Big K.R.I.T. is Underrated: A SOTB!!! Rant

Big K.R.I.T. is underrated.

I could leave it at that, insert a picture of Krizzle, press publish and be done, especially since I’ve said it before.

See?

But, that’s not how we do things on SpeedontheBeat.com–although it’d probably be easier.

I mean, he’s been on tracks with artists ranging from Future to Kendrick Lamar, from Ma$e to A$AP Ferg, from Lupe to Smoke DZA. And that’s before we even get to his production discography. But, even with the acclaim of artists around him, of critics, and so on, he’s still listed in that “underrated” category. Folks, unless they really listen to hip-hop, they may respond with either a “who?” or an “oh yeah, I heard of him, but…” if you ask them about the 29-year-old Mississippi native.

Why?

Is it the accent? Is it still some saltiness over the south having something to say? Is it the dual threat ability of the man striving to be a King Remembered in Time? Is it because this man came up from your standard mixtapes to have his own voice? Is it that K.R.I.T. has waxed so many artists, including Kendrick Lamar via “Mt. Olympus,” people’ve started to blackball him on some sort of conspiracy tip? Is it because K.R.I.T., in some ways, is both a result and a relic of the Rise of the Third Coast?

I don’t know if there’s a definitive answer to why people underrate Krizzle. But, that crap’s got to stop–and now.

Let’s take a listen to his 2014 album Cadillactica and his 2015 mixtape-that-was-better-than-most-folks’-albums It’s Better This Way.

On both of these releases, there wasn’t a moment in time where K.R.I.T. was unable to keep up with guest appearances. Heck, I’d argue that those guest spots, such as with Lupe on “Lost Generation,” only made Big K.R.I.T. that much hungrier since he was on a track with a Lupe Fiasco, which led to Lupe stepping up his bars and us, as listeners, getting an amazing song in the process. Additionally, the narrative structure of both of these releases is top-notch in a way that’s often unseen in music these days. These days, artists tend to just give us 10-to-15 tracks with no real reason behind them other than “oh, this shit’s hot fire and the beats bang.” That’s important. You can’t ride to wack-ass music. You can’t fuck to just any ol’ thing.

But, when you combine that ride-a-bility to a story structure that has the potential to make you rethink your own life choices (well, at least it did for me), you’ve got a classic in the making. That’s not to discredit his earlier stuff, as KRIT wuz Here helped introduce the whole idea of K.R.I.T. being on an entire ‘nother level and R4 is still getting play in my car. Five years later. I mean, shit. Drizzle Sez got me a signed copy of R4 and I still have that among my most-treasured possessions. But, the way that the Cadillactica story arc was finalized on its namesake album and the new K.R.I.T. arc which was presented on IBTW, it’s damn near legendary.

And while people are getting more in-tuned with Krizzle, overall? You’ve got something that’s outright and unjustly underrated. If I didn’t know K.R.I.T., and I randomly heard “Lac Lac,” “Top Ten” (featuring another underrated artist, Logic), or “King Pt. 4,” I’d be like “dayum, this guy’s dope as hell. Gimme more. Now.” So, before I ramble on any more, here’s my TL;DR in all caps so you hear me.

LISTEN TO BIG K.R.I.T. AND STOP UNDERRATING THE MAN. IT’S BETTER THAT WAY.