Louis King

Hats off to West LA rapper, by way Nigeria, Louis King. Louis has been rapping for his whole life, and has been touring with the Outlawz since 2014. Rest in peace to Bruce Washington aka Hussein Fatal who has recently passed in a car accident.

Not only is Louis King a rapper, but he is also signed to Adolescent Content as a director, story teller and creative artist, and has won a few prestigious award. Louis was the recipient for the "Best Film" and "Best Documentary" at the "Philadelphia International Film Festival in 2009.

To add to his story, in 2006, Louis King was in a severe car accident and doctors told his parents the chances of his survival were slim, and if he did make it out alive—he would be in a vegetative state. Brain dead, no ability to walk, no ability to move at all. God mustn't of thought it was his time to go. Everybody's got a story, huh?
"Money A Drug," his latest music video, is a testament to why it wasn't time for his clock to stop ticking. Considering Louis's accolades, does it come to us at any surprise that "Money A Drug" was not only written, but directed by Louis King himself? Color is not even needed to make the visuals for the video extremely compelling and moving. The black and white cinematography take us through a man and woman's turbulence, initiated by the man loosing his daughter. The music video ends up being a "use me and I use you" kind of tale, with a tragic ending. Everyone in the video is guilty, but who's to judge their circumstances?

Tragically complimenting the end of the video, is a a passage from the Bible. "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

A complete must see.

To find out more on the inspiration's contributions to the entertainment world, click on his website where you will find another of his amazing music videos "Flow Like Waterfalls." Also visit Adolescent Content to see his bed of work with the production company. Too much info? That could never be the case when the talent is real!

Respect to Louis King, who is indeed a king in his own rights. - HipHopDx

The Out­lawz (now com­prised of E.D.I Mean, Young Noble and Hus­sain Fatal) have recently embarked on a European tour appear­ing in Rus­sia, Bul­garia, Ire­land and London’s legendary Jazz Café. Ini­tially when I was asked to cover the show I was appre­hens­ive as admit­tedly I have only really heard smat­ter­ings of the Out­lawz, either as fea­tures on Tupac tracks or slightly more prom­in­ently on the Tupac posthum­ous album Still I Rise. I was under­stand­ably wor­ried that the Out­lawz (post Pac) had per­haps amassed an under­ground fol­low­ing that were fans of their solo out­ings whereas I had never heard an Out­lawz track without Tupac.
Dur­ing the pre­amble DJ Mo Fin­gaz had the dif­fi­cult task of nav­ig­at­ing a rather diverse crowd and at times boos of dis­ap­proval could be heard dur­ing his set, how­ever I felt his set man­aged to encom­pass enough old skool with some clas­sic joints from Dre’s Chronic: 2001 to Capone N Nore­aga all the way through to the new skool with the likes of Joey Bada$$ and Kendrick Lemar. After the multi gen­er­a­tion span­ning DJ set on came West Coast rap­per Louis King who burst on to the stage with incred­ible energy and really lif­ted what had became a rather dormant crowd. Although many of the crowd may not have heard Louis King before, he made sure his per­form­ance was note­worthy as he enthu­si­ast­ic­ally rapped and even sang dir­ectly to one fan, his short but great per­form­ance was topped off with him throw­ing cop­ies of his mix­tape into the audience.
outlawz1
The Out­lawz then stormed the stage to the hard hit­ting bass­line of Tupac’s swan song Hail Mary and the crowd erup­ted as every­one began singing the fam­ous hook. They then kept up the tempo by fol­low­ing up with other clas­sic Pac tracks like This Life I lead, Last Muthafuka Breathin and a cut from the Gang Related OST Lost Souls. All of these tracks had the crowd going wild as we all were clutch­ing on to little snip­pets of Tupac’s leg­acy. E.D.I Mean then treated us to one of his solo tracks which hon­estly went pretty much unnoticed as the major­ity of the audi­ence just wanted to hear more Tupac. Of course the Out­lawz obliged and we were given some dance floor friendly tracks with Its All About You and Thugs Pas­sion. How­ever the moment we had all been wait­ing for was soon upon us as Hit em Up began play­ing and abso­lute pan­de­monium ensued and the once dormant crowd was trans­formed in an instant as the crowd began jump­ing all over the place while sim­ul­tan­eously rap­ping the entire track word for word with intens­ity that would of made Pac him­self proud. The show was closed with a pos­it­ive mes­sage as the Out­lawz paid their respects to Nate Dogg, Notori­ous BIG and the man him­self Tupac.
I think it shows just how extraordin­ary (if you had any doubt) Tupac’s leg­acy really is. Although the Out­lawz are indeed liv­ing off this leg­acy I don’t think it’s neces­sar­ily a bad thing, as by doing so they are also help­ing to keep his leg­acy alive. - IamHipHop Magazine

