Miss Ko

Miss Ko
Born (1985-09-05) September 5, 1985
Queens, New York, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2012–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website facebook.com/OfficialMissKo

Christine "Miss" Ko (born September 5, 1985) is a Taiwanese-American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She won Best New Artist at the 24th Annual Golden Melody Awards (Grammy's of Taiwan), making her the first rapper to ever win the award. Ko has released two albums and collaborated with major acts such as MC Hot Dog, Khalil Fong, Crowd Lu and A-mei. She is currently signed to Universal Music Group.[1]

Early life

Ko grew up in Queens, New York and attended Brooklyn Technical High School, where she took up rapping as a means to memorize her coursework.[2] She earned her Bachelor in Music Business and graduated as valedictorian from Five Towns College. [3] During college, Ko worked with a Japanese rap group called Thurobredz and Flowsik of Aziatix.[4] After graduation, Ko began to pursue her solo career, and was selected out of thousands of applicants to perform for Hot 97's Night of the Rising Stars.[4]

Ko released her mixtape Industry Makeover, which independently sold several thousands units, particularly in Asia. This prompted her to move to her parent's native country, Taiwan and study Mandarin at National Taiwan Normal University. While enrolled there, she entered a local songwriting competition. The song, which was uploaded onto YouTube, caught the eye of Taiwanese hip hop producers, Dela Chang and Soft Lipa 蛋堡. Ko was subsequently signed to their label Kao Inc Records.

On November 1, 2011, Ko was involved in a traffic accident which broke her jaw and left her immobile for several months. During her recovery, she finished writing Knock Out and attributes her success to the experience.[5]

Career

2012-Present

On August 15, 2012, Ko released her debut album Knock Out, which peaked #1 on local music charts. She is the first female rapper to release a solo album in Taiwan and air her music video on MTV.

On December 31, 2014, Ko released her sophomore album XXXIII (33). XXXIII (33) includes hit singles such as "Ready, Set, Drunk" and "Selfie," which have each surpassed a million views on YouTube. "Selfie" was used as a commercial song for HTC.

As the first female rapper to release a solo album and win a Golden Melody Award, Ko is considered a pioneer for hip hop in Asia. She holds the record for most performances by a newcomer at Taipei Arena within a year. Ko won "Most Outstanding Asian-American Youth Overseas" in 2014.[6]

In 2015, Ko had initially wanted to give up on her music career and return to New York to stay with her family and loved ones, but was approached by Universal Music Group to continue her career. With her mother's full support, Ko decided to dedicate her full attention and talents to her music and follow her dreams.[7]

She is known for her role in empowering women and has been featured in Marie Claire and Elle, in addition to campaigns for Burberry, Calvin Klein, and H&M.[8]

Discography

Mixtapes

Albums
Collaborations

Influences

Ko lists Tupac, Lauryn Hill, TLC, Michael Jackson, A Tribe Called Quest as her musical influences.[9]

Other Ventures

On August 14, 2015, Ko performed and threw the ceremonial first pitch for her hometown team, the Mets at Citifield.[10]

Philanthropy

In June 2015, Ko released a music video speaking against domestic violence. The video reached over 19,000 shares on Facebook .[11]

References

  1. ↑ "葛仲珊不當饒舌鄧麗君 跳槽當環球小姐". 時中電子報. April 14, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Miss Ko Bio". Reverb Nation. September 5, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Graduates from, to all walks of life, Hundreds at three LI ceremonies put a cap on their college careers yesterday, and new paths await". Newsday. May 20, 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 eMinor. "Miss Ko Bio | ReverbNation". ReverbNation. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  5. ↑ "Miss Ko Bounces Back From Disaster For a Hip Hop Knock Out". MTV Iggy. January 15, 2015.
  6. ↑ "戴日基和葛仲珊榮膺「海外優秀青年」". Epoch Times. March 31, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Taiwanese rapper Miss Ko joins Universal Music Taiwan – Hello Asia!". Hello Asia!. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  8. ↑ "Burberry風衣藝術展派對". Elle Taiwan. September 12, 2014.
  9. ↑ "[ELLE]放浪音樂─馬念先&葛仲珊 Let's Get Hyper". Elle. October 3, 2013.
  10. ↑ "MLB》大都會台灣之夜昨登場 葛仲珊「饒」著開球（影音）". 自由時報. August 16, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Let It Go: Miss Ko Sings out Against Domestic Violence". SinoVision English Channel Archives. July 2, 2015.


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