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DJ Kay Slay, also known as the Drama King, (born Kenneth Gleason) is the ringmaster of the new hip hop rivalries, played out on his mixtapes. The New York Times calls him "Hip-Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults," and his street cred is unchallenged.
Originally from East Harlem, Kenneth started out with graffiti, using his tag DEZ. He was featured in the classic hip hop documentaries Wild Style and Style Wars. When the New York City Transit Police cracked down on graffiti in the late 1980s, Kay Slay took up turntables. He made his way spinning records and releasing mixtapes, all the while trying to get some money and a contract.
In 2001, when Jay-Z and Nas's rivalry erupted on Kay Slay tapes, everything changed for him. Now everyone in the commercial mainstream sends their disses to the Drama King, and up-and-coming artists try to get played by him so they can explode like 50 Cent. His Thursday night show on Hot 97 in Manhattan and his constant stream of mixtapes are now watched closely by record execs who want to sign the next big thing.
In the summer of 2003, Kay Slay released a single and music video of his own for a track called "Too Much For Me", which featured rapping from Loon, Nas, and Foxy Brown, and a sung chorus by relative newcomer, Amerie; though the song itself failed to hit big, its music video was all over MTV Jams and BET last summer. In 2004, another single and video were released for "Who Gives A...Where You From".
Kay Slay has released two albums in the industry, Streetsweepers Vol.1 and Streetsweepers Vol. 2, in May 2003 and March 2004. Another album is on the way, titled Streetsweepers Vol. 3: The Game of Death, and scheduled for release in April 2005. The lead single of this album will be from Loon - "Lifestyle Of A Superstar".
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