Keith Ape

Keith Ape, born Dongheon Lee, is a South Korean rapper who rose to international attention with his 2015 viral hit «잊지 마 (It G Ma)», a track whose aggressive trap sound and bilingual Korean-English flow helped introduce a new generation of Korean hip-hop to Western audiences. The song's remix featured a roster of American rappers including A$AP Ferg, Father, and Waka Flocka Flame, cementing Keith Ape as one of the first Korean artists to cross over meaningfully into the US underground rap scene.

Before adopting the Keith Ape name, he recorded as Kid Ash with Hi-Lite Records in Seoul, part of a wave of Korean rappers building an independent hip-hop scene outside the mainstream K-pop system. He later became associated with the multicultural collective 88rising, which helped platform Asian and Asian-American artists in the US market, and remains linked to hip-hop collective The Cohort.

His sound draws on trap production, dark 808-driven beats, and an ad-lib-heavy delivery, with lyrics moving fluidly between Korean and English more than is typical among his Korean peers. Tracks like «Achoo!», «Fendi», and «Diamonds» continued this style, positioning him as a bridge figure between Korean underground rap and the broader global trap scene.