Brandon Perry (born January 12, 1991), better known as K.A.A.N. (acronym for Knowledge Above All Nonsense), is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

rapper and singer from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. He is best known for his fast-rhyming Chopper style, breathless-style, vast vocabulary, and

cynical Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of others. A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic p ...

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

based on

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

issues,

abuse Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

Life and career

Brandon Perry was born and raised in

, and grew up in a trailer park. He got into music at an early age when his parents would play

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

, among others such as

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...

, and

Big Krit Justin Lewis Scott (born August 26, 1986), known professionally as Big K.R.I.T. (a backronym for King Remembered in Time), is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he began his musical career in 2005. He was sign ...

. He cites "When I was ten or so I bought every Tupac CD. I bought all his music. My parents played him,

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

and

Biggie Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradit ...

in the car and stuff. I listened to other guys, like

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx, he came to prominence upon discover ...

, O.C.,

Big L Lamont Coleman (May 30, 1974February 15, 1999), known professionally as Big L, was an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Emerging from Harlem in New York City in 1992, Big L became known among underground hip-hop fans for his f ...

, a lot when I was younger too". Perry started releasing music around 2014, but it wasn't until he released the video "''KAANCEPTS"'' where his music started to gain attention. Perry used to work for a contracting and

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

company, working six days a week from Monday-Saturday to fund his rap career. He currently resides in Los Angeles where he writes and records music at

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

's Record One Studio. He did a

tribute song called “Rest Easy” in 2018. In 2022 he released his twenty-fifth album titled “The High Before You Fall”.

Artistry

Perry has stated

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

is one of his greatest influences, stating how Shakur was "the only artist where I could literally feel the music", adding that he studied Shakur's music and would "

isten Isten may refer to: Mythology * Istanu, a god in Anatolian mythology * ''Isten'', an alternative spelling of Astennu, a figure in Egyptian mythology * ''Isten'' () is the word for God in the Hungarian language Others * Isten, áldd meg a magyart ...

to catch every word, mannerism, voice inflections." Perry has listed many other rap artists he took inspiration from, naming

Das EFX Das EFX is an American hip hop duo. It consists of emcees Dray (also known as Krazy Drayz, born Andre Weston, September 9, 1970) and Skoob (also known as Books and Boogie Bang, born William "Willie" Hines, November 27, 1970). They named them ...

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is an initialism for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. E Double) and Parrish Smith ("PMD" a.k.a. Parrish Mi ...

and

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

. He has added that acts from other genres are also big influences in his style,

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

, and

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

. When asked about his role and race in rap, Perry responded, "I'm obviously a younger black man, so that stuff is definitely in the back of my mind....All that stuff we're seeing nowadays with police brutality and racism and bigotry that we've always seen in this country, it's always in the back of your mind...I feel like if you're born black it's kind of like it comes with the territory. You've gotta know what's going on around you and what situations you're in. But in terms of me writing, I don't feel like I speak for anyone. I don't speak for young black men or black people. I speak for myself."

Discography

Mixtapes *''Losing My Religion'' (2014) *''Abstract Art'' (2015) *''Nameless'' (2019) Extended Plays *''1/12/199?'' (2015) *''Eclectic Audio'' (2016) *''Uncommon Knowledge'' (2016) *''K.A.A.N X SGULL'' (2016) *''K.A.A.N. X Genshin'' (2016) *''K.A.A.N. X Eremsy EP'' (2017) *''Littlegreenhouse'' (2017) *''Abstractions'' (2017) *''K.A.A.N. X SGULL Vol.2'' (2017) *''2609'' (2017) *''The Middle'' (2017) *''Heart Shaped Melody'' (2018) *''Mission To Mission Hillz'' (2019) Albums * ''The Black Blood LP'' (2017) * ''Voices'' (2017) * ''Paradise / / Lost'' (2018) * ''Pure Intentions'' (2018) * ''4/29/17'' (2018) * ''Subtle Meditation'' (2018) * ''Gathering'' (2019) * ''I.C.a.B.S.'' (2019) * ''Requiem For A Dream Deferred'' (2019) * ''Naiveté'' (2019) * ''Twenty Nine'' (2020) * ''Blissful Awareness'' (2020) * ''Lost in Translation'' (2020) * ''All Praise Is Due'' (2020) * ''Vivid Canvas'' (2020) * ''Long Time No See'' (2021) * ''Kaizen'' (2021) * ''Kaizen, Pt.2'' (2021) * ''Sunset Crest Dr.'' (2021) * ''Mission Hillz'' (2022) * ''The High Before You Fall'' (2022) * ''Ignorance Is Bliss'' (2023) * ''The Death of a Rapper'' (w/ Mike Summers) (2023) * ''Peace Of Minds'' (2024) * ''Delusions of Grandeur'' (2024) * ''In Due Time'' (2024) * ''YESTERDAY'' (2025) Singles * ''Still'' (2016) * ''Water'' (2016) * ''How High'' (2017) * ''Circles'' (2017) * ''Up'' (2017) * ''All We Got'' (2017) * ''Ride'' (2017) * ''Eleven'' (2017) * ''Inner Thoughts'' (2017) * ''Holding On'' (2018) * ''OASIS GONE'' (2018) * ''No Illusions'' (2018) * ''1492 Conquest of Paradise'' (2018) * ''Mind Games'' (2019) * ''2 Busy'' (2019) * ''Double Dealing'' (2019) * ''Goof Troop'' (2019) * ''Slight Bent'' (2020) * ''Meek Interview'' (2020) * ''Simonal'' (2020) * ''Pino'' (2020) * ''Rosinha (Extended Single Edit)'' (2020) * ''SkyLight'' (2020) * ''Lost Kings'' (2020) * ''Trickle Down Economics'' (2020) * ''BIG'' (2021) * ''No Competition'' (2021) * ''RULZ (2021)'' * ''Resonate'' (2021) * ''Amedeo Tommasi'' (2021) * ''Matter Fact'' (2021) * ''2 Much'' (2022) * ''I See'' (2022) * ''Greatness'' (2022) * ''The Recipe'' (2022) * ''Audio Murder'' (2022) * ''Get Out The Way (2022)'' * ''O.M.S (2022)'' * ''Room At The Table'' (2022) * ''2ya'' (2022) * ''Time Fly's'' (2022) * ''It Gets Easy'' (2022) * ''Makin' Friends'' (2023) * ''Motion'' (2023) * ''Clarity'' (2023) * ''Cost Of Doing Business'' (2023) * ''Dope'' (2023) * ''Rhyme or Reason'' (2023) * ''Evident'' (2023) * ''The Assignment'' (2023) * ''High Beams'' (2023) * ''How It Goes'' (2023) * ''The Fame'' (2023) * ''The Death Of A Rapper'' (2023) * ''2 IN THA FRONT'' (2023) * ''Good Intentions Freestyle'' (2023) * ''Buzzin (2023) * ''Bang Bus'' (2023) * ''Dying Breed'' (2024) * ''Basque'' (2024) * ''The Plot Thickens'' (2024)

References

{{Authority control Living people Rappers from Baltimore 1991 births 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 21st-century African-American musicians