— Renowned producer Kenny Beats has officially released his first ever solo album, LOUIE, via XL Records.
Kenny Beats has made quite a name for himself throughout the years producing hit tracks for some of Hip-Hop’s biggest and most talented artists such as Vince Staples, Denzel Curry, Rico Nasty, and Freddie Gibbs just to name a few. Now, he’s decided to deliver his first ever solo album, LOUIE, with the help of a few friends and frequent collaborators.
The 17-track project arrives with a series of video vignettes paired with select songs, available on the official Kenny Beats YouTube channel. LOUIE is now available for pre-order on vinyl and CD, for release on January 27th. Formats include limited pink vinyl, available exclusively on Kenny Beats’ Discord, and a deluxe LP + LOUIE book box set with alternate artwork available via the Kenny Beats and XL Recordings webstores and Bandcamp.
At 33 minutes, LOUIE is a spontaneous burst of creativity spurred by an avalanche of despair and imagination. Only after sharing it with a few close friends – who mentioned the elegiac pathos it evoked – did Kenny become convinced to release it for public consumption. Some of those friends made contributions to the album, including Benny Sings, Dijon, Fousheé, JPEGMAFIA, Mac DeMarco, Pink Siifu, Omar Apollo, Paris Texas, Remi Wolf, slowthai, Thundercat, Vince Staples and more.
Created over the course of the month of December 2021, LOUIE presents a side of Kenny, best known for producing seminal full-length albums for some of the world’s most exciting artists, that has not been seen by the world before. Charismatic, self-effacing and generous, the album reveals the duality of the artist — an enigmatic, introspective searcher who has experienced pain and duress, and alchemized it via looped samples and hypnotic drum patterns. LOUIE gives testament to our most personal thoughts, recollections, and stories.
This September, Kenny Beats will be performing at New York City’s Summerstage in Central Park alongside friends slowthai, julie, and more special guests to be announced. Kenny will also be performing in Miami at III Points Festival this October and in Los Angeles at The Shrine this November.
Listen to LOUIE above, see upcoming live dates below, and stay tuned for more from Kenny Beats very soon via Instagram and Twitter.
Upcoming Live Dates
9/16 – New York, NY @ Summerstage in Central Park
10/21 – Miami, FL @ III Points Festival
11/5 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Shrine