Louis King – Tells Us About His ‘Beautiful Grind Collection’ & Using Music To Heal At San Quentin Prison

West Los Angeles rapper Louis King presents the Llama Fineese-directed-directed music video for “Outta Hxre”, Louis’ new single produced by Blu Majic. Louis is currently unveiling his Beautiful Grind Collection, 156 singles he will upload to his Soundcloud every Monday, Wednesday and Friday of 2018. The son of Yoruba drummer Ayo Adeyemi, Louis’ International Slap album featured Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 (stream “Revolution”). Los Angeles radio station Power 106 picked Louis as a WhosNext Artist, and was named to HotNewHipHop’s Heat In These Streets LA Edition along with Casey Veggies, TeeFlii and Compton Av.

He has written lyrics and recorded vocals for the soundtracks for Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and has performed on national TV during the 2016 and 2017 NFL PreGames. Louis is a member of Venice-based band House of Vibe, a Venice-based band that has collaborated with Chali 2na, Talib Kweli, Evidence and MC Supernatural. Louis has toured the world with the Outlaw Immortalz Crew, and has performed in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Tokyo.

Louis is dedicated to his work with Leila Steinberg in San Quentin Prison and helps facilitate school assemblies and weekly workshops with Aim4theHeart.org. When asked about the inspiration behind the song, he said, “This is a song about problem solving and finding a way to empower and change our situations for the better.

We fall into problematic lifestyles and at times wonder ‘How are we going to get out of this’ but Outta Hxre is about looking inside ourselves and finding a way to empower and overcome whatever obstacle stands in our way.”

[jwplayer player=”1″ mediaid=”115155″]We haven’t heard from you since that “Flow Like Waterfalls” joint. What have you been up to?

Good to hear from ya’ll too fam! I released “Flow Like Waterfalls” on International Slap. After iSlap I started touring a lot overseas and working with EDI MEAN, Young Noble and the late Fatal of the Outlawz. When I got back to LA, I teamed up with Leila Steinberg and AIM4theHeart.org using music as a tool for healing as we performed in school assemblies and prisons such as San Quentin Prison.

Related: Louis King ft. Osiris |Ubiquitous Love Tribe| – Flow Like Waterfalls

LA Hip Hop is back in the forefront – specifically that branch of experimental underground LA flavor that informed To Pimp A Butterfly and echoes through your style. What are your thoughts on this development?

I think it’s a beautiful development and I’m proud to see we’ve stayed true to this because since inception in this game. Whatever genre we call it, I truly believe many great artists just strive to craft their talent and create great music that speaks to them. The music industry and tech industry is changing and I think doper artists are finding ways to get to the top without having to compromise their brand to sell records.

I think the playing field was never built to benefit independent success but we’re creating innovational ways to break through which is giving people access to great music; opposed to times when you had to have music on the radio to really gain main stream attention. Also …its just a Westside thing lol…

 

What do you think surprises listeners the most about you?

I would say listeners are most surprised about the vulnerability in my music. I think my music is versatile enough that many different kinds of music lovers can vibe together and the main thing that brings all these types of music I create is the vulnerability in my lyrics and message. I want people to feel empowered, digging deep inside themselves.

 

Are you working on a new album? Who’s involved and how will it differ from the new records out these days?

I’m currently working on the Beautiful Grind Collection which is 12 albums a new one being released each month coming together for a catalog of 156 songs. The project is a social experiment to empower artists to embrace their vulnerability and innovate when it comes to releasing and distributing music as well.

I have dropped a new single every Monday, Wednesday and Friday of 2018 and you can listen to the #BeautifulGrind January,

February and March catalogs now on Soundcloud, Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and everywhere else.

 

Who’s your favorite rapper ever and why?

2Pac. The music speaks for itself, but personally I feel it and identify with the storytelling and the messages. Haters can hate but We love Pac!