Ventura, California native Kyle Harvey had his hip-hop epiphany at the age of ten, when he heard Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Got Your Money" on his father's car stereo. He was into music long before then, but this moment radically changed his focus. Kyle got into hard-edged artists such as Scarface and Jadakiss and attempted to rhyme like them, then found that the output of the younger, less street-oriented likes of Drake and Kid Cudi was more reflective of his background. In 2013, the year he turned 20, Kyle self-released his debut mixtape, Beautiful Loser, that prompted a deal with the Indie-Pop label. Additionally, he was featured on "Hey Now," headlined by dance music producers Martin Solveig and the Cataracs, and the single went Top Ten in Germany and Ireland. A handful of solo singles, including collaborations with G-Eazy and Kehlani, as well as follow-up mixtape Smyle, including an appearance from Chance the Rapper, were scattered across 2015. Kyle also contributed to Donnie Trumpet the Social Experiment's Surf that year.
Originally uploaded to SoundCloud in 2016, "iSpy," featuring Lil Yachty, surprised Kyle with a response so positive that major-label Atlantic signed him the following February and helped push the song to the number four position on the Billboard Hot 100. It was awarded double-platinum certification just before XXL's annual Freshman Class feature brightened the spotlight. Throughout the rest of 2017 and the first half of 2018, Kyle responded with a handful of singles and secondary featured appearances that led to his full-length debut, Light of Mine. Containing another track with Kehlani plus support from 2 Chainz, Alessia Cara, and Khalid, the album debuted on the Billboard 200 in June 2018 at number 29. Later that year, Kyle contributed the track "Moment," featuring Wiz Khalifa, to the Netflix film The After Party, which he also starred in, and he collaborated again with Lil Yachty on the single "Hey Julie!" Both tracks were included the following year on an expanded deluxe version of Light of Mine, which also featured new songs with MadeinTYO and Teyana Taylor. In 2020, he issued the singles "YES!," with Rich the Kid and K Camp, and "What It Is," which both landed on his second official studio set, See You When I Am Famous!!!!!!!!!!!! In 2021, Kyle collaborated with Josh Golden on "But Cha," and later with Dougie F on the amorous "Optimistic." After splitting from his label, Kyle self-released It's Not So Bad in 2022, followed by the singles "Carefree" and "I Literally Never Think About You." ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi