21 Th. King

21 Th. King born Josef Sean Washington Jr. December 21st 1990 started singing and performing at a very young age. At 9 he lead his church choir for the first time and also delivered his first sermon. While in 3rd grade rap/ hip hop was presented to Josef and he quickly started to write his first songs. He speaks of how he remembers performing everyday at recess in the middle of the playground for the teachers and students . However by the time he was 12 years of age he was interested in other things such as females and money. Therefore he decided later on that year to be ignitiated into a gang to gain the respect he felt he needed. Feeling that he was a changed man he says he left his gospel roots in his back pocket and picked up a new way of life. After 2 years of Josef spending his time around a rogue crowd of outcast and trouble makers he says " I picked up they spirits slowly but surely and you could see it in my eyes". By the age of 15 Josef had his own squad branched from his initial gang but, he also had met a young man named Travis who had introduced him to recording in a studio. The catch was that Travis only allowed Josef to record gospel music. Therefore Josef found a way to release the wierd and unusual complications he felt at heart. But by the time Josef was a freshman in high school although him and his new found producer became best friends they slowly drifted away from each other due to Josef''s venture further into his sin. By this time Josef had recruited over 100 members into his gang which had added saling "Crack" and "Thizz Pills" to there so called duties. That year he was suspended from school over 30 times and rarely stayed a full day of school by having his friends mother call in posing as his own mother. Only gaining half an credit that year he was removed form the public school system and was home schooled. He got very serious with his music career at that point of life producing and recording up to 5 songs a day. With his grades being acceptable for the first time since third grade and having a better relationship with his parents life felt back on track. However Josef did not realize that being away from his problems is in fact what made life so much easier.Upon returning back to school Josef took a turn for the worst. He went back to his old ways quickly and with a stronger approach but Josef says "Jesus had different plans this time". After backsliding it seemed it was easier to make the money but it came with a price. He was once again moved out of the public school system due to his lack of credits and put in an alternative school. By this time Josef had let go of his gang related activity but was still making money illegal ways and life seemed harder than ever. He moved out of his home into an appartment with an artist that was on the label Josef had created. "At that time I was blowing about 2 or 3 blunts at least everyday " Josef says "And even though I wasn't really doing anything that was just overwhelmingly bad I recall my mind being in a real evil mindset". After going through dramatic events Josef moved back in with his parents. He later graduated from school at the top of his class and though life seemed on track once again he realized he was just in a comfort zone. By this time Josef had released five underground cds, four mixtapes and had produced over ten other projects and was building a name for himself in Kansas City. "I was a cool, calm. and collected dude but my mind was messed up to a serious extent and i was doing some real evil stuff at this point in my life and God had to punish me" Josef says. Early 2009 within 5 months almost 10 people Josef were close to died back to back. Josef stepped up his work ethic to occupy his mind and started working on 4 mixtapes at once while producing other projects too. After finishing volume 2 of a priorly successful mixtape Josef decided to build anticipation and wait to release what his peers described as what was one of the best m