DJ Kay Slay, also known as the Drama King, (born Kenneth Gleason) is the ringmaster of the new hip-hop rivalries, played out on his mixtapes. The New York Times called him "Hip-Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults."

Originally from East Harlem in New York, Kenneth started out with graffiti, using his tag name, DEZ. He was featured in the classic hip-hop documentaries Wild Style and Style Wars. When the New York City Transit Police cracked down on graffiti in the late 1980s, Kay Slay took up turntables. He made his way spinning records and releasing mixtapes, all the while trying to get some money and a record contract.

In 2001, when Jay-Z and Nas's rivalry erupted on Kay Slay tapes, everything changed for him. The majority of commercial mainstream hip-hop artists send their "disses" [1] to "the Drama King," and up-and-coming artists try to get air time on his show so they can can have similar success such as the rapper, 50 Cent. DJ Kay Slay's Thursday night show on the Hot 97 radio station in Manhattan, New York and his constant stream of mixtapes are now watched closely by record executives who want to sign the next big hip-hop artist.

In the summer of 2003, Kay Slay released a single and music video of his own for a track called "Too Much For Me", which featured rapping from Loon, Nas, and Foxy Brown, and a sung chorus by relative newcomer, Amerie; though the song itself failed to hit big, its music video was aired on MTV Jams and BET. In 2004, another single and video were released for "Who Gives A...Where You From".

Kay Slay has released two albums, Streetsweepers Vol.1 and Streetsweepers Vol. 2, in May 2003 and March 2004. Another album is on the way, titled Streetsweepers Vol. 3: The Game of Death, and scheduled for release in April 2005. The lead single of this album will be featuring the artist, Loon called, "Lifestyle Of A Superstar".

External links

• DJ Kay Slay's official website
• DJ Kay Slay's Hot 97 web page biography