Kristine Flaherty, better yet known as K.Flay, has just recently dropped her album “Life As A Dog.” The records on this album are so raw and original, colored with intricate electronic beats, melodies and sleek tongue-twisting rap verses. This girl spits fire and it is beyond impressive. She’s different from what I have seen in a while.
K.Flay was born in Illinois, right outside Chicago. She is a graduate from Stanford University. She started writing songs her freshman year of college and eventually began performing in front of audiences her sophomore year. Everything just started to pick up from there and she eventually released her first album, “Suburban Rap Queen,” her junior year of college. As she continued to produce her own music, just as any music artist, she started gathering the type of “feel” she was going for. She thought rap/hip-hop these days was too simplistic and wanted to make a more original, edgy alt-indie vibe to her songs. So, she started writing.
Soon enough, K.Flay was noticed and snatched up by a major label. She went on tour with artists like Icona Pop, Passion Pit and Theophilus London who really opened her eyes and inspired her. She was unfortunately stuck with this major label for two years that wouldn’t release her desired album. So, after finally being free from the label she was originally signed with (thank the music Gods), she started from the beginning and crafted an entirely new project that purely just came from the heart and soul. And man can you feel it.
K.Flay is so different from any other artists I have seen in the game. She does a mixture of raping/singing in her songs, shaming Drake for his attempt at trying to do the same. She even contributes to making her own beats and melodies in some of her songs. K.Flay is also an astounding DJ. She has many playlists on SoundCloud of some ill tunes ranging from techno, to trap, dubstep, and rap. She’s killing the game ever so slightly. Even her own voice is stupendous. There’s nothing comparable to it. It has this soothing, trippy vibe to it that totally fits in with her music. Basically if Lorde and Mike Posner had a music baby, it’d be K.Flay.
One of the songs that stuck out to me on this album was “Make Me Fade.” It’s a song about disappearance- “fading” away. Everyone has a different way of escaping from reality. Whether it be because of a person or a tangible thing, we all have that desperation of needing to feel whole from time to time. K.Flay raps about being eluded to a special place, not exactly sure of what it is she’s searching for but hoping she’ll find an answer. The lyrics of this song are exceedingly truthful and easily relatable. What draws me into this song are the spacey melodies that play throughout the entire piece. It sounds a bit spooky, however that’s what makes the song majestic, giving it its personality. It also has some of that deep bass and puzzling-piecing beats, so if you’re “all about that bass,” then you’re going to want to give this song a listen.
K.Flay is not only an incredible music artist but she’s an inspiration as well. She’s original and doing things differently. I mean, who drops themselves from a huge label, hoping they’ll still make it on their own with just their creative abilities? K.Flay does. That’s who. She’s the freakin’ dude. I give her tremendous credit to even have the guts to do that. I believe that is how we should all think and go about what we love. She is a great example that if you really believe in what you’re doing, anything is possible. If you’re the type of person that does not like mainstream music (like me) but however lives for raw, emotional, creative lyrics and sounds, check out K.Flay. It’d be a mistake if you didn’t. I promise you won’t regret it!
Alexa Carmona