Kanii

Kanii is a rapper, vocalist, and songwriter from Washington, D.C., who blends motion-heavy electronic production with catchy vocal hooks somewhere between frantic R&B and post-Drake pop-rap. He’s best known for his 2023 viral hit “I Know,” which first took off on TikTok but gained enough momentum to break into the charts in several countries. After signing to a major label, he released the EPs Exiit and It Was Nice Knowing U, as well as the 2024 single “Tell Me.” Kanii was born in 2005 and was releasing original songs of his own by age 15. After finding his voice by sharing a few tracks, Kanii’s 2022 two-song EP Kaizen was the first evidence of the unique cyberpop/rap hybrid style he would make his own. He released several subsequent EPs in 2022 at a rate of one every other month or so, gathering momentum with each. In addition to Kaizen, Kanii released three other EPs that year; Kosia, ReliEVE, and Lucent. These releases saw his style incorporating elements of both ambient electronic music, hyperpop, and Internet-spawned underground rap. 2022 single “attachment (she wanna love)” performed well with multimillions in streaming numbers, but it was his March 2023 single “I Know” that really put Kanii on the map. After going viral on social media app TikTok, the song became popular enough to break into the U.S. Billboard charts at number 90, as well as charting in several other regions internationally. Several remixes of “I Know” bolstered these numbers, and Kanii quickly followed up with new songs “Go (Xtayalive 2)” and “Heart Racing,” both released in 2023. Kanii signed to Warner Records and released the EPs Exiit and It Was Nice Knowing U. In 2024, he reunited with Riovaz and Nimstarr (his collaborators on “Heart Racing”) for the single “Tell Me.” ~ TiVo Staff