K.Flay
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| K.Flay | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Kristine Flaherty | |
| Born | June 30, 1985 | |
| Origin | Wilmette, Illinois | |
| Genre(s) | Hip-Hop | |
| Years active | 2004–Present | |
| Label(s) | [[ ]] | |
K.Flay (born Kristine Flaherty on June 30, 1985 in Wilmette, Illinois) is a female rapper and student at Stanford University in California.
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[edit] Early Life
K.Flay grew up in Suburban Wilmette, Illinois, a village approximately 17 miles north of Chicago. At age seven, her parents were divorced. Shortly thereafter, she received a new step-parent and two step-siblings. For a time, she was a self-described Tom Boy, wearing "ridiculously baggy attire" and "avoiding all things girly."
[edit] Education
K.Flay had mostly abandoned her Tom-Boy ways by the time she arrived at New Trier Township High School at age 14. Her freshman year brought the untimely death of her father, affecting her profoundly. Her father had been an excellent guitarist and a true lover of all music, and much of K.Flay's songs are a tribute to him.
In 2004, K.Flay became a student at Stanford University in California, pursuing a double major in psychology and sociology. It was at college where she met and befriended many people that would later become the backbone of her musical life.
[edit] Origins of a Rapper
During her freshman year, K.Flay and a friend were discussing modern rap music. Believing that most hip-hop hits on the radio were simplistic, misogynistic, and formulaic, she proclaimed that even she could do a song like that. To demonstrate, K.Flay spent that night writing a song called Blingity Blang Blang, which she described as "a low-budget rap parody that contained far too many obscenities." Realizing that she actually enjoyed it, she wrote two more songs before the end of the year.
The summer after her freshman year at Stanford was a period of experimentation. She continued to write more songs and discovered how to record them as musical tracks on her laptop computer.
During her sophomore year, she began performing for live audiences, and in her junior year she released her debut album, Suburban Rap Queen, which has earned her quite a local buzz and a myriad of fans, thanks in part to her internet web page and MySpace profile.
K.Flay's songs have drawn many favorable comparisons to Def Jam artist Lady Sovereign.
[edit] Notes and references
- "Intermission: K.Flay Is Making Ill-i-noise" by Bria Long, The Stanford Daily, December 2, 2005
- "Suburban Rap Queen & Jester All In One" by M. Flipside, Jots From The Flipside, September 11, 2006
- "Close Up on K.Flay", Urb Magazine, September 2006
- "What's On Your iPod?" by Laura Chang, The Stanford Daily, February 28, 2007
- "She's Got The Beat", Stanford Magazine, March/April 2007
- "The Next 100"by JC, Urb Magazine, April, 2007
