King Louie

One quick listen to the King's music whether it be with his group Bukwi or on his own, and there is NO denying his unique talent in capturing your thoughts. In all honesty, there is NO real way of describing the power behind King Louie's voice and lyrics. On tracks like "Blaze Em Up" you can most definitely hear his ability to flow easily over a bouncy, dance-hall track to make the ladies and men go wild. Yet on tracks like "Freedom", you can hear his eagerness to tell you about the ills that our world faces and the problems that affect him as a human. On tracks like "Babylon Killa" you hear his breathtaking ability to annihilate a track and turn it into a whole new "machine"! One can easily make assumptions about King Louie, many of which are physically visible: he doesn't have long flowing dreadlocks... he isn't of direct Jamaican-lineage.... his skin color is 4 shades lighter than caramel... you see no gold teeth in his mouth.... shall we keep going? All those assumptions are thrown out the window, because after one quick listen to his music & your hooked! Born in the Bronx, New York yet raised in Chesapeake, Virginia at the tender age of 11, King Louie grew up not knowing which side he fit into. After being uprooted from his Caribbean-dominated neighborhood full of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans & Jamaicans, he somehow landed in the good ol' "confederate state of Virginia". Racism wasn't something they learned in New York, he'd tell you; because ALL races lived in harmony and unity in NYC. Yet, in Virginia, it was either black or white and that's it. Growing up, he was either too "white" for the black kids... then he was too "black" for the white kids. In never fitting into one group, King Louie chose both sides and still maintained his love for the Caribbean and his country of Puerto Rico. "I had like 3 Hispanic friends in high school and that's it. And that was by some weird stroke of luck, cause my school was mad racial. I mean, people STILL drive around with Confederate flag hats and bumper stickers in Virginia!!" Never one to stay put, King Louie served some time in the United States Navy before realizing there was something bigger out there for him. He linked up with his friend Tony and a DJ by the name of Cool Mo and the three ventured into conquering the Virginia reggae scene; which they did with very little problems. "I feel the hate about us all the time still. We won awards and so much respect and admiration from local media, yet we're still denied, still hated, and still envied. I don't understand it. I'm only little ol' King Louie - yet they hate on me like I was damn Jay-Z or something! People like Collie Buddz, Queen Ifrica, Morgan Heritage, Sizzla, Capleton, & Yellowman have all loved our music and told us to never stop. But they said that looking in my eyes. I think my group gets the most hate because of me sometimes. I swear I think so." King Louie doesn't take no for an answer and isn't amused easily with the local music scene's reaction toward Bukwi. "There's a lot of disrespect in this state between artists and bands. That's all gonna stop pretty soon."