Who Is King L?

The newly signed artist formerly known as King Louie breaks down the Chicago scene, how he came up in the game, and getting a shoutout from Kanye West.

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Image via Complex Original
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There must be something in the water in Chicago right now. Since February, no less than six artists have inked major label deals—and this comes after almost no new artist inking to a major in the six years prior. It’s safe to say there’s something big brewing in the City of Broad Shoulders.

On the frontlines of this new wave of artists is King Louie (or King L as his label now calls him). Best known for his boombastic brand of “Drill Music,” this self-proclaimed “Gumbo Mobster” is fresh off a high profile shout out from Kanye West on Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like (Remix).” The Yeezy stamp of approval no doubt left listeners wondering just who this King fella was; so it’s only right Complex finds out Who is King L?

Having recently signed to Epic/Sony Records via the Chicago-based indie label, Lawless Inc., the 10 Chicago Artists To Watch For alum opens up about his new deal, new name, and his long-awaited debut album, Dope & Shrimp. We talk about his unique brand of slang, why he loves the wrestler Val Venis, and his thoughts on the burgeoning Chicago scene. Man up, band up.

As told to Andrew Barber (@FakeShoreDrive)

Follow @ComplexMusic

Growing Up In Chicago

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Growing Up In Chicago

King L: “Growing up in Chicago, I experienced a lot. It was good, I love Chicago, and I wouldn’t trade my experience growing up here for anything else. I wouldn’t have wanted to be brought up anywhere else. I was born out West [Westside] and when I was in seventh grade, I moved to the Eastside of town. I bounced around between a bunch of schools out there before I eventually got kicked out for good.

“Living out West, it was a bit more country. The people are more Southern acting out West—it’s a lot more southern-influenced. I came up out West, so if people think I sound like I’m from the South, that’s where it stems from. Over East, it’s more New York, more lyrical. It’s like some New York shit over East. That’s why I’m like a pot of gumbo—my music might sound country, but I’m really rapping on it. It’s like I took everything I came up with and pieced it together.”

Early Influences

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Early Influences

King L: “2Pac. When I was younger I didn’t really rock with Biggie’s music, because I rocked tough with Pac. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Big’s music, but I was just partial to Pac. I liked Pac more. I loved DMX, Eminem, and Jay-Z. It was DMX’s It’s Dark & Hell Is Hot that got me wanting to rap. That was a very influential album for me. I had it on tape and I knew the words to everything on it.

“I liked Master P and No Limit a lot, too. No Limit was my shit. I had got a good report card, and my uncle bought me that Silkk The Shocker Made Man album. [Laughs.] That was my shit. Then Wayne’s Tha Carter—that shit was hard. Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP was nuts, too.

“When I was in high school, I was listening toBump J—it was all about Bump and the Goon Squad. That’s really what we were all listening to was the Goon Squad. Then L.E.P. [Bogus Boys] came out, and they were going hard, so we used to listen to their early mixtapes. I had a personal relationship with L.E.P., and we knew them, so we used to listen to them heavy.”

Online Buzz

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Online Buzz

King L:“I been had the Internet. That’s the way my label initially found me—by the videos that we were dropping that were getting hundreds of thousands of views. As long as I’ve been recording music, I’ve been putting the songs on YouTube with visuals to go along with them.


 

Even back when I wasn’t actually shooting videos, I would just make little picture slide shows to go with my songs, because people want to see who the artist is. That’s why if you go look at all my early songs, they’re just YouTube vids of pictures.


 

"Even back when I wasn’t actually shooting videos, I would just make little picture slide shows to go with my songs, because people just want to see shit. They want to see who the artist is, even if it’s just pictures. That’s why if you go look at all my early songs, they’re just YouTube vids of pictures.

“Once the views started getting bigger, I started meeting people who were actually shooting videos, so I immediately started having them do mine. “I’m Arrogant” was my first one, and it showed people how I looked and how I performed on camera. We’d get online and share it on the social sites, and it started picking up steam from there.

