Michael McLeer, also known as Mr. Kaves, is a visual artist, actor, director, musician, and entrepreneur. From New York, Kaves started doing graffiti in the 1980s, for which his talent got noticed and appeared in Henry Chalfant’s book Spraycan Art (1987). Shortly after, with his brother, they created the hip-hop group Lordz of Brooklyn.

In 1995, their debut album All in the Family received favorable reviews and established them as a well-known underground group. Through the rest of the 90s, they would often collaborate with Everlast and in 2000 with Bumpy Knuckles they released the EP The Lordz of Brooklyn Meet Bumpy Knuckles. In 2003 they released the album Graffiti Roc which included collaborations by Busta Rhymes, Korn, Rampage, etc. In 2006, rebranded as The Lordz, they released the album The Brooklyn Way and had a reality show by the same name a year later. They eventually returned to their original name and released the album Family Reunion in 2020.

Separately from the group Kaves found success in becoming a visual artist. He is a world re-known fine art painter and continued making graffiti murals. He illustrated children’s books Hip-Hop Alphabet (2017), The ABCs of Metallica (2019), and The ABCs of The Grateful Dead (2022). He has designed logos, illustrated, and made custom art for major companies (Jaguar, Aston Martin, Beaujolais nouveau, etc), and musicians (Beastie Boys, Metallica, Biohazard, etc). His NFT collection The Family Mooks grossed three million dollars.

As an actor he acted in numerous projects, and for his directorial debut The Shoemaker (2010), he won Best Short Film at The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival. As an entrepreneur, mastering the art of tattooing, he ran several parlors. His restaurant The Brooklyn Firefly is a space for artists to perform and showcase their talents. Furthermore, he co-authored the book Skin Graf: Masters of Graffiti Tattoo (2013).