AK-69 (AK-Sixty-Nine) is a Japanese male hip-hop MC and musician, born on August 28, 1978 in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. His real name is Hiroki Takeshi. After dropping out of high school, he started his career as a rapper at the age of 17. In 2005, he released the album "69 -I 'm a Player-" as AK-69. In 2009, his single "IRON HORSE -No Mark-/LET'S PARTY" reached No. 16 on the Oricon chart, and his album "THE CARTEL FROM STREETS" in September of the same year became his first Oricon Top 10 album. In 2011, their 5th album "THE RED MAGIC" reached No.3 on Oricon Weekly Ranking, and won "Independent Artist of the Year 2011" and "Independent of the Year 2011" at the Billboard JAPAN MUSIC Awards in the same year. In 2012, his album "The Independent King", which included the singles "SWAG IN DA BAG" and "SWAG WALK", became a #2 hit on the Oricon chart. featured American rapper Fabolous, and the band moved from indie to major label after their 2015 album, THE THRONE. He was awarded "BEST HIP HOP ARTIST" at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan that same year.He made his major label debut in February 2016 with the single "Flying B," released on the EMI Records-owned label, but soon after, Def Jam In 2019, he will release the album "THE STRANGER" with the single "I Still Shine feat. Che'Nelle/Stronger". In 2019, he released the album "THE ANTHEM" with the single "I Still Shine feat. Che'Nelle/Stronger", followed by "The Race" in 2021; in 2022, he resumed full-fledged work as Kalassy Nikoff; in 2024, he released the album "Flying To The Top" in collaboration with ¥¥ellow Bucks. In 2024, he released "Flying To The Top" in collaboration with ³³ Bucks, followed by "My G's" in January 2025.
