Hot 21 Radio

Kid Ink

Growing up in Los Angeles, Brian Collins was initially inspired by the likes of Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Swiss Beatz and caught the music bug when he started making beats and producing tracks at after school music programmes. With an ear for a tune, a great work ethic and a fascination for different styles of music, he began writing and producing, making mixtapes and rapping. He was rapping full time by the age of 22 and, using the name Rockstar, released his first official mixtape 'World Tour'. It created great interest and was swiftly followed by three other mixtapes between 2010 and 2011 which won the attention of DJ Ill Will who signed him to his Tha Alumni Group label, at which point Collins adopted the name Kid Ink. This signing resulted in his first proper album 'Up & Away', produced by Ned Cameron, Kyle Justice and Jahlil Beats, among others. Well received, it was helped by two hits, 'Time of Your Life' and 'Lost in the Sauce', resulting in him being signed to RCA with his first major label hit 'Bad Ass' in 2013. Another single 'Money & the Power' was featured in the HBO show 'Hard Knocks', sports video game 'NBA Live 14' and 'Wrestlemania 31'. His second album 'My Own Lane' followed in 2014, accompanied by another hit 'Show Me' featuring Chris Brown and produced by DJ Mustard.More albums and mixtapes followed as his relaxed style of delivery gave him crossover appeal, while his colourful tattoos attracted plenty of interest. He even used them for political effect, posing for one of PETA's 'Ink Not Mink' anti-fur ad campaigns. In 2018 he was back in the charts with another new pop-rap single, 'Tell Somebody'.