Mark Makora Mbogo (born September 23, 1997), better known by his stage name KayCyy (originally known as KayCyy Pluto), is a Kenyan singer-songwriter signed to Abou ‘Bu’ Thiam’s label Bu Vision and forms part of Kanye West’s roster for his project YEEZY SOUND.

In an interview with Flaunt, KayCyy spoke about the inspiration of his name:

KayCyy is not my real name—it means King Confidence. My mom gave me that name. King Confidence isn’t cool enough, so I made it look weird how I spelled it. Changed it to KayCyy and shortened it.

At the age of 9, KayCyy and his family had moved from their home country of Kenya to the United States, specifically to the state of Minnesota. He attended high school in the city of Saint Paul, where he graduated from in 2016. After graduating from high school, KayCyy moved to New York and later Los Angeles to pursuit his music career.

KayCyy started his musical career around 2013, by releasing covers and original songs on SoundCloud. In 2016, KayCyy was signed to Alive Productions, a label founded by Reefa, however, he had left the label in 2021. During his earlier stages of his career, KayCyy would release a slew of mixtapes through the label, most primarily, his now discontinued Pluman series.

2020 would be an important year for the rapper, as KayCyy helped produced Lil Wayne’s “Big Worm” and having writing credits on Kanye West & Travis Scott’s single “Wash Us In The Blood.” KayCyy had worked closely with West since 2019, as the two rappers met through record executive Abou “Bu” Thiam, who became West’s manager and soon KayCyy’s. That same year, he released his fourth mixtape Patient Enough with contributions from some major artists like Lil Baby, Ronny J and the late Lil Keed.

Early into 2021, KayCyy would release his second mixtape Ups & Downs, which was released on February 14, 2021. KayCyy would later on go to appear in Kanye West’s long-awaited tenth studio album, Donda, where he had appeared on the track, “Keep My Spirit Alive.”

In 2022, KayCyy’s solo career would see a massive spike, with releases such as “OKAY!” and “THE SUN” that have put him on the map. Thanks to the success of those songs, KayCyy would land himself a spot in the 2022 XXL Freshman list, as well as getting signed to Bu Vision, Bu Thaim’s record label, and Columbia Records. In that same year, KayCyy released two projects; the Gesaffelstein assisted TW20 50 EP and Get Used To It.

In late November to December of that year, KayCyy released a series of singles on SoundCloud, all in the playlist of #NEWMUSICMONDAYS, where every Monday of those months, KayCyy would release a new song onto SoundCloud. Five songs were released in total.

Entering into 2023, KayCyy would find himself collaborating with Gesaffelstein once again on their second collaboration EP, TW20522, with four new tracks, including the previously-released TW20 50. KayCyy would also see a peak in his popularity as he was featured in Travis Scott’s UTOPIA on the track “THANK GOD” as a hidden feature. In the Summer of 2023, KayCyy’s career would see another peak, with the release of his highly anticipated songs, “My Jeans,” to which it saw immediate viral sensation throughout social media.

KayCyy is expected to release his upcoming debut studio album, Never Been So Sure, as well as his long-awaited album, WHO IS KAYCYY? in 2024.

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