It’s been a while since the South had a genuine representative in the hip-hop game. Lil Wayne has become a nationalized mainstream product, Outkast has stopped making music as a group, UGK lost half of its voice, Ludacris has resorted to doing features every so often, Goodie Mob is now defunct, and T.I. has been in court more than OJ in the past couple of years.

Southern hip-hop just seemed to lose its unique flavor and swagger over the past couple of years. There has to be someone out there willing to bring that southern drawl back, dip it in candy paint, and let it bump.

When I heard the “Country Sh*t” remix on the radio the first thing that instantly caught my attention was the beat, and the second thing that caught my attention was the Pimp-C sounding dude rapping on the second verse. Of course knowing that Pimp-C was dead, I wasn’t quite sure what was being fed through my speakers by the radio. Upon further research I discovered that both the beat and the verse were courtesy on a rising southern star: Big K.R.I.T. (King Remembered in Time).

In a time where most rappers and are concerned with meeting the criteria of the major labels and mainstream trends, K.R.I.T. takes us back to a time when hip-hop artists did their best to deliver a piece of their home towns and regions.

Hailing from Mississippi, it should come as no surprise that K.R.I.T. samples a good deal of blues and soul song before lacing his tracks with southern slang and a distinct country boy voice. His beat production has a way of taking your from wherever you are to cruising the streets of the south, riding shotgun in a trunk-rattling hoopty. The soulful samples laced with drums and bass remind me so much of the fervor Southern hip-hop used to have in its golden age.

K.R.I.T.’s tracks also have the feel of a man who is paying respect to the music styles that have deep roots in his stomping ground and a large effect on his genre of choice.  The vibes his beats produce mesh perfectly with his Big Boi style delivery and Andre 3000-esque lyrical content. That’s not to say he is an Outkast replicate, but rather that he has a way of speaking simply while making you think about a larger concept.

K.R.I.T. manages to stay true to the basic elements of southern hip-hop; Candy paint, Cadillacs, sound systems, and swagger. However, he mixes these odes to the south with observations on the world he grew up in and the world he is now stepping into. K.R.I.T. often speaks on the uneasy feelings he has towards the music industry and the inner conflicts of being a rising artist today. He captures these feeling perfectly in his song American Rapstar, most notably in the chorus

“They say that money makes the world go round / You’re never lost till you lose your crown / And, they don’t love ya till you’re underground / Or, when you’re maxing out your bank account.”

This frames the conflict between the mainstream money grabbers and the underground art preservers perfectly. It also sheds light on the inner struggle of blowing up so you can be heard versus staying true to who you are. He does all this while using a vernacular that the people on his street corners could understand and discern. In this sense he keeps it true to being a representative and messenger of his community.

As I mentioned earlier, K.R.I.T. has a way of conveying bigger ideas in a very simple way. Whether this is a product of his up bringing or a conscious effort to dumb it down whilst being an intellect is up for the listener to decide. However, K.R.I.T.’s ability to hit home on a variety topics whilst speaking in that distinct southern style should not be overlooked. He does speak on partying and women but he often uses these things to make a point or allow the listener to step into his shoes. This makes his music more about ghetto awareness as opposed to ghetto glorification.

Although many might look down on this aspect of his music, K.R.I.T. is simply being as real as he possibly can while relaying his thoughts and life lessons. Because of this, K.R.I.T. should be considered the hottest rising star in the southern hip-hop scene. I would recommend his mixtapes - Return of 4Eva, K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, Last King 2: God's Machine - to any fan of southern hip-hop.

Hopefully, K.R.I.T. will be able to stay true to his style while still racking up the fans and plays. He definitely has a lot to say and needs to be heard if hip-hop wants to escape clutches of greed and fall back in the hands of those who do it for the love. And if there were any questions on whether K.R.I.T. does hip-hop for the love and passion, I would direct them to his lines in his song "The Vent" where he specifically states, "... I do this for the love and it's free of charge."  Truth, as his last two efforts, Return of 4Eva and Last King 2: God's Machine were released online for no charge.

Big K.R.I.T. will be performing at The Kennedy in Hyde Park this Sunday, September 18th. Come by and check out this unique character in the hip-hop world as he continues his mission to put the South back on the map in all the right ways.