Daddy Kev | |
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![]() Daddy Kev at Cosmic Zoo studio in 2018 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Kevin Marques Moo |
Born | 1974 (age 49–50) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Genres | |
Occupations | |
Years active | 1998–present |
Labels | |
Website | www |
Kevin Marques Moo [1] (born 1974), [2] better known by his stage name Daddy Kev, is an American record producer, DJ, [3] Grammy Award-winning audio engineer, [4] songwriter and executive from Los Angeles, California. [5] He is the owner of Alpha Pup Records [6] and the founder of Low End Theory. [7] As an audio engineer, Daddy Kev has mixed and mastered albums by Flying Lotus, [8] Thundercat, [9] Kamasi Washington, [10] and Leon Bridges. [11]
Daddy Kev was born and raised in the Harbor City neighborhood of Los Angeles. [12] As a child, he played piano and trumpet. [13] At the age of 13, he started playing turntables. [13] He graduated from Narbonne High School. [13] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from University of California, San Diego. [14]
In 2001, Daddy Kev released an EP, Lost Angels, on Celestial Recordings. It featured guest appearances from the rappers Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E., Busdriver, Awol One, and Circus. [15] [16] In that year, he also released Souldoubt, a collaborative album with Awol One, on Meanstreet Records. [17] [18] Another collaborative album with Awol One, titled Slanguage , was released on Mush Records in 2003. [19] 2004 brought Busdriver's Cosmic Cleavage , which was produced entirely by Daddy Kev and released on Big Dada. [20]
In 2006, he founded the weekly Low End Theory club night at the Airliner in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. [21]
In 2012, he founded the studio Cosmic Zoo in Los Angeles along with the rapper Nocando. [22]
At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards held in 2016, he was nominated for the Best Dance Recording award for mixing the Flying Lotus song "Never Catch Me" featuring Kendrick Lamar. [23]
At the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards held in 2021, he won the Best Progressive R&B Album award for mixing the Thundercat album It Is What It Is . [24]
In July 2021, he started the weekly Scenario club night in Los Angeles, which showcases upcoming artists in the local scene. [25]
In 2022, he self-published a book on audio engineering entitled Audio Dynamics: Compression Techniques for Modern Mixing and Mastering. [26]
At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards held in 2023, he was nominated for the Best Historical Album award for mastering the Freestyle Fellowship album To Whom It May Concern... . [27]
Pitchfork called Daddy Kev "one of the Los Angeles underground's most visionary producers", [28] while Fact called him "one of underground hip-hop's most respected engineers". [29]
Award | Year of ceremony | Nominee / work | Category | Result | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grammy Awards | 2016 | Flying Lotus featuring Kendrick Lamar – "Never Catch Me" | Best Dance Recording | Nominated | [30] [31] |
2021 | Thundercat – It Is What It Is | Best Progressive R&B Album | Won | [32] [33] | |
2023 | Freestyle Fellowship – To Whom It May Concern... | Best Historical Album | Nominated | [34] |
Low End Theory was a weekly experimental hip hop and electronic music club night that took place every Wednesday from 2006 to 2018 at The Airliner in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California.
Regan Farquhar, better known by his stage name Busdriver, is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles. He has collaborated with rappers such as Myka 9, R.A.P. Ferreira, Nocando, Open Mike Eagle, 2Mex, Aesop Rock and Radioinactive. His primary producers have been Daedelus, Boom Bip, Daddy Kev, Loden, Paris Zax, Omid, Kenny Segal, and Nobody. He has also worked with D-Styles on two albums.
Temporary Forever is a studio album by American rapper Busdriver. It was released on Temporary Whatever in 2002. It features guest appearances from Radioinactive, Rhetoric, Of Mexican Descent, and Aceyalone. Most of the tracks were recorded and mixed by Daddy Kev, who is a co-executive producer of the album. All scratching on the album was done by D-Styles.
