Blacklite District
Kyle Pfeiffer, known professionally as Blacklite District, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, rapper, and record producer from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Blacklite District's sound relies heavily on the influence of hip hop, pop, and classic hard rock. He began writing music as a way to cope after the death of his mother, Tina Pfeiffer, on May 3, 1999.
Blacklite District rose to international YouTube fame in 2018 with the release of his song "Cold As Ice", which ended up getting 100 million streams and hit #35 on Billboard
On June 9, 2020, Blacklite District rereleased the animated video for his single "Falling", which peaked at #3 on YouTube's trending chart, and got 1.5 million streams in its first three days of release. The song went Top 30 in South Africa and Turkey.
Blacklite District has released multiple independent projects over the years, with his official debut album, You're Welcome, planned for release on July 17th, 2020 through his own AK19 Entertainment, LLC label. "Over This" was released as the first official single from the album on January 24, 2020, followed up by "Falling" on February 21, "Wishing Dead" on April 3 and "Go Home" on May 14 as the second, third and fourth singles respectively. It has been confirmed that Pfeiffer will release singles from the album consistently throughout early 2020 leading up to the album.
Early life
Kyle Pfeiffer was born on June 9, 1990 in Munster, IN to mother Tina Pfeiffer, and father George Balac. Both of his parents struggled with drug addiction, and Pfeiffer was raised by his grandparents, Tony and Sheila Pfeiffer. He attended kindergarten in Griffith, IN, before he and his grandparents moved to South Dakota in 1997–98.On May 3, 1999, his mother passed away from a heroin overdose at the age of 27. Shortly after, Pfeiffer began discovering and listening to artists like Ozzy Osbourne, as an escape from the trauma of losing a parent at such a young age. He claims Ozzy Osbourne as his biggest musical influence and for getting him started on the path to a career in music.
At the age of 10, Pfeiffer's grandfather bought him a drum-set from a Sears catalog after he started listening to Fleetwood Mac. He learned to play drums by himself by watching VHS tapes of live concerts. Eventually, he re-discovered and became obsessed with Ozzy Osbourne's first band, Black Sabbath, and that is when he started taking singing seriously, and writing his own songs.
During his teenage years, Pfeiffer attended Spearfish Middle School and High School, where he graduated from in the class of 2009. At the age of 13, Pfeiffer started his first band with local friends and began playing shows locally in the Black Hills area.
Career
While the name Blacklite District started as a band, Pfeiffer decided to use it as his official stage name after his song "Cold As Ice" went viral on YouTube. In an interview, Pfeiffer stated that many "fans thought that it was my name as a solo artist, so I just went with it."As a group, Blacklite District released the song "With Me Now" in 2013, and it went Top 40 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and sold over 100,000 digital downloads. The band went on tour with Saving Abel in 2014, and did an interview and performance at SiriusXM early that year. Following a summer tour with Another Lost Year, Pfeiffer decided to take the band off the road amid a lawsuit with his former manager and label in Florida.
In 2016, Pfeiffer released "We Are The Danger" as the lead single from his indie project, To Whom It May Concern, which was released in October of that year. "The Struggle" was released in August and went viral online, getting over a million views on YouTube in its first month. The following year, the song had a spike with the release of a Minecraft themed music video, and got over 50 million combined streams.
In January and February 2017, Pfeiffer released "Living In A Nightmare", and "Cold As Ice" respectively, as the leads singles from his Instant Gratification indie project. "Cold As Ice' had a long build through the summer on YouTube, and eventually got over 100 million streams after the release of another Minecraft animated music video, which was trending worldwide the week of release. The album debuted in the Top 10 on Amazon Music.
As a solo artist, Pfeiffer released "Hard Pill To Swallow", which was premiered by Billboard in October 2018. The song went on to get over 10 million combined streams. In January 2019, "1 of a kind" was released as the second single from Pfeiffer's "Through The Ages' project, which included 18 tracks.
In January 2020, Pfeiffer announced he would officially release his debut album later in the year, and released "Over This", "Falling", and "Wishing Dead", as the first three singles from the album, and announced a tour supporting Adelitas Way, which was postponed until the fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Musical style
Pfeiffer is known for his wide range of music styles and genres in his music. He grew up on hard rock acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, and Guns N' Roses. He later got into newer acts at the time like Avenged Sevenfold and Linkin Park. In later years, he got into new age rap music and cites artists like Juice WRLD, Post Malone, and XXXTentacion as influences on his sound.Pfeiffer uses auto-tune as an effect on a lot of his songs, and sometimes none at all. The sound of Blacklite District has been characterized as rock, pop, alternative rock, hip hop, trap, antiviral pop, and more.
YouTube Achievements
Blacklite District's success really came to be after blowing up on YouTube. He was awarded the Silver Creator Award in November 2019 for passing 100,000 subscribers on the platform., he has 132,000+ subscribers. Blacklite District has a partnership with YouTuber, Rainimator, in which they make Minecraft animated music videos for Blacklite District songs. Many of these songs have done 10 million views or more, with "Cold As Ice" closing in on 60 million. Pfeiffer credits this collaboration as a big part of his success in breaking into the music business doing things a new way, versus the traditional outlets like radio.Personal life
Pfeiffer began dating Amber Rice in September 2015, and the two were married two years later in December 2017. They raise Pfeiffer's son, Maddox, from a previous relationship. He proposed to Amber during a New Year's Eve concert in his hometown of Spearfish, SD.Pfeiffer has lived in multiple cities during his time breaking into the music industry. He moved to Los Angeles area in 2012, and still visits there frequently to record and shoot music videos. He also lived in Orlando, FL for about six months while working with producer Brett Hestla on some early recordings. At one time, he was managed by Jeff Hanson, who was also in the Orlando area.
In 2015–2017, Pfeiffer was hospitalized on multiple occasions for alcohol-induced pancreatitis from years of alcohol abuse on the road, which led to a full-blown addiction at home. As of January 2020, Pfeiffer has been clean from booze for over a year and lives a sober lifestyle.
Pfeiffer has no siblings. He is an avid WWE fan, and has been since childhood. Pfeiffer has a small obsession with jewelry, and you often see him wearing a Cuban link chain on stage that reportedly cost over $10,000. Since his sobriety, he does not go out much, and spends most of his time at home with his family, writing and recording music, and running his AK19 Entertainment, LLC label.
In January 2020, Pfeiffer officially formed AK19 Entertainment as a limited liability company, with his wife Amber. The two are partners and owners of AK19. AK19 is also home to Rob Shiner, who is an artist from the Black Hills and a childhood friend of Pfeiffer's. Rob Shiner released three singles in 2019, of which Pfeiffer is featured on one called "Just Paranoid".
Discography
Independent Releases
- Worldwide Controversy
- To Whom It May Concern
- Instant Gratification
- Through the Ages
- Souled Out
Singles
- Cold as Ice
- The Struggle
- Goodbye
- Just So You Know
- Hard Pill to Swallow
- 1 of a kind
- Over This
- Falling
- Wishing Dead
Studio Albums
- You're Welcome
Upcoming Songs
- The Struggle is Real
- Cold as Ice
- Try Again''