4.7.2023

EP: Kenzo Balla – The Year Of The Balla

The Rising Bronx Drill Star Refines His Razor-Sharp Sound Over 11 Tracks, Featuring Appearances from Set Da Trend, TG Flockaa, & Rayy Balla

Critical Praise

“…few songs feel as dutifully assembled as ‘Krash Out.’ As the sample gradually uncoils, Kenzo slashes right through the center. A weird phenomenon seems to happen, the rap equivalent of bullet time, where the listener gets an enhanced perception of the rapper’s speed relative to the world around him.” – NPR

“Kenzo Balla is yet another emerging voice out of New York City’s drill scene right now.” – Billboard

“Kenzo’s energy is magnetic” – COMPLEX

“Kenzo Balla’s commanding voice makes the new [“Let Me Know”] single an immediate standout.” – Audiomack

“Kenzo Balla is stepping into the game with sky high ambitions and a pen to match.” – IMPRINT

The Video:

Swiftly rising through the rap ranks of the Five Boroughs and beyond, applying pressure to his opps every step of the way, Bronx rapper Kenzo Balla is taking his explosive sound to new heights. Continuing a high-volume hot streak of releases, Kenzo shares his new EP, The Year Of The Balla. Featuring kaleidoscopic drill and Jersey club-inspired production from FaZe Kaysan, Cxdy, Sandstorm, Marstikkupp, and more, The Year Of The Balla is available everywhere via 10k Projects.

Home to high-powered recent singles like the unrelenting “Opp Huntin’” (1.3 million views on YouTube, 1 million streams on Spotify), the soulful “What’s The Move,” and the TG Flockaa and Rayy Balla-featuring “Unfinished Business,” The Year Of The Balla is anchored by a cohesive, contemporary East Coast sound which benefits greatly Kenzo’s most wide-ranging sound palette to date. Tracks like “Emotional Damage” and “My Type Of Time,” produced by Cxdy of Internet Money, are immediate standouts as two of Kenzo’s most vulnerable songs yet, while hard-nosed cuts like “Who Spinnin” and the Set Da Trend-featuring “Brand New” stay true to form, with Kenzo’s war-ready energy booming through each bossed up bar.

A rising name in one of the nation’s busiest rap scenes, Kenzo Balla made his mark on the scene with his relentless rhymes and high-energy vocals. Known for collaborating with fellow Bronx heavyweights like his brother TG Flockaa, Kenzo kicked off his career with a frenzy of fiery videos, including local hits like “5th To Sev” ft. TG Flockaa & Pdot Sav (2.2 million video views), “OOTAZ,” and the “Love Nwantiti”-remixing “Let Me Know” (2.1 million views). This summer, the former AAU baller tore up the streets with “Dead Gzz,” a vicious, uptempo missive that racked up over 1.7 million video views since its release in June 2022. Kenzo closed out 2022 in typically aggressive fashion with Mr. Ready to Blitz (Deluxe), home to the NPR-approved “Krash Out.” Kenzo is currently nominated for XXL’s “10th Spot,” with a chance to be voted onto their 2023 Freshman Class–vote for Kenzo HERE.

With The Year Of The Balla officially underway, stay tuned for much more from Kenzo Balla.

Please contact Michelle or T’Keyah for more info.

The Background:

Kenzo Balla evokes both the ecstasy and the peril of New York street rap. The Bronx artist serves up chilly bars over hammering drill beats for stylish, yet raw anthems that are drawing the attention of the world by the day. Teaming with frequent collaborators TG Crippy (his brother) and Jay Da Chaser, he blends those elements on tracks like “OOTAZ,” which drips with adrenaline and confrontation. While the track and others like it evoke unsettling force, they’ve also become the soundtrack of functions across the East Coast, and Kenzo wouldn’t have it any other way. Growing up in the BX, everyone knew each other and attended the same parties, but as he became a teenager, the drama escalated. Kenzo realized he’d have to change his lifestyle to survive. He’d spent much of his early years freestyling with friends, so he decided to record his first songs in 2018. After catching attention with melodic tracks like “Backends,” each new release earned more streams than the last. In September 2021, he unloaded “5th to the Sev,” an anthem for his neighborhood that garnered 1 million YouTube views. By 2022, he’d signed a deal with 10K Projects, alongside Crippy. With a growing fan base and an evolving sound in the works for a new project, Kenzo recognizes the potential of the moment he’s having now. On a grander level, he wants to rep the neighborhood that raised him. “I’m making music for me, my brother, my block, for the Bronx, and the whole city,” he says. “The Bronx is just me”.

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Links:

instagram | spotify | apple music  | youtube | tiktok

The Year Of The Balla: https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/TheYearOfTheBalla

“Kan’t Lack”: https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/kantlack

“Unfinished Business” ft. TG Crippy & Rayy Balla: https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/UnfinishedBusiness / https://youtu.be/Cxmf14zLICE

“Opp Huntin'”: https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/opphuntin / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiFVRFKs-v8

“What’s The Move”: https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/whatsthemove

Wonderful [OTR Freestyle]” ft. Rayy Balla: https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/wonderful

Mr. Ready To Blitz (Deluxe): https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/readytoblitz-deluxe

“PSA” ft. Kyle Richh: https://youtu.be/fwyVMdYmDyw

“No Sympathy”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ9fJithyKg

Mr. Ready To Blitz: https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/mrreadytoblitz

“SMMBF” ft. Nas EBK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YejXmE6gni0

“Krash Out”: https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/krashout / https://youtu.be/ZiVuC9pnQJk

“Don’t Panic” ft. Cito Blick & Pdot Sav:  https://kenzoballa.lnk.to/dontpanic / https://youtu.be/eAKju7ALGPk

“Dead Gzz”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-i6u70lSpY

“Let Me Know”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn0jGNT_QV8

“5th To Sav”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY2tBWgA81U