KINGMOSTWANTED

The unofficial capital of the Inland Empire is San Bernardino, aka “The Dino.” It’s an area that’s experienced a substantial increase in migration in recent years, becoming home to thousands of Black and Latinx families leaving comparatively expensive South Central real estate. KING grew up in The Dino until the sixth grade, before moving with his mother to the High Desert in Victorville, on the other end of the Inland Empire.

“Most of the stuff I’m talking about I’ve actually been through in San Bernardino,” KING says. “It’s more violent in The Dino. Victorville is smaller. They want you to do things a certain way there but it can be hard when you’re used to doing things the San Bernardino way.”

KING was arrested for burglary at age 12 and found himself stuck in the revolving door that is California’s judicial system. It was during one of his many stints in jail that he wrote “In My City,” at age 17, easily becoming the youngest rapper with a regional L.A. hit that year. The production is stripped down and simple, and it features frequent collaborator MCM Raymond, who’s also a part of KING’s own 8PETOWN collective.

There’s a youthful nature to KING’s music, a natural playfulness that exists in stark contrast to the sometimes-serious subject matter. It’s partially the reason a number of KING songs have found success in places like Tik-Tok, where his music reached a new audience after social media personality Charli D’Amelio shared a video of herself dancing to “Different Varieties.” He’s since gained more than 110,000 followers on the app with more than 1.5 million likes.

“Charli [D’Amelio] made the video using the ‘Different Varieties’ sound before I even made a Tik-Tok,” KING says. “It already had 100,000 videos by the time I made an account. I uploaded ‘In My City’ on there afterwards and it started going crazy too.”

KING gained further traction after his song “How To Ride,” was featured on the soundtrack for the ninth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise. It originated as one of three songs recorded with producer Uce Lee and had almost been forgotten before it was plucked from obscurity by the folks at Atlantic Records. The video shows KING in a dimly-lit garage smoking and surrounded by dancing women. He’s awkward the way young people often are, yet strapped with the confidence of someone who clearly had to learn to grow up fast in harsh environments.

The 8PETOWN collective that KING is a founding member of spent all last year under one roof, using the house as an all-purpose compound to record music, film videos, party and eventually sleep. Members and housemates included MCM Raymond, who’s had his own breakout year with songs like “The Rip,” featuring Remble, as well as Girlsluhdev and RowdyRacks. While their success has allowed them to get their own places in 2021, they still meet up regularly to make new records.

KING released An Everlasting King in 2019, featuring “In My City,” and “8K Anthem,” with Trill Ryan and MCM Raymond. His next album featured the massive hit “Different Varieties,” as well as the remix with Mike Sherm. His most recent project was 2020’s FRESHMAN YEAR, which saw KING cleverly interpolating the famous XXL Freshman list with artists of his own choosing, including Quin NFN and L.A.’s AzChike

He most recently dropped the “Ice Ice Challenge,” with M.o.b. And jp, sampling the iconic Vanilla Ice single, “Ice Ice Baby.” It’s another solid addition to a library filled with songs that could go viral on TikTok at any moment. KING hopes he can expand the 8PETOWN imprint past music in the future, with dreams of starting his own business and maybe even acting.

“I want to do other stuff too, I want to do everything” KING says, “ If not an actor, I could at least be a voice-actor for a Netflix series or something.”