K.Flay

K.Flay earned Grammy nominations for “Blood in the Cut,” nominated for Best Rock Song, and for the engineering of its parent album, Every Where Is Some Where. Born Kristine Meredith Flaherty on June 30, 1985, she is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and rapper from Wilmette, Illinois, whose work moves between rap cadences, melodic pop writing, electronic production, and guitar-driven rock.

Flaherty began making music at 19 after an argument led someone to challenge her to make a song. Her father had taught her guitar about a decade earlier, and while studying at Stanford University she began producing tracks and playing campus house parties. After graduating, she moved to San Francisco and continued recording, releasing the 2011 mixtape I Stopped Caring in ’96. Her 2013 EP What If It Is included a collaboration with rapper Danny Brown.

Her first studio album, Life as a Dog, arrived in 2014 after she launched her own label for its release. The record reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart and No. 14 on the Rap Albums chart. K.Flay followed it with the 2016 EP Crush Me, then signed as the first artist on Night Street/Interscope, an imprint led by Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds.

Every Where Is Some Where followed in 2017, drawing on late-1990s and early-2000s rock alongside her established hip-hop and pop approach. Its arrangements incorporated more live guitar, bass, and drums, with production contributions from Mike Elizondo and Tommy English. Songs including “High Enough,” “Mean It,” “It’s Just a Lot,” “The President Has a Sex Tape,” and “Black Wave” paired personal writing with political and social unease. K.Flay subsequently released Solutions in 2019, Inside Voices / Outside Voices in 2022, and Mono in 2023.

Alongside her solo catalog, K.Flay has collaborated with artists including Dune Rats, Grandson, Mike Shinoda, Party Favor, Tom Morello, Travis Barker, Vic Fuentes, Pvris, X Ambassadors, and Evanescence. Her touring has also included runs with Passion Pit, Icona Pop, AWOLNATION, and Theophilus London.