reppin' BK to the fullest

no... listen to The 'Sip

Hey you… the one about to make a mixtape order… hold on for a second and add ‘Big K.R.I.T. - See Me On Top II (Hosted by DJ Folk)’ to the shopping list. I ordered it rather randomly and, naively, let it sit at the bottom of the pile before I took some time out a few weeks ago to give it a listen…

Neo-cliches like “The Future” and “The Truth” have been bandied about this Meridian, Mississippi-based and Atlanta-connected MC. Or as KRIT rhymes...

On the West he fire
On the North he spit
He the truth in the A
In the ‘Sip he the shit

KRIT’s acronym, ‘King Remembered In Time’, shows that he gladly accepts ‘potential’ as his strongest asset. But that doesn’t diminish the superiority of these mixtape tracks right now.

Alright, I’ll admit that you will hear a solid imitation of a Ludacris flow on ‘The South,’ and then a Pimp C drawl on ‘Just Touched Down’ and a channeling of Jeezy-like ad-libs on the ‘Why Not’ snippet. And yes, his production style liberally borrows from the slowed-down Texas sound with the haunting ‘Pull The Drop Out.’ But check out how handily Krizzle conjures up the dreamy tones on the ‘Jump In’ remix providing a perfect ‘player rap’ track. And hear how skillfully he uses the soulful vocal sample of ‘Just Touched Down.’ Or listen to the creative chopping of the dramatic swirls and familiar vocal bits on ‘Hey Love.’ These styles convey a pop-savvy that can make a mixtape stand out. On ‘Swagger Back’ he boasts over the ‘PSA’ beat that his rhyming AND production skills are simply “a couple years late / just missed Kanye!” He may even have the ego of Mr. West to throw into his arsenal.

The fact that he can rock ALL of these styles WELL is an indication of how far he can take the mic and mixing boards and it’s what sets him apart from so many mixtape up-and-comers. Apparantly he’s got ‘the street’ abuzz ‘round The A and The Sip but a pop strategy is clearly at work in the KRIT patchwork and is what gives him an edge… not the ‘cutting’ variety but still over most competition.

It’s not clear how much D. Jones helps out KRIT on the production side but when KRIT likens Kritikal Productions to an ’06 ‘Hov and Dame’ we’ll assume he has a desire for that fire that the Roc-duo had together.

Because of KRIT’s street heat, SOHH Atlanta had no problem featuring an MC from The ‘Sip. And the March issue of Ozone features KRIT in the ‘Patiently Waiting’ section which reveals a bit more complexity of character than fans have become used to with fluff MC profiles. When was the last time a hungry MC in our crack-rap era said his ‘outside talents’ included a “passion for architecture”?

Behold the solid foundation for the house of KRIT.

All songs by Big KRIT:
Why Not (Snippet) (Kritikal Productions)
The South
Just Touched Down (Kritikal Productions)
Swagger Back
Pull The Drop Out (Kritikal Productions)
Jump In Remix (Kritikal Productions)
Hey Love featuring Juice of The Replacementz (Kritikal Productions)

... and more at the Big KRIT MySpace page.