Baltimore, MD [1999-Present]

Ryjan Kidwell - All instruments/Vocals

The Story

In 2003, it is press-bio cliché to front that an artist or an album is so original it resists definition – which for most artists is the case. And most of the time, originality isn’t even meritous. Unless you are CEX aka loquacious Baltimore-based MC / laptop wunderkind and stylistic shape shifter Rjyan Kidwell – in which case your originality and unwavering commitment to your own artistic evolution clearly evidences you as a genius.

So how would one ever expect to find out who Cex really is? Cex himself provides the easy answer – . Since 2000, Kidwell has kept a meticulously up-to-date, didactic and, often embarrassingly forthright diary on his website-- before Beck did it, before Moby did it, and long before Blogger and Livejournal came on the scene. This diary, and the spirit of intimacy that pervades all of Cex's output, is the constant that has stayed the same throughout the Cex discography. Unlike some artists, you don't have to take a press release's word for it to believe that Cex is honest--- beyond the point-blank directness of his lyrics, you can read his own handwriting in his album's liner notes, and check the website for Rjyan holding forth on bad shows, being a feminist, Catholic guilt and what kind of drugs you can get for free. And it’s fascinating.