Blacklite District

Blacklite District
Blacklite District
	Blacklite District in 2020
Background information
Birth name	Kyle Pfeiffer
Also known as	Blacklite District
Born	June 9, 1990; Spearfish, South Dakota, United States.
Genres	Rock, pop, alternative, trap
Occupation(s)	Rapper; singer; songwriter; record producer;
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, drums
Years active	2013–present
Labels	AK19 Entertainment
Website	blacklitedistrict.net

Kyle Pfeiffer (born June 9, 1990), known professionally as Blacklite District, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, rapper, and record producer from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Blacklite District's sound relies heavily on the influence of hip hop, pop, and classic hard rock. He began writing music as a way to cope after the death of his mother, Tina Pfeiffer, on May 3, 1999.

Blacklite District rose to international YouTube fame in 2018 with the release of his song "Cold As Ice" feat. R8eDR, which ended up getting 100 million streams and hit #35 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. He followed it up with a string of other viral hits, including "The Struggle", "Just So You Know", and "Goodbye" feat. R8eDR. Combined, he has gotten over 300 million streams globally across YouTube and Spotify, and was awarded YouTube's Sliver Creator Award in November 2019 for passing 100,000 subscribers on his channel.

On June 9, 2020, Blacklite District, in collaboration with Rainimator, released the animated video for his single "Falling", which peaked at #3 on YouTube's trending chart, and got 1.5 million streams in its first three days of release. The song went Top 30 in eight countries around the world, and became Blacklite District's highest charting US single to date, landing at #33 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in November 2020.

Blacklite District has released two full-length albums, INSTANT / / CONCERN and You're Welcome, both in 2020 through his own AK19 Entertainment, LLC label. INSTANT / / CONCERN features songs from two previous releases, To Whom It May Concern, and Instant Gratification, both of which have been removed from Blacklite District's catalog.

Early life

Kyle Pfeiffer was born on June 9, 1990 in Munster, IN (suburban Chicago) to mother Tina Pfeiffer, and father George Balac. Both of his parents struggled with drug addiction, and Pfeiffer was raised by his grandparents, Tony and Sheila Pfeiffer. He attended kindergarten in Griffith, IN, before he and his grandparents moved to South Dakota in 1997–98.

On May 3, 1999, his mother passed away from a heroin overdose at the age of 27. Shortly after, Pfeiffer began discovering and listening to artists like Ozzy Osbourne, as an escape from the trauma of losing a parent at such a young age. He claims Ozzy Osbourne as his biggest musical influence and for getting him started on the path to a career in music.

At the age of 10, Pfeiffer's grandfather bought him a drum-set from a Sears catalog after he started listening to Fleetwood Mac. He learned to play drums by himself by watching VHS tapes of live concerts. Eventually, he rediscovered and became obsessed with Ozzy Osbourne's band, Black Sabbath, and that is when he started taking singing seriously, and writing his own songs.

During his teenage years, Pfeiffer attended Spearfish Middle and High School, where he graduated from in the class of 2009. At the age of 13, Pfeiffer started his first band with local friends and began playing shows locally in the Black Hills area.

Career

While the name Blacklite District started as a band, Pfeiffer decided to use it as his official stage name after his song "Cold As Ice" went viral on YouTube. In an interview, Pfeiffer stated that many "fans thought that it was my name as a solo artist, so I just went with it."

As a group, Blacklite District released the song "With Me Now" in 2013, and it went Top 40 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and sold over 100,000 digital downloads. The band went on tour with Saving Abel in 2014, and did an interview and performance at SiriusXM early that year.

In 2016, Blacklite District released "We Are The Danger" as the lead single from his limited edition project, To Whom It May Concern, which was released in October of that year. "The Struggle" was released in August and went viral online, getting over a million views on YouTube in its first month. The following year, the song had a spike with the release of a Minecraft themed music video, and got over 50 million combined streams.

