Candy Ken
Jakob Kasimir Hellrigl, known as Candy Ken, is an Austrian rapper, model and artist. He started his career as a rapper in 2014. He combines a masculine appearance with feminine pop culture.[1]
Early life and education
Born in Bregenz, Austria, Hellrigl studied photography and film design at the Lette-Verein college in Berlin, but dropped out of his studies in 2014.[2]
While studying at college, he invented the gender-bending persona of Candy Ken,[3] incorporating imagery from Hello Kitty,[4] Japanese Kawaii culture,[5] Barbie dolls[6] and pink clothing in his dress style and visual appearance.[7][8]
Career
Music
He started his rapping career in Berlin, releasing his first EP, Welcome to Candy Land in 2014 as a self-directed video series on YouTube.[9] The music is produced by Lets Go Radio, and distributed by Spinnup.[10]
The video series was re-made as a short film Welcome to Candy Land, which won an award at the Austrian short film festival "Alpinale" in 2015.[11]
In September 2015 he released the second EP Candy Ken Paradise produced by DJ Smokera and distributed by Spinnup.[12] All five songs from the EP are accompanied again with videos released on YouTube, directed by Candy Ken.
In November 2015 he released a third EP, Daddy 69, containing five songs and five videos. Four videos are directed by him, and the video for the song "69" is directed by London based underground director Kassandra Powell.[13]
In June 2016 he released his first album Real Talk containing twelve songs, ten of which were made in collaboration with the rapper Gigi Tays.[14] The release of the album was promoted with a club party at Visions Video Bar in London.[15] The album was again produced by Smokera and the video for the song "What i like" was again directed by Kassandra Powell.[16] He mentions the American rapper Riff Raff as his main musical and artistic influence for the album.[17]
Modeling
His modeling career started when he was noticed on Instagram in 2015 by stylist and Diesel brand creative designer Nicola Formichetti, who invited him to do a photo shoot[18] for a photo session in Formichetti's Japanese magazine FREE.[19] Formichetti introduced him to the photographer Terry Richardson, who also made a photo shoot with him in full frontal nudity for the magazine Man about Town. At the same time he was booked as a fashion model by the Italian Diesel clothing brand at the Pride Week in New York City.[20] He also made a runway appearance at the opening for designer Roberto Piqueras' fashion show at Berlin's alternative fashion week,[21] and for Japanese fashion designer Michiko Koshino.[22] He has been in photo shoot sessions for VMAN magazine,[23] Paper magazine, Vogue Taiwan,[24] and the Korean edition of Dazed magazine[25]
Discography
- Welcome to Candy Land (EP), May 2015
- Candy Ken Paradise, September 2015
- Daddy69 (EP), November 2015
- Real Talk, 2016
References
- ^ Stone, Zak (2016-08-19). "Candy Ken Does L.A." MEL Magazine. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
- ^ "Gestatten: Das ist Candy Ken - 20 Minuten Friday". 20 Minuten Friday. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
- ^ "Sugar Pop - Interview with Candy Ken! - Fucking Young!". Fucking Young!. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ "Who the Hell Is Candy Ken?". 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ "Fashion's Favorite: Candy Ken". MTV.de (in German). Retrieved 2016-11-19.
- ^ "Hair Ball of the Day | Who/What is Candy Ken? | Axxidental". accidentalbear.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
- ^ "Breaking Down Stereotypes With Hello Kitty Lover Candy Ken". Galore. 2015-08-03. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
- ^ papermagazine (2016-02-18). "Premiere: Candy Ken Preaches Self-Love In "Sorry Not Sorry"". PAPERMAG. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ ""Welcome To Candyland" ist das Seltsamste und Beste, das wir diese Woche gesehen haben - Noisey". Noisey (in alps). Retrieved 2016-11-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ "Candy Ken - Welcome To Candyland Part I + II | KALTBLUT Magazine". www.kaltblut-magazine.com. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ "Welcome to Candyland". ALPINALE. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
- ^ "Fizzy Mag | LOST IN CANDY KEN'S PARADISE". fizzymag.com. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
- ^ "Candy Ken visits a VHS sex dungeon for the video for "69"". HUNGER TV. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ "CANDY KEN`S Debut Album #REALTALK Is On The Way | KALTBLUT Magazine". www.kaltblut-magazine.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
- ^ "One Night In Candy Land: An Interview With The Larger Than Life Candy Ken". Autre Magazine. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
- ^ "Video World Premiere: Candy Ken feat. Gigi Tays - WHAT I LIKE (Na Na Na) | KALTBLUT Magazine". www.kaltblut-magazine.com. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
- ^ "Culture - Global Heroes - Candy Ken". MAC Cosmetics - Official Site. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
- ^ PAPERMAG (2015-07-30). "Chilling With Berlin Model/Partyboy, Candy Ken". PAPERMAG. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ "CANDY KEN | ウィメンズ＆メンズファッション誌『FREE MAGAZINE』". freemagazine.jp. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
- ^ "Candy Ken gets naked for Terry Richardson | KALTBLUT Magazine". www.kaltblut-magazine.com. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
- ^ "Be Yourself! Interview with Candy Ken - kowei 插畫試衣間 - kowei ∣ 風格達人 ∣ VOGUE時尚網". www.vogue.com.tw. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ "Iconic designer Michiko Koshino celebrates the 30th anniversary of her prolific brand, Michiko London". News Powered by Cision. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
- ^ "VMAN MAGAZINE featurin' CANDY KEN, Aura Photo Agency". www.auraphotoagency.com. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ "做自己！粉紅系潮男 Candy Ken 台灣首訪 - kowei 插畫試衣間 - kowei ∣ 風格達人 ∣ VOGUE時尚網". www.vogue.com.tw. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ Dazed (2016-02-27). "CANDY KEN". dazedkorea. Retrieved 2016-11-29.