An underground lyrical artist from the south, specialized in soulful production, in the year2019, Big K.R.I.T. is an anomaly in rap, and he knows it. On 'Make It Easy' he raps,
"'Cause I did it without a hit, my nigga, you know how it be When it's real, no doubt, all this here come word of mouth Put me in yo' conversations, whisper 'bout me like I'm Jason Only rapper tell you go to church, keep it playa', motivate the nation"
If this is the first you've heard of Big K.R.I.T., it's nothing to be ashamed of. The Meridian, Mississippi rapper only came onto my radar because of our shared birthplace, and his most critically acclaimed project was almost ten years ago.
His distinguished debut in the early 2010's placed him alongside some of the biggest rappers of today like J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar, but unlike those two, K.R.I.T. didn't make the switch into blending lyricism with mainstream elements. Instead, he stuck to his soulful, hard-hitting production and stayed relatively quiet.
The Good
One of the biggest criticism's aimed against K.R.I.T. is his lack of willingness to step out of his comfort zone of soulful samples, wall-shaking bass and reminiscent lyrics, but when K.R.I.T. operates in that zone is when "K.R.I.T. IZ Here" is its most enjoyable.
The sound of K.R.I.T. may be a decade past its prime and, but, in reality, K.R.I.T.'s sound is like rewatching an episode of The Office on Netflix. You know what's coming, yet you have no complaints because it's better than 90 percent of whatever else is available.
The first three tracks of the album along with the boastful interlude had "Rap Album of the Year" written all over and easily provides one of the best moments of the project.
Other than K.R.I.T. being himself, the bright spot of this album is the quality of features, as J.Cole delivered a touching verse to one of his first fans and Lil Wayne is Lil Wayne. Saweetie also had one of her best performances in recent memory and made the Annenberg in me proud.
The Bad
There is no glaring negative within "K.R.I.T. IZ Here" or in K.R.I.T. the artist. The lone criticism that can be addressed at the Meridian rapper is the lack of evolution into what his earlier peers have become, but he's aware of this, and on 'Everytime', K.R.I.T. gives himself an out for not having the career of who his name was once attached to.
"If I compete with me, there's no second place If I compete with me, there's no loss to take"
With that in mind, the only real negative is the fact that K.R.I.T. doesn't further embrace his sound. Free of label restrictions, the expectation was that K.R.I.T. would up the dosage of everything that his core fans loved and labels would steer him from. Instead, "K.R.I.T. IZ Here" is a balanced project of what K.R.I.T. has in him, rather than flooding the project with what he does best.
The Verdict
"K.R.I.T. IZ Here" is a low-floor, high-ceiling project, meaning there was no way it was going to perform poorly, but it had the potential to be something special. In a year of weak rap projects, K.R.I.T. had an open lane to cementing his name as one of the most slept on rappers of a generation by delivering the year's staple rap album. Think back to what the classic projects from Nipsey Hussle and Pushy T did for them in terms of cementing legacies.
"K.R.I.T. IZ Here" was K.R.I.T.'s opportunity at that moment, but he played it by delivering a balanced project—something that normally would be appreciated. If there was ever a time for K.R.I.T. to be unapologetically K.R.I.T. it was this project.
Final Score: Derrick Favors/10