(Google Translation - Polish to English)
From his native Los Angeles, Norway, where he comes from producer duo Loop Holes, responsible for film music on his album "International Slap" (listen / free download) to London, whose artistic face shows the video "Picture Me" - Louis King everywhere! Visitors turn another continents and constantly spreading positive vibes MC is not idle, and we strongly we support and encourage you to check his latest work. West Coast! - Popkiller Pl

Louis King is one of the most international of the young rappers coming out of LA. His new album, International Slap features timeless performers like Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 and Osiris Booque of Ubiquitous Love Tribe, who appears in King's video for "Waterfalls". Louis is an accomplished director himself, crafting said visual as well as producing films in Hollywood. The son of Yoruba drummer Ayo Adeyemi, Louis is breaking ground on HipHop Lives International, a forthcoming series giving positive international artists a platform to share their stories. Louis has penned songs for a number of well-known artists and is part of writing/production crew ZJ30, as well as the leading member of fusion band South Banks, whose "Superwoman" single rode DJBooth.net's Independent Music Charts for eight weeks straight. Embraced by West Coast legends at an early age, Louis excelled on DJ Quik’s Book of David Tour, and has performed in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Tokyo to date. He's also a former All-American College Football Player, National Champion, and NFL Draft Prospect. One of the real ones whose credibility extends from the booth, to the streets, and across international waters, Louis King is taking LA to places it still has yet to reach. - HotNewHipHop.com

Interview with Louis King

Louis King

West Los Angeles rapper Louis King presents the @generationwest-directed music video for “Flow Like Waterfalls”, the new single from Louis’ new album International Slap, featuring Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, Ray Wright of Warm Brew, Anthony Brewster & Bridget Graham, Camila Recchio, Michael Brewster, and Osiris Booque of Ubiquitous Love Tribe, who guests on “Waterfalls”. The track was produced by Norwegian group Loopholes, and the video was directed by Louis himself, an accomplished director in his own right (see more). The son of Yoruba drummer Ayo Adeyemi (site), Louis is working on HipHop Lives International, a forthcoming series with the goal of giving international artists a platform to share their stories. Louis has penned songs for a number of well-known artists and is part of writing/production crew ZJ30, as well as the leading member of alternative rock/hip-hop/fusion band South Banks, whose “Superwoman” single rode DJBooth.net’s Independent Music Charts for eight weeks straight (listen). Louis’ previous solo full-lengths include Ahead of My Time (listen), Running Late (listen) and Checkmate (listen). Louis was on DJ Quik’s Book of David Tour alongside Suga Free, the Generation West Pac 2012 Tour and has performed in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Tokyo. “I paint real life pictures and attempt to express why I am who I am,” Louis says about the single. “My reality was intense from a young age. I went through a lot and I got to see things from an angle many of my peers never checked. Now I must share this information because of the perspective I have.” International Slap is out now on Generation West.

What’s your experience with Sacramento and its Hip Hop scene?

I’ve never done a show in Sacramento but I got mad love for the Bay Area. Mac Dre, 40 Water, Andre Nickatina, Digital Underground… The style molded hip-hop, including artists such as Too Short and Tupac Shakur to whom the Bay became another home. We did a show in San Francisco last year on 4.20 and I’m really a fan of the Bay vibe. Its a laidback, chill vibe, yet it represents the streets and celebrating the excitement of our culture. I was in high school in LA when E-40’s My Ghetto Report Card came out. I thought the beats were full of energy, the lyricism was legendary (which I thought was surprising for turntup music) and even the dance would have all the block boys going hyphy. All the homies were ghost-riding the whip and we still thizz dance to this day. I look forward to hearing more about the Sacramento hip-hop scene as it relates to the Yay Area.

What sets you apart from your west coast contemporaries like Kendrick Lamar, etc?

