Kanii

In the organizer's words:

Live Nation Presents

US sensation Kanii

Live in Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Vienna in November/December 2024

Special guest: 9LIVES

He's been enjoying nine-figure streaming figures and a viral tailwind for some time now ("I Know", "attachment"), and in the last few months he's also had his first cover stories(NME) and support shows at the biggest US stages: Having just finished high school, US sensation Kanii recently continued her career as part of the "Class of 24" (Ones To Watch) as well as supporting PinkPantheress. After her acclaimed Berlin show in January, the East Coast sensation, who is currently taking off, will be playing three more dates in Germany and a stopover in Vienna in November/December 2024.

The latest teenage trailblazer has already made an incredible number of people in the post-genre music landscape prick up their ears, although it is repeatedly emphasized how difficult his sound is to grasp: While "I Know" and the even more successful edit by PR1SVX are also clearly charged with the energy of Jersey Club, he otherwise moves seamlessly between synth-pop and alt-R&B, between emo-rap, electro and eighties harmonies. "Pure eclecticism", to quote the NME , although strictly speaking there were rough directions and focal points: While the EP "exiit", released in 2023 , his first release after the major deal, was more club-oriented, the current EP "it was nice knowing you" mainly set the tone for the R&B factor. When "The Heart Racers" EP, recorded together with Riovaz and Nimstarr, came out at the beginning of the year, everything suddenly revolved around a retro-futuristic eighties sound with a lot of pop appeal.

Kanii himself prefers the term "retro-futurism, if you must", as he recently commented. Although much of his sound sounds ultra-contemporary, his entire approach is based on a few absolute old-school icons of music history who were already active in the last millennium. "My grandfather used to listen to stuff like the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and The Jackson 5, all that Motown stuff," recalls Kanii (Kani Shorter Jr.) and in the same breath mentions his mother's formative pop preferences, who "listened to younger stuff like Beyoncé" or Keyshia Cole. Having grown up in Washington, D.C. and now based in NYC, it was XXXTentacion who inspired him to make his first recordings in 2018. Two other important role models passed away far too soon: Juice WRLD and Michael Jackson, for Kanii the "ultimate GOAT among GOATs".

"There are just so many sounds that I like. If anyone thinks they have my songwriting completely figured out, then I'm doing something wrong," says Kanii, who landed his first viral hit on TikTok back in 2022 with "attachment (she wanna love)". Even if it remains to be seen what sonic direction he will take with his first album statement, the message is already clear: "I want to be the voice that tells people 'you can do what you want'",as he put it in one of his first interviews.

"Europe u guys went insane, can't wait to come back", Kanii wrote at the end of January after the first exclusive dates in London, Amsterdam and Berlin. There will be a live follow-up from November 30, when the 19-year-old will also present his vision in Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Vienna.