Kid Acne

Kid Acne is an artist, illustrator and hip-hop musician. He was born in Lilongwe, Malawi in 1978.

He grew up in Lutterworth, Leicestershire and currently lives and works in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. He spent his formative years painting graffiti, creating fanzines and making limited run records on his own Invisible Spies imprint. Nowadays, his artwork can been seen throughout the world – both inside and outside of galleries. His signature style has adorned products for leading brands such as Prada, Kenzo, Elle, Kid Robot, Brompton and Warp Records.

In 2014 Kid Acne collaborated with Dr Katie Edwards, an academic at The University of Sheffield, on 'The Word Made Fresh' project for the university's The Festival of the Mind. As part of the project, Kid Acne painted a mural version of his work 'The Birth of Hip Hop' on the side of the Old Junior School in Sharrowvale, Sheffield. He also created a new rap, 'The Universe Rap', for the project.

Kid Acne has released a number of records sporadically over the years.

His first release was in 1997 under the name 'Mongrels' alongside DJ Benjamin on their own DIY label, C U Next Tuesday.

In 2000 they changed the label name to Invisible Spies before Acne issued his first solo 7" single, 'Squirrel Hunters' as the prelude to his debut LP, Rap Traffic (2001).

Kid Acne's 2nd album, Council Pop (Invisible Spies) was released in late 2003 preceded by a 12" of the track 'Radio Music', which led to a series of UK and European tours.

Both Rap Traffic and Council Pop were produced by UK graffiti stalwart and nocturnal beat constructor, Req One.

2007 saw the release of Kid Acne's 3rd LP, Romance Ain't Dead, this time on Lex Records / EMI. Beats once again programmed by Req One, with production handled by Ross Orton.

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