In the course of just two years, Chicago rapper King Von established himself as a sharp lyricist with a focus on storytelling. Debut studio album Welcome to O'Block follows two mixtapes released in quick succession and highlights the various sides of Von's personality, shifting from steely drill tracks to introspective songs of struggle and emotional pain. King Von came up under the influence of frequent collaborator Lil Durk, who appears on two tracks here, including the booming non-stop push of "Back Again." The majority of the album stays in aggressive territory, with stories of street violence and confrontation reaching the most fiery heights on "The Code," while a smart and punchline-heavy track featuring Polo G. Von exhibits sensitivity on "Demon" with a melodic hook and a haunting piano loop underscoring fluid rhymes about traumatic memories and psyche-scarring experiences. King Von's greatest gift might be his spellbinding storytelling. Narrative tracks like "How It Go" are intense and captivating but manage to humanize the subjects of Von's lyrics. Even as he's detailing larger than life scenarios of street crime, jail time, and betrayal, his characters are complex and relatable. Instead of anonymous gangsters and trap house outlaws, the cast of characters we meet over the course of Welcome to O'Block have names, ages, choices we watch them struggle with, and stories that are hard to ignore.
© Fred Thomas /TiVo