I have a hard time figuring out which box to put K.Flay in. She incorporates a mix of hip-hop, rock, pop, and indie into her music and it makes for a fantastic sound.
Born Kristine Flaherty, she’s from Los Angeles and has a wide range of influences. These include Royal Blood, Missy Elliott, Garbage, Lauryn Hill, Tame Impala, Jeremih, Metric, M.I.A., OutKast, Liz Phair, Cat Power, and Shlohmo.
Earlier on, she was more of a rapper. She started making music in 2003 with “Blingity Blang Blang,” a parody of the rap scene. She released mixtapes in the following years, leading up to her debut EP in 2010: K.Flay. She gained a lot of momentum from this one as she prepared for her first official album.
In 2014, she released Life as a Dog and her popularity skyrocketed. Lead by “Make Me Fade,” “Can’t Sleep,” and “I’m Good,” this album signified her arrival. After its release, she toured with AWOLNATION, Third Eye Blind, and Dashboard Confessional.
Her second album, Every Where Is Some Where, was released in 2017, and was a great follow-up. It’s highlighted by “Dreamers,” “Giver,” “Blood in the Cut,” and “High Enough.” I think this is her best and most consistent album to date. “Blood in the Cut” was featured in XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Peaky Blinders, BoJack Horseman, and in a commercial for the 2017 NFL season.
Solutions (2019) was her third album, led by the single “Bad Vibes.” I also like “This Baby Don’t Cry” and “Nervous.” 2020 brought Don’t Judge a Song By Its Cover, where she covered Offspring’s “Self Esteem,” Green Day’s “Brain Stew,” and Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff.”
In 2021, she released two EPs: Inside Voices and Outside Voices. She packaged them together into one album in 2022, called Inside Voices / Outside Voices. My top picks for this one are “Four Letter Words,” “Good Girl,” and “Weirdo.”
Since then, she’s released two singles: “It’s Been So Long” and “Raw Raw.” Both are worth checking out. Tune into Evolution 107.9 to hear what K.Flay has to offer!
Last year, she announced that she had gone completely deaf in her right ear and is struggling to adjust to making music with her new condition. I can’t imagine how tough that must be, but we’ll see how she performs going forward.
Right now, she’s on tour with grandson and will be playing in Seattle on June 23. If you feel like making the trip, it should be a great show with two fantastic acts.
K.Flay has made a big impact throughout her career, and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.