“I’d already had a lot of friends online—Twitter or Facebook or whatever, and then they’d share it with their friends, and before you knew it, everyone knew me. People started reaching out like 'Dude, you’re talented.'

'It started popping up on FakeShoreDrive. I was already cool in the city, so the shit just went hand in hand. People started seeing the videos, and realized it was stuff they could relate to. I was from their neighborhood, rapping about shit they really lived.”

Val Venis

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Val Venis

King L: “I was a big wrestling fan as a shorty. I’m pretty sure most kids my age came up on wrestling. But when I was in fifth or sixth grade that’s when it was most hot. And the dude who made me laugh the most was Val Venis.

"His whole routine was just funny to me. He was funny as hell. He’d come out with those little ass bikini things on—I don’t know what the fuck you call those. He’d have his towel, and he’d do the hip rolling thing and it was just ridiculous.

“We was at one of our spots recently, getting high, and the crib had a bunch of big ass mirrors. They’re like dance mirrors, but they were just on some decoration shit. I was on some tweaking shit, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna do the Val Venis move’ as a joke.


 

Val Venis' whole routine was just funny to me. He’d come out with those little bikini things on—I don’t know what you call those. He’d have his towel, and he’d do the hip rolling thing and it was just ridiculous.


 

"We had [producer] C-Sick’s beat playing loud as hell in the background, and I’m high tweaking, doing the Val Venis. We filmed it and put it on YouTube and it just took off. I got hella views, and it started trending on Twitter almost instantly.

“I saw how crazy it was getting, so I wrote a song to the beat playing in the background of the video. I wrote the silly ass hook with, ‘I’m the man, little did they know’ and added the ‘Hello ladies’ in the background.

"The verses were hard, and it turned out dope. Got the dance and everything to go along with it. The real Val Venis heard it and he loved it. He immediately DM’ed me, and now we’re talking about getting him for the video. We’re cool as hell now.

“Epic/Sony heard the record before it came out and they was rockin’ with it, which tripped me out. That record ended up getting me the deal over there. Their L.A. office was just loving it.”

The Kanye West Shout Out

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The Kanye West Shout Out

King L: “I don’t get into no Hollywood shit, G. That shit be blowing me when people recognize me. I really just want to chill with my people, but now people are starting to recognize me and want to come up and talk and shit.

"I’m just a cool dude—I don’t get into that miscellaneous shit. That Hollywood shit is for the birds. When you start focusing on that, you start losing touch with reality—it gets in the way of goals you’re trying to accomplish.


 

After the Kanye shout out, my cap level went up tremendously. I just hope to accomplish some of the things that he has—like maybe one day I’ll be on the cover of Complex—so my cap level skyrockets even higher.


 

“But yeah, after the Kanye shout out, my cap level went up tremendously. When a person that big shouts you out, the people have to respect you. I just hope to accomplish some of the shit that he has—like maybe one day I’ll be on the cover of Complex like he was—so my cap level skyrockets even higher.

“When I first heard Kanye had said my name on the ‘I Don’t Like (Remix),’ my dude Hustle told me, and I was like, ‘Get the fuck out of here.’ John Monopoly had heard it, but told Hustle not to tell me—John wanted it to be a surprise.

"When John told me, though, I finally believed everyone. I was off the shits at the time when I heard the record—I had just gotten out of the dentist. I was high as shit and tweaking. My phone was blowing up, my Twitter was going crazy.”

From Independent To Major

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From Independent To Major

King L: “I hooked up with Lawless Inc. like eight or nine months ago. My buddy Hustle took my music over to John Monopoly, who I didn’t know at the time. I ain’t gonna stunt, I didn’t know who Monop was, or what he did at the time—I just remember seeing his face in Vibe magazine or something.

"I’d heard his name, but I wasn’t big on knowing all that type of industry shit. I was never big on that hip-hop industry shit, I just did music for me and my guys. Real life shit. It didn’t concern me, so I wasn’t familiar.