Cosmic Cleavage is a studio album by American rapper Busdriver. It was released on Big Dada in 2004. The cover depicts an action figure of the Mazinger Z robot Aphrodite A firing its breast missiles.
Steven D. Bingley-Ellison, known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ, filmmaker and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder.
Ronald Ray Bruner Jr. is an American drummer, composer and producer. He has played with hardcore punk/crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies. Bruner was part of the band that received a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2010 for The Stanley Clarke Band.
Terrace Jamahl Martin is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, the Game, Busta Rhymes, Stevie Wonder, Charlie Wilson, Raphael Saadiq and YG, among others. Martin is a multi-instrumentalist whose music production embodies funk, jazz, classical and soul. Martin released his sixth studio album, Velvet Portraits, on his label, Sounds of Crenshaw Records, through Ropeadope Records.
Brainfeeder is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It has signed artists such as Ras G, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, The Underachievers, Lapalux, Daedelus, and Mr. Oizo.
Anthony Charles Martin, better known by his stage name Awol One, is an songwriter, alternative hip hop artist and graphic designer based in Los Angeles, California.
Dave Cuasito better known by his stage name D-Styles, is a hip hop producer and DJ. He has been a member of Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies, and Third Sight. He has also been a resident DJ of Low End Theory. D-styles is an instructor at the Beat Junkies Institute of Sound.
Stephen Lee Bruner, better known by his stage name Thundercat, is an American musician, singer, record producer, and songwriter from Los Angeles. First coming to prominence as a member of crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, he has since released four solo studio albums and is noted for his work with producer Flying Lotus and his appearances on Kendrick Lamar's 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. In 2016, Thundercat won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Performance for his work on the track "These Walls" from To Pimp a Butterfly. In 2020, Thundercat released his fourth studio album, It Is What It Is, which earned him a Grammy Award for Best Progressive R&B Album.
Jeremy Tynes Irving, known as Jeremiah Jae, is an American rapper and record producer from Chicago.
Slanguage is the third collaborative studio album by Awol One and Daddy Kev. It was released on Mush Records on March 18, 2003. It features contributions from D-Styles.
Carlos López Estrada is a Mexican-American filmmaker, music video director, commercial director, theatre director, and actor. Born in Mexico, he moved to the United States when he was 12 and later enrolled at Chapman University.
Kamasi Washington is an American jazz saxophonist. He is a founding member of the jazz collective West Coast Get Down.
You're Dead! is the fifth studio album by American music producer Flying Lotus, released on October 6, 2014 by Warp Records. Flying Lotus recorded the album at his home in Los Angeles, using Ableton Live and other instruments and software. Like his previous two albums Cosmogramma and Until the Quiet Comes, You're Dead! features extensive contributions from Thundercat, who plays bass guitar on nearly every track and provides vocals on several. It also features guest performances from Angel Deradoorian, Niki Randa, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Kamasi Washington, Jeff Lynne, Kimbra, and Herbie Hancock, along with Captain Murphy, Flying Lotus' rapper alter ego.
The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam is an EP by American musician Thundercat. It was released on June 22, 2015 via Brainfeeder.
Josef Leimberg is a producer, lyricist, and trumpet player from Los Angeles. He contributed to Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy Award-winning album, To Pimp a Butterfly, and is currently signed with World Galaxy, the jazz imprint of Alpha Pup Records.
Kuso is a 2017 American surrealist body horror comedy anthology film directed by Flying Lotus, who co-wrote the screenplay with David Firth and Zack Fox.
The West Coast Get Down is an American jazz collective formed in Los Angeles in 2006. Its members include saxophonist Kamasi Washington, bassists Miles Mosley and Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner, drummers Ronald Bruner Jr. and Tony Austin, pianists Cameron Graves and Brandon Coleman, trombonist Ryan Porter, and multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin. Most of the members of the group gained prominence for their contributions to Kendrick Lamar's critically acclaimed album To Pimp a Butterfly (2015).