DJ K.MEAN
DJ K. Mean was born Karyn Alexandra Shanks on Dec. 10,1986 in St. Louis, MO. She’s been a lifetime music fan and at a young age put on shows with her younger brother performing hit songs of the time like Tevin Campbell and ABC. Her passion for music was harvested by learning to play several instruments. As she got older she began to collect music and became somewhat of a music supplier for her circle. She was originally dubbed MzXxXcLuEsIv because she was the go-to person for the latest music and often made mix cds for her friends and family.
When she was a senior in high school she decided that she wanted to become an A & R, so when she attended college she majored in Marketing. After 3 semesters she decided that the classroom wasn’t teaching her the lessons necessary to reach her goals. At only 19, she started the first music blog exclusively for hip hop in St. Louis. Shortly after she joined the ranks on the street team circuit. Street team was an outlet she used to learn the music scene in St. Louis and build relationships. In 2010, she joined the team at MidwestMixtapes.com and assisted in expanding its reach and content. She has also continued as a writer. She has published articles in local newspapers and many other sites and blogs, mostly recently Delux Magazine.
In 2012, K.Mean began working towards her lifelong aspiration, DJing. She had been practicing DJing in private from time to time for years and finally became confident enough to actually create a project and her first official mixtape was released.
In the time since, K. Mean has released 6 additional editions of the RNS series and started the Winning Never Gets Old franchise with DJ Rail Durrty. She is currently a member of the Coalition DJs, Addicted Dopeness, 24k DJs, and XSquad DJs.
More projects are in the works and because she is so creative she is always learning a new talent to support her brand, Mean Girlz Media. Mean Girlz is a company specializing in brand management, public relations, marketing, artist development, and promotions. Regardless of the hats she’s wearing at the time, K. Mean aims to do everything well and that naturally progressed to her first independent album, Chicken & Fries in mid 2019. She’s continued to assist in playing & making music with others and writing. Against her nature, she’s stepping into the spotlight.
