BLACK MUSIC MONTH (NEW SCHOOL): Big K.R.I.T.

Black Music Month is officially over, but we're going to hit you up with one last new school pick. We asked Big K.R.I.T. to pick the video himself and this is what he chose.

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BLACK MUSIC MONTH (NEW SCHOOL): Big K.R.I.T.

POSTED: Friday, July 1, 2011, 4:00 PM

Filed Under: Music

Black Music Month is officially over, but we’re going to hit you up with one last new school pick. We asked Big K.R.I.T. to pick the video himself and this is what he chose.

There’s a lot that I could say about Big K.R.I.T. I could tell you that he makes his own beats, but if you follow music blogs, you probably already know that. I could match up his skills as a producer against his talent as a rapper, but that would be missing the bigger picture. I could call him the savior of Southern hip hop, but that would suggest that it wasn’t great before K.R.I.T. got up in it. Here’s what I will say: there’s so much depth and versatility in his last two mixtapes, KRIT Wuz Here and Return of 4eva, that his artistry not only shines, it transcends.

KRIT Wuz Here and Return of 4eva were released in 2010 and 2011 respectively, but he’s been dropping music since 2005. His earlier mixtapes don’t sound like one place in particular. They sound like Houston, Memphis, Atlanta and a bunch of places in between. He’s been making music for a range of audiences too from the very beginning: smooth Cadillac riding music for people who may or may not own one, bangers ready-made for the dance floor that the ladies can pop to, slow jazzy numbers for moments of reflection– he’s always done it all.

KRIT Wuz Here was a turning point. Big K.R.I.T. didn’t know if he’d be able to make another album, and as such, it was written as a farewell to the game. The darkness of his impending departure manifested itself in soul sampled beats that were as resplendent as they were cryptic. The tones weren’t simply borrowed from vinyl; Big K.R.I.T. seamed his samples to original instrumentation. His music took on a loveliness that was emotionally entrenched and masterfully crafted. It adopted a spirit that estranged it from most modern popular music. He invoked contrasts perfected in the blues of generations past.

I ask K.R.I.T. about this blues legacy. His grandmother, a huge B.B. King fan, raised him on it. He says, “It’s a sadness, but its like, I don’t know… about getting people through the day and what they’re going through.” The blues play a big role in Mississippi’s musical identity; they play a big role in his too. There are many moments where the soar of his harmonies and the boom of his bass are underscored by the malaise of the struggle, musically and lyrically. This is K.R.I.T. at his best.

The lack of recognition for Mississippi emcees gives Big K.R.I.T. a certain responsibility. The stylistic impression he leaves could define the sound of his state hereafter. I ask which, the state or himself, he thinks of primarily. Both, he responds. The lyrics are more for him; the beats are more Mississippi. As he explains further, I’m slightly taken aback by his sangfroid. Like a poet in unchartered territory, he isn’t afraid to make his own language.

“You may go back a year from now and figure out what I meant,” he says. Lyrically, he throws in words only country people would say, only Mississippians would say, only his family would say, or only he would say. He’s got a song named after one of his grandmother’s words, “Gumpshun.” There’s an interview with him on YouTube where he has to explain that “gumption” is a real word. Like the song says, he’s got it. He rides the hell out of his beats to the point where sometimes the beat stops and he’s still spitting. Lyrically, across the board, in content, word choice, and delivery, he is unbridled. And somehow, the rhythms in his rhymes aren’t drowned out by the bass or the percussion.

K.R.I.T.’s sense of rhythm may come from years in the brass section. A child of the Southern black marching band tradition, he played tuba throughout middle school and high school. His roots in band culture make his next project that much more exciting. His major label debut will be orchestra-backed. Yes, he’s composing and producing an orchestral hip hop album… at 24. He’s not releasing the name yet, but we can expect it before the end of the year. I’m sure we can expect to be hearing from him for long, long after that.

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