RapReviews | Review: Big K.R.I.T. – Live From The Underground
“When it’s all said and done, they gon’ see me on top
With a deal and a mill, 24’s on a drop
Street boys imma get it, I’m the K-R-I-T
The bottom of the game ain’t a place for a G”
Reading those lines from 2005 now almost seems prophetic, but that was the attitude that Big K.R.I.T. has always seemed to inject into his music. Most of the world, self included, didn’t really take notice of him until 2010’s “K.R.I.T. Wuz Here,” but Krizzle was doing his thing way before then. Years prior, K.R.I.T. dared the world to picture him being a success with his “See Me On Top” and “See Me On Top II” mixtapes. It was a pretty lofty goal, being that Justin Scott was only 18 years old at the time, but he remained focused. Back then, K.R.I.T. was still developing his voice and the sounds of others that certainly influenced him could be heard in his flow. Southern legends like T.I., Juicy J, MJG and even a bit of Pastor Troy definitely appear to have left their mark on the younger BK, as he then sometimes would call himself. On the production side, Kritikal was the name and the beats weren’t always as soulful as they can be now. On the other hand, many of his beats had a Hypnotized Minds feel to them, so there were always glimmers of his potential. For example, “Just Touched Down” first appeared on “See Me On Top II” before undergoing several tweaks both lyric and production-wise before the release of “K.R.I.T. Wuz Here.” With that release, the internet world began buzzing about a dude from Mississippi that wasn’t David Banner and sounded a hell of a lot like Pimp C. I usually don’t feed into hype but on a whim, I decided to give the project a listen. Honestly, initially I gave K.R.I.T. a chance because of where exactly in Mississippi he was from. Meridian is not far from the state line at all and I have family on the other side of that line over in Alabama. When I visit down there, we go to Meridian to do our shopping at the Bonita Lakes Mall. I’ve taken photos at the Bonita Lakes Park. Very nice place. In any case, I listened and thoroughly enjoyed both the regular and chopped & screwed versions of the project. On the strength of “KWH”, K.R.I.T. ended up landing his deal with Def Jam and began to work on his major label debut album.
Time continued to pass and the “Return of 4Eva” project was supposed to be the warm up to the aforementioned major label debut but the album ended up being pushed back. The delay didn’t seem to bother fans too much as the praise continued to come in and K.R.I.T.’s notoriety continued to flourish. On the next date that “Live From the Underground” was supposed to hit the streets, the fans had to settle for the chopped & screwed version of “R4” instead. K.R.I.T. continued to tour, produce and make appearances on the albums of others but wondered if his would ever see the light of day. Citing sample clearance issues this time, the album was pushed back until June. In the meanwhile, another critically acclaimed mixtape, “4evaNaDay” was released. This time being powered by the inspirational single and video for the track “Boobie Miles.”
Now we have come to that point that every artist dreams of…their debut LP. After giving away what many people have considered to be three albums for free, the question is whether or not K.R.I.T. can still deliver the same level of quality that his fans and critics are accustomed to hearing.