Kendrick is dope and I would take any comparison as a compliment. I think when people first hear of an artist, it’s easier to understand them by comparing them to another artist they are familiar with. I have my own set of goals and trends to set as a musician, visionary and businessman. However, I’m a different being with a different story and I think who I am sets me apart from my contemporaries. I am Louis King. I’ve been playing music on stages just as long as I’ve been walking. I grew up in this street shit and can’t nobody pull my card. I wrote a song with my boys that incited a riot at my high school of 4k+ students and I actively participated in that riot. At 15, we had witnessed the power of music. I was nearly killed several times through several seperate experiences and when I found myself with my skull and legs crushed in the ICU, I was blessed with a miraculous recovery that I used to fuel myself to succeed through positivity. Since then, I have faced surmountable adversity and I will continue to inspire my people and prevail. My music has a soulful foundation which resides in the streets for kings and queens on a journey to find their crowns.

What’s your advice for rappers trying to run their career independently?

I would just tell upcoming independent artists to set your own pace.

What’s the theme behind your new album International Slap?

The ongoing theme is hope and freedom. Additional themes include equality, patience, perseverance and love. I wanted to create a project with universal themes that people from all different walks of life could identify with. International Slap is traveling music to guide listeners on a journey. Everyone in life is on a journey, and International Slap is a soundtrack of perseverance and hope.

International Slap mixtape on Datpiff | louiikinglive.com | Twitter [@thelouisking] | Soundcloud
Facebook | Twitter [@tribeubiquitous] | Twitter [@marshtini] - SACRAMENTO HIP HOP

Hip Hop Lives is an exclusive documentary film series taking you through a journey of international Hip Hop.

HHL Japan features Oh No x DJ Joe Iron x Zen La Rock & Louis King.

Generation West Production (C) 2013
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@OhNoTheDisrupt @DjJoeIron @ZenLaRock @musicstrengthTV - Music&Strength.tv

We are at The 9 continue our The Whole 9 series, interview LA emcee Louis King, who has worked with the likes of Jurassic 5 frontman CHALI 2NA. He also has a mixtape out titled International Slap. We chopped it up with him about performing in NYC, working with Norwegian producers LoopHoles, Hip Hop internationally, performing in places like Tokyo, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and the best song he has ever made. For more on Louis King, follow him on FaceBook, Twitter and website. Check out the interview after the jump.

the9elements: Have you performed in New York yet? How are you received on the East Coast?

Louis King: I have performed with my band South Banks in New York, Philadelphia, and all over New Jersey. The East Coast has showed a lot of love. The first show I did in NY was like six years ago, before I had much of a following. I knew if I went on stage with some wack shit as a new artist I would get booed off real quick. I’ll always remember that night in NYC where I learned that regardless of east or west, people are going to respect dope music. It was also really special the first time South Banks headlined the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. I flew in from LAX hours before the show. It was sold out and as we performed I noticed the crowd singing all the words. It was dope knowing I had just came 3000 miles from home and this many people could identify with what I was saying. I fuck with the East Coast though. Gotta shout out the South Banks fam, all my cousins in Long Island, Matt Patterson in Queens, The Pyrex Kid and Fettucini P in Harlem, Grand Staff and Sophie-G-Unit in Brooklyn.

T9E: How did you hook up with Norwegian producers LoopHoles?

LK: We both discovered each other online. It’s ironic because I was actually listening to some beats of theirs when they reached out saying we should get up sometime. They sent me a beat which I recorded on and sent back in like an hour. When they heard it we both agreed we should do a project and what started as a five-track EP developed into a conceptual sound visual series known as International Slap. This international relationship helped conceptualize something that people could relate to in Europe and the US along with anywhere else around the world iSlap would be played.

T9E: Tell us about HipHop Lives International.

LK: HipHop Lives International is a social justice Hip Hop documentary series filmed in different countries around the world. HHL is a template for lifting artists around the world up onto a platform to share their voices and speak on the issues of their region. It’s about inspiring people to come together and help each other. I believe if we assembled an army of musicians, poets and artists from around the world; we could outnumber any military regime. Music is a powerful weapon. You can check out the Hip Hop Lives: Japan documentary online now and stay tuned for the next installment in the series at www.LouiiKingLive.com or YouTube.

T9E: You’ve performed in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Tokyo. Any interesting stories from those experiences?

