“K.R.I.T ain’t just a name, it’s an acronym/ King Remembered In Time, but none come after him”

I had the pleasure of seeing Big K.R.I.T live in concert last year, but how that came to be was through the help of social networking (yet again). I’m not exactly sure what it was, but I was seeing a lot of his name on my timeline, and his name was trending, so I was like “who is this guy?” Through the help of some followers, I was directed to listen to his most recent mixtape Return of 4eva, and I said alright let me give this guy a listen and see why he’s buzzing so much.

He hails from the south (Mississippi to be exact), so the southern style of his music did come into play, obviously, but he didn’t sound like your typical southern rapper that you hear today (depending on who you listen to), but he instead reminded me of a young UGK with the laid back flow and prophetic storytelling. He’s not one of those rappers that will hit you with punchlines to make you say “ohhhhhh snap, you hear that?” He’s merely one of those rappers that you can zone out to while in deep thought, or if chillin out, because he tends to make a lot of songs for the ladies displaying a lot of sexual references (mainly stripping, but I wouldn’t call his type of music ‘Stripper music’).

His content that he rhymes over branches from the struggles that he had to deal with, to telling stories that a lot of people themselves can relate to. One of my favourite songs from him, ‘Dreamin,’ talks about how he was doubted by a lot of people when he decided to get into rapping, but he stayed on track with his goals and followed his heart to get where he is now. It’s the fact that he’s humble and remembers where he’s come from, which is why I can vibe out to his songs. He makes enjoyable music to listen to, and you can’t ask for more than that, because in an industry where everyone seems to want to be like the other, we have notable standouts that really don’t get as much love that they deserve because they’re different.

I watched a video of K.R.I.T performing while he was in New York City. Now, NYC is notorious for booing just about anyone and everyone, so it was expected that they would boo him, and let’s be fair, New York birthed hip hop, so they expect more, but not everyone from the south can be Scarface, Pimp C, Bun B, 8 ball & MJG, but you might as well throw K.R.I.T onto that list of rappers from the deep south that will make an impact, because I’m sure that will happen. He’s already collaborated with 3 of the already mentioned rappers (Bun B, 8 Ball & MJG), and he’s done it justice, but the problem is that people automatically want you to be great, or as soon as you get a buzz, you’re compared to rappers than have been in the game 10+ years, and you only have 2 legit years under your belt. People have to calm down, stop coming to conclusions or hyperbolic comparisons, and just enjoy the music that’s being made. Would you rather listen to the radio? Because it’s not proving to be great, so by all means, fall in line with the mainstream noise; it gives us more room to bask in talent artists.

K.R.I.T, aside from rapping, does his own production. R4 was produced on his own, and from there he separates himself from many. He’s not the best producer, but he does make beats that suits his style of rapping, and at the same time, it doesn’t even sound that bad, and he has a lot of progress to be made, so I’d definitely watch out for him in the future. The southern influence, the slowed down, trill style is always enjoyable (at least to me), and it’s true many people don’t see him as anything great, but they’re just too critical of things (I can include myself in that), and fail to recognize that everyone has a different style, and you can be great in different forms of rap, as we’ve all known. I suggest you take him in and add some more musical diversity in your life. Live From The Underground, his debut album, comes out this year after being pushed back, so I’ll be waiting for that for SURE. In the meantime, take in the links to his music at the bottom and enjoy, but for now

That’s My Word & It STiXX

Return of 4Eva

K.R.I.T Wuz Here

The Last King 2: God’s Machine