Allow Kenneth Blume to reintroduce himself.
Back in August, Blume — also known as producer Kenny Beats — revealed that he plans to start producing music under his legal name. While some welcomed the change, the announcement sparked some discourse online.
Some have said that the producer — who is known for his work with Schoolboy Q, Vince Staples, and Denzel Curry — made the name change to distance himself from rap and hip-hop, as he had begun producing tracks for Idles, Bastille, and James Vincent McMorrow in recent years. On Saturday, November 22, Blume took to X (formerly Twitter) to share that this theory couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Produced 4 rap songs in the last 2 weeks and people still writing think pieces about me distancing myself from hip hop because I go by my real name now,” Blume wrote. “I named myself Kenny Beats on MySpace at 15 years old…I would love yall to go by ur email address from middle school in your mid 30’s.”
Simply put, “I just want to use my real name now..for all genres.”
This may take some getting used to from fans, but Blume isn’t faulting anyone who still wants to call him Kenny — just as long as he’s given proper credit for his work.
“call me Kenny call me KB call me baby I don’t give a f**k,” Blume wrote in a follow-up post. “Just put my last name in the credits!”
Blume’s most recent release under his legal name is a song called “Pepper” with Rico Nasty, which dropped this past Friday. In the song, Nasty — who has collaborated with Beats many times — shouted her signature “Kenny!” ad-lib, thus making the song feel like a proper homecoming for the two artists. And perhaps signaling the beginning of a new chapter for both of them.
