KO

KO is a Toronto-based folk and hip-hop artist from Toronto, Canada. Born in 1986, Ko Kapches is raised in a middle-class Greek family in the Queen and Broadview area of Toronto, Ontario.

He begins using and selling drugs at 14 and later moves through rehabilitation centres across the United States. He also spends time living on the streets of San Francisco before contacting his parents and returning home, though he then lives on the streets of Toronto as well.

KO develops his music by spending time with friends in small studios, where he works on rapping, writing songs and playing guitar. His style develops into what he describes as urban funk and urban folk. He thinks of himself as a folk musician, but with lyrics about city life rather than rural subjects, and says he does not come from an impoverished background but still sees street life every day.

His sound is shaped by Toronto’s underground rap community, alongside a broad set of influences that include Everlast, Kid Rock, Ani DiFranco, Thelonious Monk, Van Morrison and Neil Young. He has a tattoo of a line from Neil Young’s “Down by the River” on his chest.

KO describes his music as organic and unusual, aiming for listeners to react strongly to it. He also says that songs he writes at 18 still carry the same meaning for him years later, including when he plays them for people hearing them for the first time.