King Louie (rapper) facts for kids

Louis King Johnson, Jr. (born December 27, 1987), known by his stage name King Louie or King L, is an American rapper from Chicago. He is a key figure in the "drill" style of hip-hop music. In 2012, Spin magazine called him one of the rappers who helped make Chicago's music scene very popular.

Early Life and School

King Louie was born Louis King Johnson Jr. on the Eastside of Chicago, Illinois, on December 27, 1987. He went to Hyde Park Academy High School and later graduated from an alternative school.

Music Career

Getting Started

After high school, King Louie started building a name for himself in music. He created his own mixtapes on CDs and would hand them out to people at bus stops and parties. This helped people hear his music. His first mixtape, Boss..., came out in September 2007.

A serious car accident put his career on pause. He was badly injured and had to learn how to walk again. After he recovered, he returned to making music and released more mixtapes online.

Gaining Popularity

King Louie began using YouTube to share music videos for his songs. His first video was for the song "I'm Arrogant." By releasing many videos, he quickly gained a large online following. This helped him become known across the country.

His music started getting played on the radio. The song "Too Cool" was played often on the Chicago radio station WGCI-FM.

Working with Major Artists

In 2012, King Louie's career took a big step forward. He traveled to Los Angeles, California, and signed a record deal with Epic Records.

Around the same time, the famous rapper Kanye West gave a shout-out to King Louie and other new Chicago artists. King Louie was surprised and happy to learn that West was a fan of his music. This led to a collaboration, and King Louie was featured on West's popular album Yeezus. He performed a verse and the hook on the song "Send It Up."

In December 2015, King Louie survived a very serious incident in Chicago.

Selected Music Releases

King Louie has released many mixtapes throughout his career. Here are some of them:

• Boss ... (2007)
• Cloud 9 (2008)
• The Motion Picture (2012)
• Drilluminati (2012)
• Jeep Music (2013)
• Drilluminati 2 (2013)
• Tony (2014)
• Drilluminati 3: God of Drill (2015)
• Tony 2 (2016)
• Life With Louie (2022)

Guest Appearances

King Louie has also appeared on songs by other artists. Here is a short list of some of his guest appearances.

See also

• List of Epic Records artists