Rising Chicago rapper King Louie pushes “Gumbo” sound

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Up and coming rap artist King Louie was born and raised in Chicago, though you would never know it from his music. The handful of mixtapes he has released so far sound like something out of Atlanta. From the beats, to the lyrics, to the overarching style, King Louie’s music has a strong southern influence, an influence that is as evident in the title track of his most recent mixtape Motion Picture as it is anywhere.

In an exchange of emails between the Windy City spitter and myself, King Louie attributed that southern influence to “Dro City swag.” Dro City is the neighborhood on the Southside of Chicago that Louie hails from, a neighborhood that, until recently, was one of the few places where King Louie’s fame extended. Now King Louie has gained a national following through his hit single “Too Cool,” which features 2 Chainz and Red Café on the remix, and through a couple of mixtapes which compiled his lesser known, early work.

King Louie is part of an exploding hip-hop scene in Chicago that has just recently thrust itself into the national spotlight and features the likes of Lil Durk, Chief Keef, who is currently having his most recent single remixed by Kanye West, and Louie himself. Louie attributes the streets as a “major source of all of [their] success” and was sure to mention that none of them “have major label marketing behind them.”

Similar to Louie’s music, much of the music coming out of this Chiacgo movement has strong southern influence which has earned it the title “New Trap,” with trap music being a type of music often associated with southern artists such as Young Jeezy, T.I., and Waka Flocka Flame. King Louie embraces this “New Trap” brand but prefers to classify his music as “Gumbo” because he sees his music as “a mix of everything.” This title is fitting given that King Louie’s music pulls pieces from all across the rap spectrum but stems from southern hip-hop, giving it “a sound that people are unfamiliar with,” that is, until you listen to it. King Louie put it best when he said, “you will always know when you hear a King Louie song.” King Louie’s music has a unique and new personality while drawing from many different areas a hip-hop which is probably why his fame has grown so much lately.

King Louie’s growing reputation hasn’t come easy. Louie attributes his talent to “investing time in perfecting [his] craft, and hard work.” His recording career started after he dropped out of high school. He rapped before he left school but didn’t start recording and pushing his music until after. Once Louie and his brother Doe started peddling recordings throughout Chicago, Louie’s buzz continued to grow until his music reached John Monopoly, Kanye West’s former manager. Monopoly and his business partner Larro Wilson have since started a local label, Lawless Inc., and signed King Louie as their flagship artist.

It is on this label that King Louie’s debut LP, Dope and Shrimp, will be released. I asked King Louie about the inspiration for the album’s title and he said it comes from “last summer” when “all [he] did was smoke dope and then eat shrimp.” I also asked him what listeners can expect on album and he said, “You can expect a real personal project, a project that had a lot of time invested into and demonstrates my growth as an individual musically and personally.” As for when this project will be released, Louie simply told me “soon” as they are “putting finishing touches on mixing and so forth."

Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to hear King Louie’s debut. If you were like me and couldn't wait, you can hear more of Louie’s music from the mixtape he released in March entitled Motion Picture located here or from one of his #ManUpBandUp compilation mixtapes located here and here.