LK: I recently returned from Israel. As soon as we landed in Tel Aviv at the airport a siren went off. Everyone started moving quickly and I was wondering what was going on. This pretty girl calmly walked over to me and told me to follow her. She moved casually and proceeded to tell me “don’t worry, we still have 30 seconds until any rockets could possibly hit.” I thought to myself, “oh wonderful, how comforting.” Everyone in the airport waited under the stairs in Ben Gurion until the Iron Dome blew up the rockets in the sky. The Iron Dome is an IDF defense system that fires at rockets aiming to destroy them in the sky before hitting any potential targets. Not even ten minutes went by before we were cleared to leave and everyone just continued on as if nothing had even happened. Ben Gurion Airport was declared a no fly zone for the next 72 hours.

T9E: What’s your favorite song of yours and why?

LK: I don’t really have a favorite song because theres so many but three of my favorites on International Slap are Heart & Soul, Realm of Youth and Masses. Heart & Soul captured a vibe through the piano keys of a smooth jazz interlude. Realm of Youth is a powerful song with a message of equality and bliss. I co-produced Realm of Youth along with LoopHoles and it’s one of the songs that definitely illustrated the International Slap theme and concept lyrically. Masses is a hidden track on the tail end of Follow Your Heart. Masses builds on this International Slap concept of hope, freedom, equality and my role as a messenger for this vision. Plus I just like the flow on that joint. - The9Elements.com

Louis King is on the verge of making some big moves in this music game we live for. In 2013, Louis King was selected as a finalist for Power106 FM’s WhosNew@2 for the single’s “Peace” and “LOUII”. Louis performed with Radio Host Yesi Ortiz & DJ Felli Fel at the Power106 WhosNext Concert. LK then traveled to Austin, TX where he performed at South by South-West with several major artists including Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Problem & Snoop Dogg. Louis King’s heartfelt single “Peace” aired again in the spring of 2013, this time on Steve Harvey’s Morning show. Louis King is set for a big year in the works with “Ahead of My Time”(DP) preceding the “Running Late”(Album) released July 15, 2013. South Banks will deliver their follow-up to the Fit for a King EP in the fall of 2013.
Louis King is a driven, young artist from West Los Angeles, CA, USA, who used his foundation in the streets to spread his music around the world. LOUII can be described as a Musician, Spokesperson, and Hip-Hop Performing Artist among other things. King’s music is a breath of fresh air combining powerful production with lyrical ammunition. Louis King has written and produced for pop, rock, soul, funk and hip-hop artists.
I really like Louis King’s music and I know if you give it a chance you will like as well. Let bring the knowledge back to hiphop. - iMoveiLive.com

New break through HipHop/Jazz artist Louis King live from MTV.com - MTV.com

For Louis King, ‘do it while I’m young’ is a loaded mantra. On his album of the same name, the LA rapper breaks down his past and the value it placed on his present. Sweet as the message sounds, the story behind is anything but. For King, youth was less about living than figuring out how to stay alive. And, as far as he’s concerned, staying alive is a thing to be both conscious of and celebrated in every moment. Do It While I’m Young bridges this gap and breaks down why it exists in the first place. Injustice, King proposes, breeds awareness. And awareness is what King defines as he plays teacher, leader, friend and foe in this complex narrative.

Instead of separating these sides of his character or differentiating who he was from who he’s become, King shows how each informs and feeds off of the other. Although he’s moved on from old habits and thought constructs, he recognizes their influence on his new ones. And while he’s transcended former beliefs about masculinity, he knows why it’s important to expound on them to future generations.

Sonically, the project is as vast as the identities that King inhabits. The opener, “Do It While I’m Young,” melds innocent, playful instrumentals with pragmatic lessons (“If you work, you gotta play, ‘cause any day in these streets could be your last day”) and a chorus that brings the LP’s message back home. Other tracks like the standout “Told ‘Em” unleash a boisterous energy that attest to King’s thoughtful flow—intentionally slurred, but knowingly measured.

“Adios” is just as fun and experimental as “Told Em,” but lifts, a little more blatantly, a middle finger to the sky as he repeats, “I be adios.” The track is a big, fat “fuck it” to everything he’s supposed to be, a want to indulge in women and the ways that are most familiar. And, naturally, one you’d want to blare with the window down and the night breeze blowing. “Playground Thoughts,” on the other hand, is a spoken word public service announcement addressed to “my little brothers” that deconstructs manhood.

Do It While I’m Young is an album that springs from necessity. King wants you to learn what he’s learned, where he comes from, and how he reflects the hardships he’s been through. He wants you to step into his shoes and walk the streets that he has walked. And, when it’s all said and done, he wants you to kick back and party, because, well, life’s too short. - Passion Weiss