Top Picks

Description

Ever the thinking man's rapper, Mississippi's Big K.R.I.T. has released an ambitious debut album. Live from the Underground renders the vast canvas of the black American experience with a rich and descriptive palette. The album's sequence evolves like Malcolm X's path to enlightenment, from tales of ghetto survival ("If I Fall") to the awakening of Afrocentric consciousness. K.R.I.T. doles out pearls of wisdom on "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," from a place that's both fluid and deep: "Life is just a raffle/Mostly pain but some laughter." Beatwise, Live reps the South in all of its glory. Think Houston's chopped-and-screwed scene on "Hydroplaning" (featuring Devin the Dude), as well as many others. Delta blues bubbles up in "Praying Man" with B.B. King. It's a song told from the perspective of African slaves, nodding to another meaning behind the album's subterranean title. Song: If I Fall (feat. Melanie Fiona) Album: Live from the Underground Artist: Big K.R.I.T. Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap Released: Jun 05, 2012 @ 2012 The Island Def Jam Music Group