via: XXL
With only two years of rapping under his belt, King Von is already putting together a solid stretch for himself that rising artists only dream of. Despite Von's long history of legal troubles, beginning with him being in and out of jail since he was 16, he's managed to persevere. He even beat a 2014 murder charge and was freed from behind bars in late 2017, which inspired him to change his lifestyle for good. His friendship with Lil Durk also provided him with the opportunity to get in the booth a year later. Now, Von has a gold plaque (and a 50-million views video) for his visceral single "Crazy Story," along with plenty of momentum on his side. The OTF/Empire signee is heating up by the day.
Von's decision to seriously pursue music changed things for him quickly. While laying low in Durk's Atlanta crib following his own legal case, Von had plenty of free time and spent it in the in-house studio. Out of those sessions came "Problems," "War With Us" and the aforementioned "Crazy Story." The latter was the product of a long bus ride to Chicago; Von came up with the song with no beat and recorded it once he could get to a studio. With the support of Durk pushing Von's music everywhere, he felt the love, whether it be in sprinter van trips with mixed company or on radio interviews. This loyalty fed into the success of "Crazy Story," and is part of the reason why Von is so popular today. His latest single "Took Her to the O" is already going viral on the heels of his upcoming mixtape, the cleverly-titled LeVon James.
Catch up with the King in this week's edition of The Break.
Age: 25
Hometown: Chicago
I grew up listening to: "[Lil] Wayne. Heavy on Wayne and Gucci [Mane] and [Waka] Flocka [Flame]. That's just what was going on around my area. Then when we started rappin', we listened to us."
My style’s been compared to: "Meek Mill, with the stories. They always compare my 'Crazy Story' to Meek's 'Tony Story.' Other than that, it really ain't too many people you can, ’cause my shit different."
I’m going to blow up because: "I don't really know. This shit better blow up. That's what everybody else around me saying`. I just do the shit ’cause I think it's raw. I just go off, 'This shit sound raw.' I don't know this shit like that, so I don't know the expectations. I don't know about the plaques. I just know this sound good to me."
What’s your most slept-on song, and why? "'What It's Like.' It's a hard one, one I made in jail, too. It's some real shit. Everybody ain't real. A lotta muthafuckas be coming to me like, 'You need to promote it more.' I promoted hard, they just ain't catch that. They just don't want it like that. Got real clips where they bookin' a muthafucka, slammin' me, all type of shit. 12 thirsty."
My standout records to date have been: "'Crazy Story,' biggest song for sure. Everybody love 'Crazy Story.' Everybody be T'd to that bitch when it come on. That bitch come on in the club, it's like it just came out or something. It ain't getting old."
My standout moments to date have been: "The tour with Meek. My biggest moments, them bitches coming. I'm really at the beginning. Rolling Loud, I wanna do that. I went to Rolling Loud one time with Durk, I couldn't even get in. We ain't have enough passes. I wasn't even rappin'. Now they talkin' ’bout I'm on that bitch, I'm like aight, fa sho. And the money, you know it help a lot."
Most people don’t know: "I used to play baseball. I was playing even in high school. I fuck with that shit. But where I was at, you gotta bring your gun to baseball practice and all types of shit. That shit wasn't right. [I played] first base, shortstop, any infield position. I hated playing catcher, I hated outfield."
I’m going to be the next: "Me, outstanding member shit."
Updated: March 4, 2020