Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics

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Big K.R.I.T.

  • Return of 4Eva [free download, 2011] B+
  • 4Eva N a Day [free download, 2012] A-
  • K.R.I.T. Wuz Here [Green Streets Entertainment download, 2012] ***
  • Live From the Underground [Def Jam, 2012] *
  • 4eva Is a Long Time [Multi Alumni, 2017] ***

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Return of 4Eva [free download, 2011]
"I ain't rap about dope nor do I sell it," raps a Mississippi "country boy" who's more mixed about pimping--maybe unreadable, maybe of two minds, maybe blurring the pimp sound and the pimp hustle. The sound he's definitely got down: a rich, comfortable funk he transports south from Willie Hutch's The Mack. And as befits someone who believes N.I.G.G.E.R. stands for "Naive Individual Glorifying Greed and Encouraging Racism" and gets life satisfaction from rotating his tires, his sound equals his hustle. Some may think his rhymes are too simple. I find "Some thangs are forever, nothin' ever last/Like the risin' of the sun or when Big Mama pass" pretty deep myself. B+

4Eva N a Day [free download, 2012]
He was just Kritikal, but the Mississippi underground had trouble pronouncing that word--check out the consonant-averse "1986" intro to understand why--so he made it Big K.R.I.T., claimed it stood for King Remembered in Time, and continued a rapping career that imagined high school coaching as a fallback. No hip-hopper has ever been bigger on getting up when you're down and making every minute count. Could get tiresome, but on a no-cameos mixtape Def Jam couldn't clear, his proudly drawled, lucidly conceived preachments go undefeated. Almost every soulful track grew on me, with the clincher "Down & Out," one of his periodic explanations of why sometimes he sips and smokes instead of trying yet again. A-

K.R.I.T. Wuz Here [Green Streets Entertainment download, 2012]
Endless pride, solid beats, a key credo, and a few hooks ("Gumpshun," "They Got Us," "Children of the World") ***

Live From the Underground [Def Jam, 2012]
Major-label debut asks the musical question, Who's pimping who ("If I Fall," "Hydroplaning," "Praying Man") *

4eva Is a Long Time [Multi Alumni, 2017]
His generic superstar dreams as over as his Def Jam deal, he's free to make the most of the friendly drawl, good heart, and garden-variety ambition we went for to begin with ("Bury Me in Gold," "Big Bank") ***

See Also