Daddy Kev

Daddy Kev
Background information
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Record producer
Instruments	Keyboard Sampler Drum machine Turntable
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Celestial (1998–2002) Alpha Pup Records (2005-)
Associated acts	Busdriver, AWOL One, D-Styles, The Grouch

Daddy Kev (born 1974 in Los Angeles) is a prolific underground hip-hop and electronic music producer,^[1] recording engineer and record label owner. Pitchfork describes him as "one of the Los Angeles underground's most visionary producers... His style exemplifies the steady bleeding of hip-hop culture into the more highbrow aspects of art."^[2]

Together with Hive and Shaggy, he founded the Celestial Recordings record label in 1998. The label's early records included Phoenix Orion's Zimulated Experiencez album and the Celestial Squadron compilation. Kev also produced records by Naptron and Alien Nation, most of the songs characterized by fusing rap with sci-fi samples. His work with AWOL One on Souldoubt (2001) saw Daddy Kev return to a more conventional underground hip hop context. During this era, Daddy Kev would contribute to a number of genre-defining records, including Sole Bottle of Humans (2000), Myka 9 Timetable (2001), Abstract Rude P.A.I.N.T. (2001), Prefuse 73 Vocal Studies & Uprock Narratives (2001) and Nobody Soulmates (2001).

Although Celestial Recordings folded in early 2002, Kev stayed in Los Angeles to produce and engineer a series of albums including: Busdriver Temporary Forever (2002), D-Styles Phantazmagorea (2002), AWOL One Slanguage (2003), The Grouch Sound Advice (2003), and Existereo Dirty Deeds & Dead Flowers (2003).

April 2004 brought Busdriver's Cosmic Cleavage album, released by Big Dada/Ninja Tune, and produced entirely by Daddy Kev. In July 2004, Kev began work on Mix Master Mike's Bangzilla album.

Upon the conclusion of work on the Mix Master Mike album, Kev hatched a plan with business manager Danyell Jariel to start a new record label, Alpha Pup Records. By the end of 2004, the label was formed, and Kev began mixing the label's first release, Paris Zax's Unpath'd Waters (2005).

In 2005, Alpha Pup quickly hit its stride, releasing the Paris Zax album to critical acclaim, as well as offerings from Mike Boo, Ricci Rucker, Blackbird, and longtime Kev collaborator AWOL One. In 2006, Daddy Kev served as executive producer on albums for Subtitle, Daedelus, Scream Club, and Acid Reign, all released on Alpha Pup. He also returned to the studio with Busdriver, mixing and recording tracks for RoadKillOvercoat, which was released on Epitaph in February 2007.

Alpha Pup records also distributes Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label.^[3]

Reefer, a collaborative group with Islands frontman Nick Thorburn, was announced on the Alpha Pup Web site in April 2007. A flyer depicting coral reefs was displayed on Daddy Kev's MySpace page with the roman numerals of 2008 underneath.^[4]

1. ^ Rubin, Mike (28 May 2010). "Lost, With Laptops, in Psychedelic Space". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/arts/music/30lotus.html. Retrieved 24 December 2010. 
2. ^ Shepherd, Julianne (27 March 2003). "Pitchfork Album Reviews: Slanguage". Pitchfork. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/389-slanguage/. Retrieved 26 July 2011. 
3. ^ Chris Martins (Thursday, May 13, 2010). "Flying Lotus Rising". LA Times. http://www.laweekly.com/2010-05-13/music/flying-lotus-rising/2/. Retrieved 18 December 2010. 
4. ^ Eliot Van Buskirk (October 9, 2008). "Drunken Conversation Leads to Band Called Reefer". wired. http://www.wired.com/listening_post/2008/10/drunken-convers/. Retrieved 19 December 2010. 

External links

• Official website and discography
• Alpha Pup Records (current record label)

Persondata
Name	Daddy Kev
Alternative names
Short description	Hip hop record producer
Date of birth	1974
Place of birth	Los Angeles
Date of death
Place of death