“Hustle played John Monopoly some music, and he was fucking with it. Hustle showed him the videos, and then he said he wanted to work with me. Me and my guy, Bighomie Doe, went and had lunch with him, and then later on down the line he introduced us to his homie Larry, who was the owner of Lawless Inc. We got together, figured it all out, and it John became my manager, and I was officially signed to Lawless Inc. Ever since then we’ve been working.


 

Growing up, I was used to being lied to, used to be spun. People would promise things and they never came true. You live and learn, but coming up in the streets, you always think someone is out to get you or to take advantage of you.


 

“We were planning on putting out Dope & Shrimp on our own as an indie release—we were just gonna sell it ourselves. We had the proper channels set up and everything. But Epic/Sony approached us, and what they were talking made sense.

"They let us know they could get Dope & Shrimp to a much larger audience, and get it to people we couldn’t necessarily touch. They wanted to give it a bigger push and a bigger following, so we were with it.

“We had a few labels looking at us, and people who were trying to sign us, but that move made the most sense. I just wanted to get myself in a position where I didn’t have to do some stupid shit anymore.

"I wanted to get a little bit of money so I can take care of my people. And to get my music out there before the fire goes out—before it gets old. We got the city, now let’s get the rest of the world. Because I feel like I should’ve already been in the eye of the world.

“I never thought it was going to be a career, though. Like, when John Monopoly and Larry wanted to sign me, I didn’t think they was telling the truth. When Hustle told me they wanted to sign me I was like, ‘I don’t believe you.’

"Growing up, I was used to being lied to, used to be spun. People would promise things and they never came true. You live and learn, but coming up in the streets, you always think someone is out to get you or to take advantage of you. It’s just the way we were brought up. But now when John or Larry tell me something, I believe them because everything they’ve said so far came true.”

Changing His Name To King L From King Louie

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Changing His Name To King L From King Louie

King L: “Man, somebody already had King Louie trademarked. But that don’t mean nobody can’t call me King Louie no more. People just can’t stop calling me King Louie because that’s my name. Apparently, it’s a name from some Disney movie [called The Jungle Book], so they wouldn’t let me use it. Disney wouldn’t clear it.

“So my name is still King Louie to the world, but on paper it’s King L. The people still know who I am. It’s just a minor change, like Biggie was The Notorious B.I.G., because the name Biggie Smalls was already being used by another rapper. The fans know what it is, though.”

Dope & Shrimp

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Dope & Shrimp

King L: “The album is nuts. It’s growth and development. I came up with the title last summer, as I’d been smoking weed and eating shrimp all summer long—it’s like a ritual. I love shrimp, I’d eat it everyday if I could. Dope and shrimp were like my two favorite things, so I just named it that. Jumbo shrimp from Haire’s is the best in the city. It’s the spot right across the street from Simeon High School [where Derrick Rose went].

“The original cover of the album had a cartoon picture of a shrimp smoking a big ass blunt. At that time it was just gonna be a mixtape, so we had the funny little cover. But I think we’re gonna need to do it bigger and better for the real album, people loved the original cover so much.

“The project is done, but no project is done until it actually comes out. We had it done when we signed with Epic, but we’re still recording for it. We gotta keep it fresh. It’s pretty much all Chicago producers, but we recently worked with some people out in L.A.—particularly Soundz, who is from Georgia. Shout out to him, though. He gave us some dope ass beats.

“My favorite songs are ‘Goldie with the Pimpin’ [the original and the remix] and ‘Band Nation.’ Those are real boss-like records. We got this one joint called ‘Pack So Loud’ produced by Young Chop that’s a total crossover record. It’s a lot of shit on there.”

The Chicago Scene

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The Chicago Scene

King L:“I love what’s going on in the Chicago music scene right now. This is the shit that was supposed to been happened, but I think right now is the perfect time. Everyone is different. There’s a lot of variety coming out of one city right now.


