Hannibal King

Hannibal King dishes out life lessons on his new album Don't Die, premiering exclusively on Billboard. The Queens-bred rapper/ producer tapped various beatsmiths for the chest-baring project, including Big Jerm (who's produced for Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller), as well as Mac Miller's DJ ClockworkDJ and longtime pal Theolonious Martin. World's Fair's Nigel Nasty hopped on the sentimental deep cut "Wedding Cake" while members of King's Villains United Crew (Bub Styles, ARXV and MMModern Marvel) contribute bars.

The 12-track set is biographical, though, in that Hannibal waxes poetic about his highs and especially the lows over soulful melodies. The title track and "Rock Bottom" were born from suicidal thoughts and depression while the aforementioned "Wedding Cake" finds King spitting bars about his 10-year relationship.

"This project has been the best time I've had making music in my entire life," he tells Billboard. "I came out of a dark place and decided to make something that was close to home. This was also the toughest project I've ever made because it has a lot of records that were hard to make. All in all the album speaks about me and who I am."

Allow Hannibal King to introduce himself on his independently released Don't Die album below. - Billboard

Hannibal King—a World's Fair affiliate out of Queens whose name you might recognize from the production credits on Remy Banks' World Famous mixtape—is preparing to stake out on his own with the release of an album next month. He's kicked off his campaign with "Don't Die," a self-produced song that he says saved his life.
"I wrote the song coming out of a really rough state. Suicidal and depressed, I had to find a way to change my state of being," King explained in an email to The FADER. "I wrote it at 4 a.m. in the morning in the studio, very not sober. Writing the song helped me get free and realize where I needed to be in my life at that moment. The artistic process of writing the song breathed a new purpose for my life."
In the accompanying video, premiering today on The FADER, he recalls that day: his hand grasping tightly at a brown bagged-beverage while he stumbles through the twilight hours in a blood stained tee. Eventually, he dishes out thank you's: I just wanna buy a crib for my momma, she saved my life/ I just wanna buy a ring for my shorty, she saved my life/ I just wanna buy a chain for the homie, he saved my life/ I just wanna buy the world for the people, they saved my life. Watch above or listen below. - Fader