K.Flay

Kristine Meredith Flaherty (born June 30, 1985), better known as K.Flay, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and rapper.

K.Flay was born Kristine Meredith Flaherty in Wilmette, Illinois, on June 30, 1985.

She attended New Trier High School.

Flaherty's parents divorced when she was seven years old and her mother soon remarried, bringing in a stepbrother and a stepsister, with her stepfather later adopting her.

When she was 14 years old, Thomas died of undisclosed causes related to his alcoholism; many of her songs include references to him.

She has described herself as a tomboy during childhood, preferring baggier clothing and rejecting "all things girly".

In 2003, she enrolled at Stanford University, pursuing a double major in psychology and sociology.

She has said that many people she met at Stanford influenced her musical style.

K.Flay began her music career in 2003, believing that most hip hop hits on the radio were "simplistic, misogynistic and formulaic".

After bragging to a friend that she could write similar songs, she wrote "Blingity Blang Blang", which she described as a "low budget rap parody that contained far too many obscenities".

After writing and performing the song, Flaherty realized that she enjoyed writing and recording music.

She continued to experiment with music by writing songs and performing and recording them on her computer.

She released a mixtape called Suburban Rap Queen in 2005, which she produced on her laptop, and began performing.

She then independently released the now-unavailable mixtapes [appetite whetting 2.0] and MASHed Potatoes, as well as the EP Single and Famous with MC Lars.

In 2010, K.Flay released her self-titled extended play.

A year later, she self-released the mixtape I Stopped Caring in '96, which she later remarked was a turning point for her career.

K.Flay signed with RCA Records in 2012, releasing two more EPs, Eyes Shut in 2012, with songs produced by Liam Howlett from the British band the Prodigy, and What If It Is in 2013.

She parted ways with RCA Records in 2013 because of differences of opinion.

Upon leaving RCA Records, she left behind more than 60 songs she had written while signed, but no longer owned the rights to.

K.Flay has described her time with RCA Records as similar to "an ill-advised marriage".

Her mixtape West Ghost was released in the same year; this release, along with much of her previous independent material, was available for free download on her official website.

She has released five studio albums: Life as a Dog (2014), Every Where Is Some Where (2017), Solutions (2019), Inside Voices / Outside Voices (2022), and Mono (2023).

Life as a Dog peaked at No. 2 on Billboards Heatseekers Albums chart and No. 14 on Billboards Rap Albums chart.

Every Where Is Some Where was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while its lead single "Blood in the Cut" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.

K.Flay is also known for collaborating with artists such as Dune Rats, Grandson, Mike Shinoda, Party Favor, Tom Morello, Travis Barker, Vic Fuentes, and X Ambassadors.

In late April 2014, K.Flay announced the release of her album Life as a Dog, by offering fans the ability to pre-order via PledgeMusic, reaching 196 percent of her initial goal.

She wanted the project to be "DIY [and] self-motivated".

It was recorded and produced in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco, with the final mix produced at San Francisco's Different Fur.

Life as a Dog was released independently on June 10, 2014.

The album reached No. 14 on the Billboard Rap Albums chart No. 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.

K.Flay toured extensively once the album was released, including headlining a tour and joining tours with AWOLNATION, Third Eye Blind and Dashboard Confessional in 2014.

In 2014 and 2015 she toured Germany, France and other European countries.

K.Flay also performed on the Warped Tour in 2014, saying that it "was almost like an exercise in becoming a better performer".

In 2015, K.Flay collaborated with Louis the Child on their song "It's Strange".

The single was praised by Taylor Swift, who added "It's Strange" as one of her "Songs That Will Make Life Awesome" list and was featured on the FIFA 16 soundtrack.

The song peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

On March 25, 2016, K.Flay released her single "FML".

Later that year, K.Flay announced she had signed to Interscope Records as the first artist signed to Dan Reynolds' Night Street Records imprint.

The EP's song "Blood in the Cut" appeared on the soundtrack for XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Netflix's original series "Peaky Blinders", as well as BoJack Horseman (season 4, episode 6), and in a 2017 NFL promo commercial drive.

K.Flay's album Every Where Is Some Where was released on April 7, 2017.