Ever the thinking man's rapper, Mississippi's Big K.R.I.T. has released an ambitious debut album. Live from the Underground renders the vast canvas of the black American experience with a rich and descriptive palette. The album's sequence evolves like Malcolm X's path to enlightenment, from tales of ghetto survival ("If I Fall") to the awakening of Afrocentric consciousness.
K.R.I.T. doles out pearls of wisdom on "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," from a place that's both fluid and deep: "Life is just a raffle/Mostly pain but some laughter." Beatwise, Live reps the South in all of its glory. Think Houston's chopped-and-screwed scene on "Hydroplaning" (featuring Devin the Dude), as well as many others. Delta blues bubbles up in "Praying Man" with B.B. King. It's a song told from the perspective of African slaves, nodding to another meaning behind the album's subterranean title.
Song: Praying Man (feat. B.B. King)
Album: Live from the Underground
Artist: Big K.R.I.T.
Artist: Big K.R.I.T.
"Being from Mississippi, the soul of African slaves flows through my veins. That's why I go hard in every venture and goal I set for myself. My grandfather worked his ass off and to his credit my family owns MANY acres of land down in the 'Sip. He had a farm with 2 ponds, cows, goats, horses and even a dog named "Feido" that he used to feed cornbread and collard greens, lol. He loved everything made by Ford, from tractors to cars and trucks. Not bad for a black man living in the 1940's!!"
"Remembering what troubles people had to endure and overcome in the past helps to put the problems of today in perspective. Not just blacks but all races have fell on hardships."
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