Markeyvius LaShun Cathey (born August 3, 1997), known professionally as Key Glock, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. The cousin of late Memphis rapper

Young Dolph Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. (July 27, 1985 – November 17, 2021), better known by his stage name Young Dolph, was an American rapper and record executive. He first garnered mainstream attention for his guest appearance on O.T. Genasis' 2015 sin ...

, Cathey signed with his record label, Paper Route Empire, to release his commercial mixtape, ''Glock Season'' (2017). His debut studio album, '' Yellow Tape'' (2020), peaked at number 14 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and received

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

certification by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). His second album, '' Yellow Tape 2'' (2021), peaked at number seven on the chart and spawned the

multi-platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

-certified single " Ambition for Cash", as well as "

Proud Proud may refer to: Music * ''Proud'' (Heather Small album), the debut album by Heather Small ** "Proud" (Heather Small song), a song by Heather Small that was the official song for the London 2012 Olympic bid * '' Proud: An Urban-Pacific Stree ...

", which was released in the wake of Dolph's death and marked his first entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His third album, '' Glockoma 2'' (2023), spawned the sleeper hit single " Let's Go"—his second entry on the chart.

Early life

Markeyvius LaShun Cathey was born in

South Memphis South Memphis, one of the oldest portions of Memphis, Tennessee, is a community stretching from Riverside Drive and E. H. Crump Blvd just south of Downtown south and east to Pendleton St. & Ketchum Rd. , south of Orange Mound. In its early days, ...

on August 3, 1997. When he was 20 months old, his mother Tameika Cathey was sent to prison, where she would be for the next 15 years. His father was in and out of his life, so he was raised by his grandmother and his aunt. According to Cathey, he and his grandmother occasionally visited his mother in prison during his youth. At 18 years old, he was charged with three counts of

aggravated assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result ...

related to his involvement in a shooting. Music was a distraction from his oftentimes tumultuous life. Cathey said he grew up listening to

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

, and cites

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American hip-hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip-hop group, they went on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mystic Stylez'' became an influen ...

as his largest influence. He was also a big fan of

Project Pat Patrick Earl Houston (born February 8, 1973), known professionally as Project Pat, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the older brother of Juicy J, the co-founder of Three 6 Mafia. Houston was formerly a member of the hip-hop ...

, whom he describes as the "

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

of Memphis". According to Glock, Pat's songs "If You Ain't From My Hood" and "Gorilla Pimp" changed his life. The latter's chorus inspired one of his breakout songs, "Dig That". The first track that Glock recorded himself was a freestyle of

DJ Drama Tyree Cinque Simmons (born April 22, 1978), known professionally as DJ Drama, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record executive and music promoter. He initially gained recognition as the DJ for Atlanta-based rapper T.I., and continued to gai ...

's 2011 song " Ain't No Way Around It".

Career

Glock released his debut mixtape ''Whole Lotta Errthang'' in 2016. In 2017, Young Dolph signed Key Glock to the Paper Route Empire label. On January 25 of that year, Glock released his debut single "Racks Today" featuring American rapper Jay Fizzle. On June 16, 2017, Glock released his second mixtape, ''Glock Season'', under the label. His collaborative album ''

Dum and Dummer ''Dum and Dummer'' is a collaborative album by American rappers Young Dolph and Key Glock. It was released on July 26, 2019, through Young Dolph's label Paper Route Empire. The production on album was primarily handled by Bandplay. ''Dum and Dum ...

'' with Young Dolph reached number eight on the ''Billboard'' 200. Young Dolph's "

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

" featuring Key Glock reached number 47 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. Following the release of his collaborative album ''Dum and Dummer'' with Young Dolph, he went on a European tour across

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The pair brought out UK rapper

Blade Brown Jonathan James Wrate (born 12 February 1985), known professionally as Blade Brown is a British rapper and songwriter from Battersea, London. He released the mixtape series ''Bags and Boxes'', and the ''Financial Times'' mixtapes. XXL has com ...

as a supporting act. The two proceeded to start the "No Rules" Tour in 2020, beginning on February 5 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. On January 31, Key Glock released his debut studio album titled '' Yellow Tape'', which debuted at number 14 on the ''Billboard'' 200. On May 22, 2020, Key Glock released his sixth mixtape, ''Son of a Gun'', again with no features. On March 5, 2021, Key Glock and Young Dolph released the single, "Aspen", and announced the release of their second collaborative album, ''Dum and Dummer 2'', due for release on March 26, 2021. It is a sequel to 2019's ''Dum and Dummer''. The project's cartoon artwork references '' Beavis & Butthead''. On November 5, 2021, Glock released his second studio album '' Yellow Tape 2'', a sequel to ''Yellow Tape''. On January 18, 2022, Key Glock released the song "

", a tribute to Young Dolph. It is included on the Dolph tribute compilation ''Long Live Young Dolph'', released January 21, 2022. On February 24, 2023, Key Glock released his third studio album, '' Glockoma 2''. It is the sequel to his 2018 mixtape ''Glockoma''. On March 13, 2025, Key Glock signed to

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

. On May 2, 2025, after facing several delays, Key Glock released his fourth studio album and major-label debut album, '' Glockaveli''.

Personal life

Key Glock is the cousin by marriage of

, who was murdered in November 2021. Following Dolph's death, in a since-deleted Instagram post, Key Glock called him "my lefthand man, my brother, my cousin, and my mentor." The same month Young Dolph died he got a tattoo of Young Dolph.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other charted and certified songs

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glock, Key 1997 births African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers Rappers from Memphis, Tennessee Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century African-American musicians American trap musicians Gangsta rappers Southern hip-hop musicians Empire Distribution artists Republic Records artists