March 6, 2012
by soulhead
In May 2010, Big K.R.I.T released his mixtape, K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, digitally, garnering critical acclaim. That same month, former president of G-Unit Records and current Senior VP of A&R at Def Jam Records, Sha Money XL, signed him to the label as one of his first priorities in his new position.
K.R.I.T previously released several mixtapes, including Hood Fame, with DJ Wally Sparks and The Last King, with DJ Breakem Off. He’s also made guest appearances on Pilot Talk, the third studio album and major label debut from rapper, Curren$y as well as Kush and Orange Juice, the critically acclaimed mixtape by rapper Wiz Khalifa, that was the No. 1 search and trending topics on Google and Twitter following its release. He In October 2010, K.R.I.T co-headlined The Smoker’s Club Tour 2010 with Curren$y and Smoke DZA.
He performed in Little Rock, AR with Curren$y and Mac Miller.
In November 2010, K.R.I.T opened for Wiz Khalifa in Baltimore, Maryland Sayerville, New Jersey Winston-Salem, North Carolina and in Ashland, Virginia during the Waken Baken tour.
He is one of the featured XXL Top Eleven Freshmen of 2011, along side of Meek Mill, Cyhi Da Prynce, Lil Twist, Yelawolf, Fred The Godson, Mac Miller, YG, Lil B, Kendrick Lamar & Diggy Simmons.
In March 2011, Big K.R.I.T released his highly anticipated and entirely self-produced mixtape, Return of 4Eva, featuring guests David Banner, Joi, Big Sant, Chamillionaire, Raheem Devaughn, Ludacris, and Bun B. The mixtape has been acclaimed by rap critics, with William Ketchum of HipHopDX calling it “emotive, conceptual music” and saying that Big K.R.I.T. had given fans a “free album” – the magazine’s highest praise for a mixtape. Meanwhile, Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine highlighted Return of 4Eva in his mixtape review column as “the best mixtape of the month,” going on in a separate review to call it “the rap album to beat in 2011 “. Both critics praised Big K.R.I.T.’s production skills as much as his lyrics and flow, and both named K.R.I.T. as a likely successor to Southern rap legends UGK, Scarface, and Outkast. On April 20, 2011, Tom Breihan reviewed the mixtape for Pitchfork, giving an 8.2 out of 10 and awarding it the site’s coveted “Best New Music” tag.
On July 1, 2011 Big K.R.I.T. announced his debut studio album titled “Live from the Underground”. It was set to be released on September 27, 2011. On September 7, 2011 Big K.R.I.T. announced via his twitter account, that the album release will be pushed back till early 2012
From October 12, 2011 until November 24, 2011 K.R.I.T. co-headlined The Smoker’s Club Tour 2011 with Curren$y and Method Man.
