While Drake is a familiar name to anyone who has attended a frat party in the last six months, he will not be the only artist from across the border to grace the Slope come May 7th. Canadian rapper k-os will open the show, though his sound is quite different from that of the headliner. While Drake, part of Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment, is likely to bring the highly produced, highly addictive (at times highly offensive?) rap we have all become familiar with, k-os is sure to be anything but typical.

Born Kevin Brereton, k-os adopted his stage name as either/both an acronym for “Knowledge of Self” or “Kheaven’s Original Sound,”a different spelling of his first name. He recieved his first musical exposure in 1993 with his single “Musical Essance,” a soulful hip-hop track that foreshadowed his later career. After years of searching for his sound, k-os dropped his full-length debut, Exit, in 2002 to critical acclaim. This album set up what came to be his signature: musicially diverse albums with a message.

k-os is a self-styled crossover musician. The artist, who has “never seen himself as just a hip-hop artist,” fuses together hip-hop, reggae, world, electro, and a heavy dose of samples to create something unique. His sound is like M.I.A. meets Marley meets the Strokes meets A Tribe Called Quest … Well, kind of. And while the prospect of mating Julian Casablancas with Bob Marley is somewhat horrendous, for the most part, k-os seems to make it work. Even fans of punk should find something to enjoy, as k-os has been known to smash a guitar or two while on stage …

On Slope Day, k-os will likely be performing tracks from his new, and highly danceable, album Yes!, which was released in 2009. The album was put out by a different, (bigger) record label than his prior three LPs, and is thus a slight break from his previous work, with lyrics focusing more on the artist himself, rather then the enviornment that surrounds him. It received a good deal of attention in Canada, debuting at #9 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and has had considerable commercial success.

The most well known song from the album is titled “I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman” and samples — to the delight of O.C. fans everywhere — Phantom Planet’s “California”. Another notable song from Yes!, and one that might resonate with those unfamiliar with k-os’ work, is called“4,3,2,1”, and is a response of sorts to his friend Feist’s hit song “1234”.

Throughout his career, k-os has kept a strong connection to his homeland. Like the aformentioned Feist, he has collaboated with Toronto-based Broken Social Scene (who also played Cornell in 2007). He even namedrops Calgary’s twin indie-poppers Tegan and Sara in his song “Astronaut” off of Yes!.

For all still worried about k-os’ cred, it should be noted that he has previously toured with Slope Day alums Gym Class Heroes. Need even more proof of his competence? In a recent interview with Complex.com, main act Drake himself called k-os “one of the greatest artists period.”