Kevin Allen—formerly Erk Tha Jerk—is a born and raised East Oakland and North Richmond native. Nationally known for the melodic hit singles Hands Up & Right Here during his time as a hip hop artist coming up in the height of the Bay Area’s Hyphy Era in the mid-late 2000’s (during his time as Erk) has transcended himself into an omnipotent artist in tune with all things introspective from social, political, relationship views in multiple fields of creativity.During the mid 2010’s Kevin made the transition from Erk, the hip hop artist, to Kevin Allen, the hip hop artist, producer, video director, talent developer, marketing & brand manager, and critically acclaimed photographer. In 2019, Kevin founded the hip hop collective and production company Grand Nationxl that released 6 projects as a collective in 2020 including his EP “Heroes Eventually Die”. In these last 5 years, Kevin’s photography has made a serious impact on the Bay Area with his visions being used for billlboards, album covers, and in 2021, being used in Essence Magazine for a spread for Black Girls Greenhouse in West Oakland, CA.Kevin has used these last 15 years working on himself. Creating and losing family, friends, and relationships. Finding out things don’t last forever and have to die to be reborn into the needed version for the moment.