 

There’s a lot of variety coming out of one city right now. You’ve got YP, King Louie, Rockie Fresh, Lil Durk, Chief Keef, Spenzo, and Chance The Rapper. Everybody different—none of those people sound the same.


 

"You’ve got King Louie, YP,  Rockie Fresh, Lil Durk, Chief Keef, Spenzo, and Chance The Rapper. Everybody different—none of those people sound the same.

“Back in the day, Bump J was kinda out there by himself. Everybody was trying to rap like Bump back then—he influenced everyone, so there was a bunch of Bump clones. But now it’s like a different variety. Salute to Bump because he went hard and he inspired us. He was a boss, for real.

“But as far as the new class, there’s always competition, but it’s a good competition. We all respect each other. It’s a positive competition, and we’re all rooting for one another. We all work together—at least I try to work with everyone. Everything with me is on the positive tip. I want us all to win.”

Slang

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Slang

King L: “The slang comes from different areas in the land that fuck with each other. Some of it might be from the Eastside, some shit be from the Low End. Some of us call females cap. Some call them thots.

"You might have a chick over at your crib, your guy will call you and say, ‘You got some P.C. over there?’—that’s personal cap. That’s just cap for you. You can also have community cap, though. That’s cap for the entire crew. [Laughs.]

“You’ve got pidd—that’s something the little kids say. But that shit was so funny to me, that I made a song called ‘#PiDD.’ That means point, blank, pidd. Pidd is period. It’s some clown shit. It ends a sentence.


 

You might have a chick over at your crib, your guy will call you and say, ‘You got some P.C. over there?’—that’s personal cap. That’s just cap for you. You can also have community cap, though. That’s cap for the entire crew. [Laughs.]


 

“Then there’s Drill. Drill can mean a lot of different things. R.I.P. to Pac Man, he invented the term. Anything can be a drill—you about to have sex? That’s a drill. You going out to the club to pop bottles and get hot thots? That’s a drill as well. It’s an action.

“M.U.B.U.—that’s my world. It means Man Up Band Up. That’s being a man about yours and getting your money. Thoink—the little G’s say that. GBE [Chief Keef’s crew] came up with that, and it means weed. D-Block is something me and my camp say—it means your johnson.

"There’s so much, and it’s catching on out here. Also, you’ll hear guys putting ‘ito’ on the end of things. I be high, tweaking, and thinking I can speak Spanish, so I’ll just throw an ‘ito’ on the end of something like, ‘Yo, roll up that dopito.’

“B.R.O.K.E. is another thing I came up with. We don’t say broke meaning broke in the normal sense. We say our crew is broke everyday, but it means ‘Ballin’ Reckless On Kids Everyday.’ You can be broke with a lot of money. I came up with being in the studio with my homie Joey who always has those c-notes. [Laughs.] He broke, but ain’t never broke.”

Fatherhood

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Fatherhood

King L: “Fatherhood is awesome. To my daughter, I’m the best father in the world. My father wasn’t in my life, so I want to be in my daughter's life and give her everything she wants. It’s all about M.U.B.U. and she inspires me to M.U.B.U.

“She’s four years old. I just got her two goldfish yesterday, so she thinks I’m the coolest person in the world right now. She calls me either King Louie, Louis, or daddy. She doesn’t really know what I do yet, as far as a career, but I’m the biggest star in the world to her.”

Future Plans

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Future Plans

“I wanna be a movie star. I don’t wanna just rap, I want to do art, all of that type of shit. I want to broaden my horizons—always be evolving. I’d like to be a funny movie star. Do comedies. I don’t wanna just limit myself to rapping. I’m a funny person, so I want a reality show, a sitcom.

“I’d also like to write songs for people, but more than just rap—I want to write R&B hits. I wanna have my own clothing line called LAD-J, named after my initials.

“I wanna sign artists. I want to get my Mama a big ass house. I’d get her a car, too, but she can’t drive. I want my daughter to go to college, put her through ballet—all that type of stuff. I don’t just wanna rap. I wanna see the world.”

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