SXSW Artist Spotlight: Keith Ape

He’s one of Korean hiphop’s most polarizing figures, and he plays both sides unapologetically.

About Keith Ape

Keith Ape isn’t new to music. Back in 2010, at the age of 17, Ape (birth name Lee Dong-heon) dropped out of high school with the intention of becoming a rapper. His exposure to the genre, as with many rappers, came compliments of Nas — with the 20th anniversary re-release of his legendary Illmatic. Under the moniker Kid Ash, he began posting his music to SoundCloud and YouTube, hoping for that big break. A chance encounter with Cohort rapper Okasian gave him the opportunity he was waiting for. Ape was shortly signed to Hi-Lite Records, one of Korea’s premier hip-hop labels. With tracks on various Cohort mixtapes, and collaborating with then up-and-coming rapper G2 (forming the Brainwash Unit), he established himself as a rapper to look out for. He would transition from Kid Ash to Keith Ape, and then would get the breakthrough he’d been hoping for.

After five years of relative obscurity, in 2015, Keith Ape released track “It G Ma.” Amid some controversy, the song became one of the biggest international hits to come out Korea at the time. Though talk was mostly scarce in South Korea, recognition from the States in particular skyrocketed his visibility on a global scale. Before long, everyone from Complex Magazine to the New York Times wanted a piece of him. Then in 2016, Ape was invited to perform at South by Southwest. His stage certainly garnered him one of the biggest reactions at the festival.

While he did tend to bask in the attention, some negativity did force him to shrink back into himself. He certainly took time to reflect on both his style and his personal goals. Between then and 2018, where he’ll be returning to Austin for SXSW, he’s released more music and come more into his own as an artist.