Boom Bap Beards Destroy: Review: Big K.R.I.T.

Preface: I have, as a listener of rap music, never been much for Southern Rap. My Hip Hop experience and exposure has been dedicated mostly to lyricism which I found lacking in a majority of Southern artists. Also as a Midwesterner I have no real reference point for the regional archetypes of Southern Rap. This is not to say I am ig’nant of Southern rap but have only focused on a select few artists, namely Outkast, Goodie Mob and Scarface. Despite this Meridian, MS’s Justin, Big K.R.I.T., Scott has delivered an album steeped in Southern Rap idioms (old school candy coated slabs with the wood grain and featuring Southern stalwarts like 8Ball & MJG and Bun B) but with a level of developed lyricism and personality that has sparked an interest in the artists that have influenced him, leading me musically backward.

Regionalism has always played an important role in the development and progression of Hip Hop. The impact of the internet has changed not only the marketing and consumption of music but has also begun to blur regional lines. A$AP Rocky represents the singularity at the center of regional collapse, an East Coast rapper who is largely influenced by Houston and Cincinnati.

As an artist Big K.R.I.T. could easily be dismissed as a rehash of nearly two decades worth of Third Coast Rap, his inflection even at times sounding eerily similar to Pimp C. But instead of allowing this history to overshadow his efforts he has focused them into what amounts to a primer in Southern Rap. Given Southern music regionally brewed for roughly ten years before reaching the populace in the early Aughts, K.R.I.T. stands in the perfect position to become an historian for a movement, giving Southern Rap both a future while also remaining firmly rooted in the past.

The production on Live from the Underground relies heavily on bountifully soulful beats (see “Money on the Floor”), but also on a fair share of a decidedly Southern synth bounce (see “I Got This”). At times K.R.I.T. is able to perfectly combine all of these elements. “Cool 2 Be Southern”, with its’ backdrop of bounce layered with a sharp soulful trumpet and a deep gospel hum, establishes K.R.I.T. as a certified Southern rapper and offers a bit of biography, as an artist generations in the making, with lines like, “We swang whips old schools like my paw-paw you can’t get / Now which motherfuckers said we can’t pimp? / I hit ditches like switches, before the paint flip/ I can’t be faded”, he also throws in an added bonus of a Southern idiom: “I been this way since I was knee high / To a grasshopper gettin’ money in my Levis”. K.R.I.T. establishes himself as a summation of the lyrical tradition and diverse production styles under the South’s umbrella: the jagged synth bounce popularized by No Limit and Cash Money and the soulful guitar driven beats made famous by groups like 8Ball & MJG and UGK.

However none of this is new for Big K.R.I.T., who has over three mixtapes (K.R.I.T. Was Here, Return of 4eva and 4eva N A Day) cemented this style. Live from the Underground represents a refinement and a growth in both technique and confidence. As an album it stands as a perfect definition of an artist at their best in control of the full potential of their facilities. And in this way K.R.I.T. has done something that few artists have been able to do in recent memory: release a major label debut that lives up to the quality and reputation developed on mixtapes.

The fact that LFU shares much in common with his mixtapes may be the secret to K.R.I.T.’s success. Like previous releases the first half of the album is packed with prerequisite Southern prototypes: an ode to strippers “Money on the Floor” which features strip club king and featured artist of the year 2 Chainz, the song dedicated to haters “I Got This”, and the trunk banger “My Sub (Pt. 2: The Jackin’)”. But around the middle of the record he turns a bit more introspective. It is K.R.I.T.’s personality and emotive qualities that have endeared him to many listeners. In his mixtapes he peppered the meditative among the prerequisites an example being on Return of 4Eva the song “Dreamin” next to “Rotation”: a song about his aspirations and inspirations followed by an ode to old school cars.

It is not until the eighth track “Don’t Let Me Down”, a melodic beat with a soulful hook and a bluesy guitar back dropped by a slow tinny bounce, K.R.I.T. laments, “Lost some friends, fucked up some money, but stay on my feet / I did all I could in my city so I have to bounce / I signed my deal and got more haters than I care to count / But I can’t fault them for their feelings ‘cuz I know the score / It’s hard to celebrate for others when you’re dying poor”.

The rest of LFU rounds out quite evenly. “Don’t Let Me Down” is followed by “Porchlight”, the typical song dedicated to the ladies, but is quite possibly the only “rap song for the ladies” that I enjoy which is in a large part due to Anthony Hamilton’s soulful crooning on the hook. K.R.I.T. returns to the prerequisites “Pull Up” which features Big Sant and Bun B celebrating slabs and “Yeah Dats Me” which is another straight trunk banger back to back. After “Yeah Dats Me”, K.R.I.T. hits a real stride as the album begins to wind down and the tracks become more melodic.

Beginning with “Hydroplaning”, featuring Devin the Dude, which is a slow burner perfect for cruising to late at night. Then “If I Fall” which is another track in which K.R.I.T. details his rise to notoriety while also detailing a past relationship that hopes will remain intact regardless of what is to come. “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” is K.R.I.T. at his most introspective, opening the track with the spoken word, “Remember a child's places what I often heard while asking / About the things no adolescent could imagine / Trying on the pants of a man I had not yet become / Hands too small to button the buttons my father often fastened / While speaking on his dreams and ambitions although I could never understand / There was comfort that I listened, with mention to be better than him”. The song details the poverty of his upbringing but the wealth of knowledge and support his father gave him.

“Praying Man” featuring B.B. King is quite possibly the most discussed track prior to the release of the album mostly due in part to King’s contribution. Not only does this track feature K.R.I.T. playing to his strengths but also reaffirms his position as an ambassador of Southern music. Beginning with a gospel sample that bleeds into a melodic guitar driven beat, K.R.I.T. relates the experiences of three different slaves. In a single song he captures the past not only musically but historically. He presents himself truly as an artist generations in the making. The closing track, “Live From the Underground (Reprise)”, continues a similar template to “Praying Man” in style and works perfectly to close out the album.

At this point Live from the Underground stands as quite possibly the best Rap album released thus far this year. As a listener, we are given a great demonstration of technique and execution: an album whose tracks work wonderfully together with none deserving of a skip but also stand solidly when played alone. We are also provided with proof that a major label does not have to mean the death of an artist’s personality. Instead every expectation and ounce of hype is met with a soulful and honest record that is equal parts past, present and future.

4.5