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An uncannily loose yet precise rapper and accomplished producer,
Big K.R.I.T. has continued in a lineage of Southern rap legends who include
UGK,
8Ball and
MJG,
OutKast, and
David Banner. He spent years honing his skills on the mixtape circuit before signing with
Def Jam, a deal that led to the Top Ten albums
Live from the Underground (2012) and
Cadillactica (2014).
K.R.I.T. has since been independent with his Multi Alumni label, the outlet for his third consecutive Top Ten full-length,
4eva Is a Mighty Long Time (2017), and a set of later EPs summarized as
TDT (2019). He has either produced and/or appeared on material from the likes of
Wiz Khalifa,
Curren$y,
Freddie Gibbs, and Rick Ross, and continued releasing new work of his own like the 2021 mixtape
A Style Not Quite Free and 2022 studio album
Digital Roses Don't Die.
Born Justin Scott in Meridian, Mississippi,
Big K.R.I.T. learned to play cello in childhood. Later on, as a fledgling rapper, he started producing tracks out of financial necessity, starting with MTV Music Generator on the Sony PlayStation. His early mixtapes began with See Me on Top in 2005 and culminated in 2010 with
K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, released the year he signed with major-label
Def Jam and was featured on tracks by
Wiz Khalifa and
Curren$y. In 2011,
K.R.I.T. was included in XXL magazine's annual Freshman Class feature, released
Return of 4eva -- acknowledged by Rolling Stone and Spin magazines as one of the year's best releases -- and assisted deep cuts from
Freddie Gibbs,
Smoke DZA,
Ludacris, and
Chamillionaire.
K.R.I.T.'s
Def Jam stint began officially with
Live from the Underground in 2012. Bolstered with input from
8Ball and MJG,
Bun B,
Devin the Dude, and
Anthony Hamilton, the proper album entered the Billboard 200 at number five. The increasingly eclectic and substantive
Cadillactica, another Top Ten hit, followed in 2014, the year
K.R.I.T.'s productions also graced output headlined by Rick Ross and
A$AP Ferg. While intermediary mixtape releases plugged gaps between albums,
K.R.I.T. parted ways with
Def Jam and launched Multi Alumni, an independent label. A third proper full-length,
4eva Is a Mighty Long Time, arrived in 2017 and continued his streak of Top Ten albums. The following year brought a trilogy of brief releases,
Thrice X,
Double Down, and
Trifecta, eight tracks of which constituted the acronymically titled 2019 release
TDT. Fourth studio album
K.R.I.T. Iz Here arrived later in the year, with guests including
Lil Wayne and
J. Cole.
Over the next few years,
K.R.I.T. appeared on tracks as a guest alongside
Snoop Dogg,
Erick Sermon,
B.o.B, and others, and went entirely solo for his 2021 mixtape
A Style Not Quite Free. In February 2022, he released his fifth studio album,
Digital Roses Don't Die. The record's funky and exploratory instrumentation showed up in the form of doo-wop backing vocals, smooth drums, and slinky guitar playing on lead single "Southside of the Moon." ~ Andy Kellman & David Jeffries