Kid Ink

Kid Ink helped create Los Angeles’ post-rap scene where strip club verbiage is pervasive and words are sung, not spoken. Alongside peers like Tyga and Ty Dolla $ign, Ink, born Brian Todd Collins in 1986, brings pillow talk to the streets and isn’t afraid to sing about things that would make your mother blush. Blessed with a knack for creating earworms, Collins began producing beats—indebted to early 2000s idols like Pharrell Williams and Swizz Beatz—back in high school. At the age of 22, he focused full-time on rapping, eventually developing his signature style that blends traditional flows with Auto-Tune-soaked melodies and nods to the sex jam. After his first mixtape, World Tour, which he released under the name Rockstar in 2010, Ink officially changed his name and found a hit with 2012’s “Time of Your Life”, a club banger that reveals his deeper, more empathetic side. “Show Me” (feat. Chris Brown), about Ink’s lustful search for his dream girl, introduced him to a wider audience taken by the track’s icy synths. Collins may indulge in a jet-setting lifestyle befitting his one-time Rockstar stage name, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a hard worker―and his unrelenting hustle has provided him with longevity. For 2020’s “45”, he raps, “Know we need the trophy ring/Baby, I’m bringing it home”. Once content with a long night in the club and a woman on his arm, Kid Ink has turned into a credible MC with the ambition of becoming the pride of the City of Angels. In the artist’s words: Find a song of yours on Apple Music that you love and tell us what makes it special. "Time of Your Life" This song is special to me because it's the first song of mine that played on the radio and helped take me to the next level.