Kero One

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Biography

Known for spearheading the Jazz-Hop genre, Kero One, a San Francisco rapper/producer/DJ, stands as a testament to the do-it-yourself success story.

Using only his homemade studio and personal credit card, Kero One pressed and released his first 12” record Check the Blueprints in 2003 on his own imprint, Plug Label. Without any experience as to how he should distribute his new record, Kero One spent endless hours researching, cold calling, and seeking help from friends. Of the 50 copies that were eventually distributed around the world, one landed in a tiny record store in Tokyo, Japan. A few weeks later, it was found by a Japanese DJ who played it at a club that night and received dozens of inquires, including a Japanese label executive who immediately contacted Kero One and asked for 3,000 copies of the record. The record, “Check the Blueprints” became an underground Hiphop classic in Japan, and Kero One was invited to tour the country just a few months after. He performed in cities throughout Japan where he was greeted by hundreds of fans waiting to take photographs and autographs, much to his surprise. It was at this point that making a career out of music became a reality.

Kero One went on to finish his first album, Windmills of the Soul, in 2005, handling everything from playing instruments, rapping, and sound engineering. Without a strong label backing or a street team, Kero One handled almost all the business himself.

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