Having no qualms about vocalizing his desire to be a Rolex-wearing pop and rap star, Cex's music actually lies in the lines of electronic, intelligent dance music. At the age of 19, Rjyan Kidwell already had a catalog of releases and a record label behind him. His upbeat, and over the top personality splattered a large dash of color across a sub-genre of techno that is often bland and too mechanical.

In 1998, Kidwell started Underscore Records and released a triplet of CD-Rs, one by him and the last two by friends. Only 600 of the CD-Rs were made and only given to a handful of friends and sold to a few distributors. With the label, he released two more singles, and eventually put it to rest to start another label, Tigerbeat 6, with San Francisco's Kid 606. Slowly the label moved to the forefront of the San Francisco IDM scene, as with Orthlorng Musork and L.A.'s Plug Research. Continuing his streak of obscure good luck, Cex released an applauded full-length Roll Model in August of 2000. His pop culture goofiness is seen with such songs titles as "Academy Award (Cex's Radio Edit)" and "Wallstreet Kid." He has also been included on compilations such as Ricci's Pieces (on Mindfield) and Kid606 + Friends, Vol. 1 (on Tigerbeat). He has also recorded for Stewart Anderson's label, 555 Recordings of Leeds. In 2000, he toured with Kid 606, Gold Chains, and Blectdum from Blechdom, wowing audiences with his energetic, comical show. The constant touring also helped support his 2001 release, Starship Galactica. Cex only continued baffling expectations by following a 2001 electronic-pop LP (Oops, I Did It Again!) with a record named Tall, Dark & Handcuffed, indebted to the golden age of hip-hop.

Diana Potts, AMG

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