sure that I’m set, and that my family is set.
What are your three most used emojis?
🩷, 💥, and 🫶🏽.
What’s a feature you need to secure before you die?
Rico Nasty, Doja Cat, and Doechii. If Lady Gaga came and was doing music still? [Yeah], I f*ck with Lady Gaga.
If you could appear in a future season of a current TV show, which one would it be and why?
If we’re talking about acting in a present-day TV show, I’d say it has to be like Master Chef or any of Gordon Ramsay’s reality TV shows because I love to cook and I would love to see how I deal with him under super pressure. Hopefully I won’t fold, but I would love to be in one of those. If it’s voice acting, because I’d love to do voice acting, I would say SpongeBob SquarePants or Powerpuff Girls.
Which celebrity do you admire or respect for their personality and why?
I would definitely say Doja Cat. She’s someone that I’ve become more fond of quite recently. Because of my presence on stage, people that I’ve worked with have compared me to her, and I wasn’t really familiar with her work, but listening to it, and then going back in her discography and watching her evolution over time. Her staying true [to herself], not being steered in a different direction based off of how people perceive her, and her just living in her truest, raw, authentic self till this day is something that is extremely admirable to me, because the things that I used to get made fun of or tore down for in the past are the same things people are praising me for now. Her quirkiness, her charisma, and her personality are really, really admirable to me.
Share your opinion on something no one could ever change your mind about.
Once you hit 20 or 21, you should be able to hold yourself accountable. Like once you hit a certain age, you should walk through the world with some type of awareness, there’s no room for “I don’t know” or excuses. I understand giving grace, I understand learning curves, learning processes, and things like that, but you should always learn to have some type of awareness and accountability. Besides that, the best ice cream toppings are rainbow sprinkles and whipped cream.
What is the best song you’ve ever heard in your life and what do you love about it?
I’d definitely would say “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” by Michael Jackson. The production on that is insane. The layered instruments and how he arranged it is so methodical, that’s one of the best songs. That will automatically get you moving and that’s what I want to emulate in my music. I don’t have a particular sound or genre, but the running theme with my music is, I want it to be able to move people, whether that’s physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. I want you to feel something and everything about that song embodies that.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform, and what’s a city you’re excited to perform in for the first time?
Boston, hands down, just because of how much unconditional love and support I have for my community just them consistently supporting me overtime, and how I’ve watched their appreciation for me grow within the past three years. I don’t think there will be any other feeling I get from another city like I get from Boston. A place that I’m excited to perform that I haven’t performed in is definitely Miami. I haven’t got a chance to experience the music community out there. Some of my favorite rappers, like XXXTentacion, came out of Florida. I have a friend of mine, her name is SKODI, she comes out of Florida, but the way that they describe that scene is lit. I would love to know what it’s like to perform out there for like Rolling Loud. That would be crazy.
You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of 5 artists that will perform with you and the location where it would be held.
If they’re established artists? Rico Nasty, Bktherula, Chief Keef, Doja Cat, & Lil Uzi Vert. Up-and-coming artists from my city? Clark D, Neemz, Jo Saza, Sanyé, and Nay Speaks. I would have it in Boston & turn Fenway Park into a concert venue!
What would you be doing now if it weren’t for music?
I honestly don’t know. Before music, I was extremely lost. I was working a minimum wage job, not making enough like really walking through life aimlessly. When I had my brief time in college, I really wanted to do a double major in adolescent psychology or sociology or something cosmetics or be a esthetician or get into hair and makeup, just cosmetology in general. If I went down the school path, I’d probably start my own nonprofit or business working with kids and trying to provide resources to them creatively, financially, and emotionally — whatever support they needed to pursue their dreams. That or I’d be doing hair, makeup, nails, [and] all the good stuff that I enjoy outside of my music that elevate my branding and my style.
If you could see five years into the future or go five years into the past, which one would you pick and why?
I’d go five years into the future, I wouldn’t go into the past because I wouldn’t want to change anything that’s happened thus far. I feel like the past five years for me have been extremely pivotal to my development and [put me] through the biggest changes. I wouldn’t ask for it any other way. I would love to see, based off of my decisions that I’ve done this thus far, where that lands me in five years and what I’m doing. That way, if I’m not doing something that I’m happy with, I’d try to do some reflecting now on what really means something to me and how that can steer my path in the future.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
I’d say, don’t fret on what you feel like you need to do, continue to do what you want to do. Understand that everything that you want is already yours, you just have to put the work and effort to do it. I could avoid a lot of unnecessary like stress trying to live up to what society set out for us to achieve and me not feeling like I’m worth enough because I’m not doing those things. Don’t stress on what you feel like you think you should be doing, just do what you feel like you should be doing. That’s what I would tell myself.
It’s 2050. The world hasn’t ended, and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
At that time, I’d be a 50-year-old motherf*cker [laughs]. I would want to reach a point where my music and I left a legacy — Kei is iconic. Kei was the first of many. I would want to inspire so many people, and hopefully my art and my expression by 2050 has cultivated a plethora of so many other young, upcoming leaders and legends. I would want to be legendary, I’d want to be iconic, I’d want to be impactful, and I want to be prevelant. I want that to be know, like when you think of Kei, it’s Kei. Just like it’s MJ.
