Twelve years ago, a young MC by the name of Khalil Crisis put out his solo debut, Mi Vida Negra (mostly produced by Vitamin D). South End gang life and fierce social consciousness equally informed his raps. And his rep for verbally eviscerating opponents IRL in competitive formats (both formal and informal) was well-known among heads on the scene—heads who trafficked between the few venues available at the time, among them RCKNDY, Sit & Spin, and the Paradox (all RIP). Changing times (sometime before 2007) brought a new MC handle to Khalil because, as he said, "the crisis was over"—and so Khingz was born. Under this moniker, which also was a nod to King County, he did his best work; chief among his fairly deep catalog was the 2009 monster From Slaveships to Spaceships. Now, if you read enough, you should know that now is the part when things go full circle—and so it goes, as Khingz has become KA.lil. Why the change, though?
"Partly because everyone called me Kalil, and not Khingz," he writes. "It also sounded elitist, which I'm not. Aaaand I wanted to repair myself, instead of the whole county, which is changing so much that I don't know if I have a place in it. As the city gentrifies further and further, I get this almost physical feeling that I'm not wanted here. So I rep me, and hopefully it inspires people to be themselves, regardless of what's happening around them. Plus: Andre 3000 uses his real name, and that's been my dood since freshman year of high school." Go see KA.lil run his whole cycle at the release party for his Between Saturday Night and Sunday Morning album at Barboza on June 12, with Abyssinian Creole, Gabriel Teodros, Hi-Life Soundsystem, B-Flat, and OTOW Gang (Mic Flont, Massiah, Uce Wayne).
The Coup is playing at the Crocodile on the 14th with punk soul sisters NighTraiN and a group that I consider one of the most exciting crews in this city: Malitia MaliMob. Peep the uncut perspective of these young, street-active Somali cats over beats that are at once riotously trill, deep, and ancient-sounding. Also: On the 16th, you got Seattle native/LA resident Mr.Xquisit doing his pop-rap-reggae thing at Nectar (Seattle expat Scribes will be there, too), and Shelton Harris and Tyler Dopps are at the Crocodile (I predict a sellout). Spekulation plays the Royal Room on Rainier on the 19th with a 10-piece orchestra, which is damned cultured.
HOLD UP. The trigger-happy motherfucking Geto Boys—yes, Bushwick Bill, Willie D, and Scarface, for the love of Christ—are coming to town on June 18, playing El Corazón of all places. Not really known for being a beacon for live hiphop in this city, EC also recently hosted a Big K.R.I.T. show that Ludacris randomly popped up at, so maybe that's changing, via market pressures and promoters and such. Whatever, I'm excited to see more hiphop in different places, especially where it's actually welcome—plus it's the fucking Geto Boys. Some of hardcore rap's biggest legends. Act accordingly, you ingrates!