For all the prominent guest spots here - B.B. He multiplies his voice, doubling his tracks and echoing the ends of his lines often. He doesn't use one word where three would do. arms himself with words, and his lyrics are stacked and dense. Throughout the album, it's nighttime, it's hot out and the crickets loom. calls himself "cinematic," a fair description. "Live From the Underground" is built over the crisp rimshot now synonymous with ?uestlove and a humming chorus reminiscent of late-'90s neo-soul. "This is A&Rville." Perhaps because that sounds so foreign to K.R.I.T., he builds a world here that mines familiar territory: Otis Redding songs, Ray Charles live recordings, Erykah Badu's more plaintive runs. "You're in the mainstream," the man who finds him says. The title track closes with a sketch in which our hero crash-lands somewhere strange. addresses his move from the world of entrepreneurship to the roster of a multinational company early on. It's all stoked hopes for Live From the Underground, his major-label debut. Bun B and Ludacris," landed him radio play. Wuz Here, turned critics' heads, while a remix of one of its songs, "Country S- Feat. Many of his elders have supported him, appearing on tracks and publicly expressing their fandom. The lineage to which he lays claim - OutKast, UGK, 8-Ball & MJG - is one over which most rap fans still linger. K.R.I.T.'s by-the-bootstraps backstory lends the man born Justin Scott the sort of all-American appeal many seek in a rap musician. And he didn't emerge from one of the usual Third Coast rap incubators, like Atlanta, Houston or Memphis he's from Meridian, Miss. He crafts it all by himself - he's the most recent rapper given a healthy helping of credit for both producing his beats and writing his rhymes. makes thick, melodic hip-hop with a Southern twang. Big K.R.I.T.'s new album, Live From the Underground, comes out June 5.Īudio for this feature is no longer available.īig K.R.I.T.