Kenneth Blume on 'Lurker' Music, Retiring Kenny Beats Name

Introducing Kenneth Blume , the artist formerly known as Kenny Beats .

The powerhouse producer — who defined an entire era of rap crafting albums by Jpegmafia, Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, Rico Nasty and more — is entering a new chapter by going back to the name he was born with.

“I named myself Kenny Beats at 15 years old for MySpace — because my name was Kenny and I made beats — and it kind of just stuck,” Blume tells Variety over Zoom from his L.A. studio. “And whenever I get a Grammy nomination as Kenny Beats, there’s times where in my heart I’m just like, ‘But my last name is Blume.'”

One of his first credits as Kenneth Blume is as the composer and curator behind the music of “ Lurker ,” Alex Russell’s tense debut film that follows Matthew (Théodore Pellerin), a shy retail