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Before hitting the big time, Big K.R.I.T, grew up with his family in the Deep South, where he had his first taste as a musical performer, in the local church choir. He quickly turned his attentions to poetry, and then rap, and by the age of 14 he was recording his bars over other artists songs and before long he began producing his own beats too, under the moniker “Kritikal”.
After graduating high school, and changing his name to Big K.R.I.T, which stands for “King Remembered In Time”, he began to make his mark as a well-known rapper through various mixtape releases online and guest featured tracks from around 2005, around this time he was approached by Young Jeezy’s record label, CTE Entertainment, but a deal could not be agreed.
After gathering buzz on the blogosphere and drawing comparisons to legendary rappers from the south of the US, such as T.I. and Pimp C, in 2010 he gained breakthrough recognition with his back-to-back mixtapes, “K.R.I.T. Wuz Here” and “Returnof4eva.” For both tapes, many lauded K.R.I.T, for his now recognisable laid back flow, lyrical variety, and his southern-rap production style, which would all become staples of his music in future projects.
Following on from the rave reviews, and his inclusion on the much coveted XXL MAgazine “Freshman of 2011” Cover, K.R.I.T was quickly snapped up by hip-hop heavyweight record label, Def Jam Recordings. Since then the MC has gone on to release further mixtapes and albums.
K.R.I.T has collaborated with a variety of rappers in the industry, from T.I. and Curren$y, to Wiz Khalifia, with whom he toured with as the opening act on his US “Wake & Bake Tour.”
Rapping over the juxtaposing sounds of mellow R&B vocals and crunked out yelling is no easy task. This is just one example of the type of musical environments Big K.R.I.T. can rap along to. He also does so with extreme proficiency and seemingly ease. It seems like nothing can rupture the flow of Big K.R.I.Ts rhymes. His tracks integrate chop and screwed hip hop, soul music, southern style rap and even spaced out ambient sounds. His lyrics are reflective and personally relevant to his background and also offer interesting social commentaries of life in lower class areas.
His ability of adaptation relates not only to his skill in assimilating rhymes to differing styles of music, it also applies to his skill in performing in various live settings. The success of his live performance is no hidden secret. His album "Live From the Underground" was met with great support by fans and critics alike. This album came out a little before his mesmerizing showcase at SXSW. This too has reached somewhat legendary status. The audience was in complete awe of this performance. Neon strobe lights and a large projector screen were flashing uncontrollably at this performance and music was blasting at overwhelming volumes. The lights matched nicely with the intensity of the show and the crowd was incredibly responsive to K.R.I.T.'s presentation. During some of the songs the crowd would constantly bob their hands back and forth, other songs they would start dancing freestyle.
Some of Big K.R.I.T.'s smaller shows are actually even more enjoyable to go to. It is unbeatable to have a small venue like the Mercy Lounge packed to the brim with diehard fans. Everyone at that show seemed to be entirely engaged in the performance. Big K.R.I.T has such confidence and skill as a rapper that he can even shoot verses over a backing track coming out of laptop speakers. It doesn't seem to matter where you hear him. In any case it is going to be a solid performance.
wjmcc
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