07.31.2020

Video: Timo – “30”
Audio: MK – “Kick Yo Door”

Critical Praise:

“The following is for anyone who thinks Chicago is no longer the home of drill music—you are wrong. Since last summer, Chicago’s Timo has proved he is one of the local scene’s best rappers, and that he could easily go toe to toe with the mantle bearer of any other city…Instead of living in the past, Timo builds a bridge between old and new Chicago drill music.” – Pitchfork

The Music:

Guided by label honcho Lil Durk and his keen eye for talent, Only The Family label is home to Chicago’s most impressive young rappers. Today, Timo and MK, two of the label’s newest and freshest signees, share new music, proving that they can go toe-to-toe with King Von, Booka600 and their other labelmates. Together, Timo and MK demonstrate the duality of Chicago’s street music: MK represents the city’s melodic, emotional style, while Timo makes hard-charging, merciless drill music.

MK’s new single “Kick Yo Door” threads the line between menacing and melodic. With a nuanced and engaging delivery that evokes his mentor Lil Durk, MK comes straight for the necks of any goofy who would stand in his way: “You got any words you wanna say before you say goodbye?/I know what you said, I didn’t like it so I had to slide.” The song is a change of pace from MK’s previous work, adding a tough-talking new weapon to his artistic arsenal.

On his hard-hitting anthem “30,” Timo salutes his 30Gang brethren atop a sinister piano loop, showing off his breakneck delivery and ruthless bars. Organizing his rhymes into a single unbroken verse, Timo asserts his street bonafides, brags about his YouTube views, and makes sure everyone knows he won’t change when he makes it big: “I’m on stage with them glizzies, I’m on stage with them 50s,” he rhymes. In the video, Timo stews in an empty apartment, toting guns and talking his sh*t amidst the strobe lights and pyrotechnics that await him when he becomes a star.

Stay tuned for much more from Timo and MK in the near future.

Buy/Stream “Kick Yo Door”: https://empire.ffm.to/kickyodoor

Buy/Stream “30”: https://empire.ffm.to/timo_30

Watch “30”: https://youtu.be/gMdqsO7RfbU

Please contact Michelle or Andrea for more info.

MK Background:

Signed to OTF in late 2019, MK made his recording debut on Family Over Everything, the latest Only The Family compilation mixtape. His solo track “Better” was one of the tape’s emotional highlights, racking up over 500k streams and inspiring a video directed by Chicago native Young Will. The young rapper followed-up “Better” with “Outkast,” a worthy showcase of MK’s expressive voice and raw rhymes, as he digs deep into his psyche and lays bare his goals and desires.

Timo Background:

Described by Pitchfork as “one of the local scene’s best rappers,” Timo is new standard bearer for the Chicago drill scene scene, Timo releases videos at a prolific pace on YouTube, feeding fans hungry for his no-nonsense flexes. The rapper started to gain recognition in his city in 2018 with songs like “On Gang” and “Don’t Get Smoked.” He’s evolved into one of his city’s most reliable sources of realness, earning millions of YouTube views on recent singles like “Kill Switch” (2.1 million views) and “No Cap” (1.4 million views). When he’s not dropping his own music, he provides his own spin on songs like Lil Baby’s “We Paid.” The young rapper signed to OTF in the spring, releasing his single “OTF” to celebrate.