Connecticut's
Kenny Beats rose to prominence in the late 2010s as one of hip-hop's most versatile producers, working with
Kendrick Lamar and
ScHoolboy Q in his teenage years and later recording alongside artists from
Travis Scott to
Vince Staples. Finding international success as half of the electronic duo
LOUDPVCK, he returned to hip-hop following the group's 2017 split, and developed a close pool of collaborators through his tailor-made production style.
Getting a start in music from his high school's production classes,
Kenny Beats (born Kenneth Blume III) started his musical career by producing for a plethora of local rappers from his bedroom. Through subsequent apprenticeships at RCA, J Records, and Cinematic Music Group,
Blume swiftly developed both his production talents and his industry contacts. By the age of 19, he had collaborated with artists from
Kendrick Lamar to
Mac Miller, and had landed a spot at Berklee College of Music. There he met classmate and fellow producer Ryan Marks, who introduced him to the rapidly rising EDM subgenre of trap. Putting their spin on the genre, the pair became
LOUDPVCK and went on several international tours and appeared at festivals thanks to a string of high-energy singles. After four years of collaborative work, Marks departed from the duo in November 2017 to pursue new creative directions.
Blume, increasingly dissatisfied with his legacy in EDM, delved back into his original passion, returning to hip-hop on
Huncho Jack's "Dubai Shit" in December that year. 2018 marked
Blume's full re-entry into rap as he joined
KEY! for collaborative album 777 and produced
Rico Nasty's debut album,
Nasty. Working directly alongside collaborators in the studio,
Blume catered his beats to each artist's needs, using his trademark 808s to adapt modern hip-hop's bouncier sonics.
This direct approach resulted in numerous collaborative projects:
Blume closed out 2018 with joint project 2 Minute Drills (with
ALLBLACK) and kicked off 2019 with
Bad Influence (with
Q Da Fool) and
Anger Management (with
Rico Nasty). He continued to find high-profile placements, most notably on
Vince Staples'
FM! and
Ski Mask the Slump God's
Stokeley. That year, he also started his video series The Cave, which documented his studio sessions and produced the comedy single "Jesus Is the One (I Got Depression)" with Zach Fox. One particular session with
Denzel Curry was put on wax in 2020.
Unlocked captured the pair's frenzied studio session, which debuted just outside the Top 100 on the Billboard 200. ~ David Crone