1. KI Design, Find on Facebook.com/KillinginDesign.

2. Apex Predators, Instagram.com/apex.predators.band.

3. Ex-Wife, ExWifeBand.bandcamp.com.

After creating his hip-hop name at 14 years old, the title KI Design followed Casey Lynch from California to Eugene. Friends here even call him KI. Lynch started making lo-fi, boom bap hip-hop, an East Coast style popularized in the ’90s, known for swinging backbeats with “booming” bass drum and the “bap” of snare. After a 10-year break, KI, Eugene Weekly’s 2026 Best of Eugene Best New-to-You Musician or Band winner, picked the mic up again, often sharing new work on social media, and people noticed. KI says he’s “flattered” by the Best of Eugene win. “I initially wanted to make beats, I wanted to break dance, I wanted to tag,” Lynch says. “I just loved hip-hop culture as a kid.”

KI Design toured across the West Coast and currently performs once a month, often at WOW Hall. He currently works there as a house manager, and describes the scene as “bumping.”

Now, Lynch samples from records, records on half-inch tape reels and does everything in one take — fully analog. He has new projects in the works with Eugene hip-hop artist Sammy Warm Hands, Portland rapper Ogar Burl and Eugene singer Sara B.

“If you are reading this, go to a show, buy a CD, make music without AI and support each other.” — Bayla Orton and Will Kennedy