Kero One grew up as the son of Korean parents in San Francisco. In his youth he received classical piano and violin lessons and also taught himself to play drums and guitar. After completing his training as a web designer, he practiced this profession and began to produce hip-hop pieces in which he mixed soul , funk and rap . In 2003 he pressed 50 pieces of his song Check The Blueprints under the title "12and sent them to record labels without receiving any response. Two years later one of these CDs reached Japan in ways that are no longer comprehensible today. In 2005, a Japanese businessman discovered the rare song in a small record shop in Tokyo and passed it on to his DJ friends. After "12 was well received in the clubs, he contacted Kero One and ordered 3000 copies of the record to be distributed in Japan. Because he had not yet been signed by any label, in 2005 he founded his own, Plug Label. He
chose Plug as the abbreviation for “Promoting Love Under Ground.” In the same year his album Windmills of the Soul was released , which was named the best hip-hop album in Japan by Remix magazine . In 2006 he quit his job as Web designer so that he can devote himself exclusively to music. Since his album Early Believers in 2009, Kero One has been increasingly mixing Latin American rhythms into his pieces.
Discography
Albums
year
title
Label
2006
Windmills of the Soul
Plug label
2006
Windmills of the Soul Instrumentals
Plug label
2008
Kero One Presents..Plug label
Plug label
2009
Early believers
Plug label
2010
Kinetic World
Plug label
Singles
year
title
Label
2010
When the Sunshine Comes featuring Ben Westbeech
Plug label
2008
Get Down featuring Aloe Blacc
Plug label
2006
In All the Wrong Places / Give Thanks (Sound Providers Remix)
Plug label
2005
My story
Plug label
2005
Keep It Alive
Plug label
2004
Check The Blueprints (King Most Remix)
Plug label
2003
Check the blueprints
Plug label
Collaborations
year
title
Label
2009
Epik High - Rocksteady (feat.Kero One, Dumbfoundead, MYK, Rakka)
Map The Soul Inc.
2009
Epik High - Map The Soul [Worldwide Version] Feat. MYK, Kero One
Map The Soul Inc.
2008
Talib Kweli - In the Pocket (Kero One Remix)
Manhattan Records / HMV
2008
Nomak feat. Abstract Rude - Hey Mom (Kero One Remix)
Huge soul
2008
Pe2ny - Wake Up feat. Kero One, Myk
Mnet Korea
2008
Rashaan Ahmad - Here We Go (produced by Kero One)
Om hiphop
2007
Dynamic Duo - 지구본 뮤직 feat. Kero One
CJ Music
2007
Lanu - It's Time feat. Kero One
Tru Thoughts / Ubiquity Records
2007
Choice 37 - Conversate feat. Kero One & El Gambina
