King James

Success is a mindset. Once you decide to succeed at something and are committed to the work, you will. For Arkansas emcee King James, these aren’t just words, but a lifestyle. It’s his dedication to this ideology that has King James on everyone’s radar.

Growing up in Jonesboro, Arkansas, King James would sit around the lunch table watching his older peers spit rhymes. He would watch and take note as the grade school kids made beats with hands, mouths, and school supplies. Later, he and his friends would imitate what they saw, delivering verses as their favorite artists. It was then King James decided to put the music in his own hands. “I was 11 years old when I decided to start making my own music. I use to imitate these other artist and I remember telling myself, ‘I want someone to be mimicking me one day’.” With nothing but two cassette tapes and a recorder, King James would go into his mother’s bathroom and make original tracks. Using one tape to record the actual beat and then the other to record his lyrics, King James had put it in his mind that he was going to be successful as an artist and just did it.

At the age of 14, King James was given the opportunity to start recording his music in a professional studio after someone heard his originally recorded tracks done in his mother’s bathroom. By the time he reached Jr. High School, King James had formed a hip-hop collective, Soldier Boys. Having some local success the group would eventually hit the road on a promo tour, opening for greats such as Project Pat, Yo Gotti and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

Fast-forward several years, and King James is still on his quest for success on his own terms. His most recent solo project “No Chains, No Watch, No Rims” is a testament to his dedication to originality and initially created a buzz for him on the underground scene. “I feel like today there is this image of money and chains that artists feel like they have to acquire to make it in this industry. That project was me saying, you don’t need all that to make great music or to be a successful artist.” Now signed to Dallas based recording company Legacy Music Group, King James is working on his follow-up project, “Dying to Live.” On this project, King James expands further on ideals presented in “No Chains, No Watch, No Rims,” touches on topics that plague his community, all while giving the fans hits that they can jam to. The official single, “All I Ever Wanted,” produced by two time Grammy nominated Producer Drumma Boy, will be released Summer 2013.

King James is not focused on LOOKING like a successful hip-hop artist, but instead he is committed to the hard work it takes to be an artist who conquers the music industry. “My music will be timeless. People will listen to my music 10 years from now and it will still be as relevant as it was the first time they ever heard it.”