DE AFARĂ: King Louie - Live & Die In Chicago (Videoclip)

Louis Johnson, (born 1987), better known by his stage name King L or King Louie is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He is signed to the record label Epic Records. Spin Magazine attributed King L as being one of the Chicago rappers who made Chicago the "hottest hip-hop" scene in 2012. Although his family moved often, King L was raised in Chicago, Illinois. His mother was a dope addict so he stayed with his grandparents. He attended Corkery Elementary and Myra Bradwell Academy. After graduation, he attended Hyde Park Academy. As a freshman, he met Impressive, another local Chicago rapper and would rap along with her at school. King L attributes her as being someone who influenced him to pursue a career in hip hop.

After Hyde Park Academy, King L began building a following through one-on-one mixtapes. He would hand out CDs at bus stops and parties.^[3] King L released his first tape entitled Boss Shit in September 2007.^[4] He released a follow-up entitled Cloud 9, but his career was put on hold after he was hit by a car. He was hospitalized with both of his legs broken with various other injuries and had to learn to walk again after his injuries were healed.^[1] He later returned to music, releasing a series of mixtapes that he made available online. Songs from his releases received regular air time, including his song Too Cool which was placed in regular rotation at WGCI-FM.^[4]

To promote his mixtapes, King L launched a series of music videos on YouTube. His first video was for the song I'm Arrogant which was the lead track from his 2010 mixtape Man Up, Band Up. He released additional music videos and quickly grew a large following.^[1] It was his promotional methods on YouTube that helped him be one of the newer Chicago rappers to get noticed nationally.^[2]

In 2012, trip to Los Angeles, California, King L met and signed with Epic Records. While on his trip, Kanye West's record label GOOD Music released a remix of a song by Chicago hip-hop artist Chief Keef. During the release, West took time to mention numerous other up and coming artists, including King L.^[1] King L was later quoted on MTV's Sucker Free program that he was shocked and not aware that West was a fan.^[5] He would later appear on West's Yeezus, performing a verse and the hook on the track "Send It Up". King L is being considered for the 2014 XXL freshman class.