In January and February 2017, the band released "Living In A Nightmare feat" and "Cold As Ice" both featuring R8eDR respectively, as the leads singles from there Instant Gratification indie project. "Cold As Ice' had a long build through the summer on YouTube, and eventually got over 100 million streams after the release of another Minecraft animated music video, which was trending worldwide the week of release. The album debuted in the Top 10 on Amazon Music.

As a solo artist, Pfeiffer released "Hard Pill To Swallow", which was premiered by Billboard in October 2018. The song went on to get over 10 million combined streams. In January 2019, "1 of a kind" was released as the second single from the band's "Through The Ages' project, which included 17 tracks.

In January 2020, Pfeiffer announced he would officially release his debut album later in the year, and released "Over This", "Falling", and "Wishing Dead", as the first three singles from the album, and announced a tour supporting Adelitas Way, which was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Musical style

Pfeiffer is known for his wide range of music styles and genres in his music. He grew up on hard rock acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, and Guns N' Roses. He later got into newer acts at the time like Avenged Sevenfold and Linkin Park. In later years, he got into new age rap music and cites artists like Juice WRLD, Post Malone, and XXXTentacion as influences on his sound.

Pfeiffer uses autotune as an effect on some of his songs. The sound of Blacklite District has been characterized as rock, pop, alternative rock, hip hop, trap, antiviral pop, and more.

YouTube Achievements

Blacklite District's success really came to be after blowing up on YouTube. He was awarded the Silver Creator Award (aka Silver Play Button) in November 2019 for passing 100,000 subscribers on the platform. As of October 2020, he has 163,000+ subscribers. Blacklite District has a partnership with the YouTuber, Rainimator, in which they make Minecraft animated music videos for Blacklite District's songs. Many of these songs have had 10 million views or more, with "Cold As Ice" having 65 million+. Pfeiffer credits this collaboration as a big part of his success in breaking into the music business doing things a new way, versus the traditional outlets like radio.

Personal life

Pfeiffer began dating Amber Rice in September 2015, and the two were married two years later in December 2017. They raise Pfeiffer's son, Maddox, from a previous relationship. He proposed to Amber during a New Year's Eve concert in his hometown of Spearfish, SD.

Pfeiffer has lived in multiple cities during his time breaking into the music industry. He moved to Los Angeles area in 2012, and still visits there frequently to record and shoot music videos. He also lived in Orlando, FL for about six months while working with producer Brett Hestla on some early recordings. At one time, he was managed by Jeff Hanson, who was also in the Orlando area.

In 2015–2017, Pfeiffer was hospitalized on multiple occasions for alcohol-induced pancreatitis from years of alcohol abuse on the road, which led to a full-blown addiction at home. As of January 2020, Pfeiffer has been clean from booze for over a year and lives a sober lifestyle.

Pfeiffer has no siblings. He is an avid WWE fan, and has been since childhood. Pfeiffer has a small obsession with jewelry, and you often see him wearing a Cuban link chain on stage that reportedly cost over $10,000. Since his sobriety, he does not go out much, and spends most of his time at home with his family, writing and recording music, and running his AK19 Entertainment, LLC label.

In January 2020, Pfeiffer and his wife Amber officially formed AK19 Entertainment as an LLC..

Chart History

Billboard US charting

"With Me Now" (2014) - #34 Billboard Mainstream Rock
"Cold As Ice" (2018) - #35 Billboard Mainstream Rock
"Falling" (2020) - #33 Billboard Mainstream Rock

Billboard US Indicator charting

"The Struggle" (2016) - #36 Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator
"Broken Souls" (2016) - #30 Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator
"Living in a Nightmare feat. R8eDR" (2017) - #21 Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator
"Falling" (2020) - #19 Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator

Discography

Studio Albums INSTANT // CONCERN (2020) - AK19 Entertainment, LLC You're Welcome (2020) - AK19 Entertainment, LLC

References

External links

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