* En anglais uniquement
Ken Ring is a pioneering Swedish rapper who made his album debut in 1999 with
Vägen Tillbaka and released the Top Ten hit album
Hip Hop a decade later. Born on January 29, 1979, in Kenya, he was raised in the Hässelby region of Stockholm, Sweden. After making his recording debut on the mixtape scene during the late '90s,
Ring made his full-length solo debut in 1999 with
Vägen Tillbaka on EMI, followed by the albums
Mitt Hem Blir Ditt Hem (2000), Mellanspelet (2002), InblicKEN (2003), and Det Bortglömda (2003). In 2004 he teamed up with Norwegian rap trailblazer
Tommy Tee for the collaborative album
2 Legender Utan Penger, which was a Top 40 hit in Norway and spawned the singles "BB Berättelsen" and "Måste Seja Hei." Subsequent solo albums by
Ring include Kennelklubben (2004), RubriKEN (2005), and
Äntligen Hemma (2007). Among his most successful releases to date was
Hip Hop (2009), the front-cover art of which is an homage to
Nas' classic
Illmatic (1994). Released in association with
Universal Music,
Hip Hop was a Top Ten hit on the Swedish albums chart. In addition to his album output and a long list of singles and EPs,
Ring released albums well into the 2010s. ~ Jason Birchmeier