Big K.R.I.T. is a 32 year old MC & producer from Meridian, Mississippi who started out by releasing a total of 5 mixtapes from 2005 up until 2009. However, he signed to Cinematic Music Group in 2010 & his 6th mixtape K.R.I.T. Wuz Here that same year landed him a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings & a spot in the 2011 XXL Freshman Class. He then released his first 2 studio albums Live from the Underground & Cadillactica in 2012 & 2014 respectively, but then he departed from both Cinematic & Def Jam shortly after to form his own label Multi Alumni. His first outing under the imprint being 4eva’s a Mighty Long Time in October 2017, which is EASILY the best double disc hip hop album of the decade. He dropped a handful of tracks at the tail end of last year but now to kick off 2019, he’s delivering his very 1st compilation.

Things kick off with “Energy”, which is a dedication to K.R.I.T.’s significant other over a smooth Danja instrumental. The next song “Learned from Texas” is an ode to chopped & screwed music over a video gamey beat from DJ Khalil while the track “Pick Yourself Up” is a motivational anthem with a bouncy beat. The song “Glorious” is a charismatic bragging anthem with a cloudy trap beat & while the track “1 Oh Oh” has a blissful beat, the content about how his ex is keeping it real even after the breakup doesn’t interest me.

The song “Higher (King Pt. 6)” gets intellectually spiritual referencing Amazon founders Jeff Bezos over a lovely settle yet spacey instrumental with some background vocals that literally sound like they were sampled from Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak & then the penultimate track “Look What I Got”, Big KR.I.T. vividly vents about all that he did before he got famous over an atmospheric beat Supah Mario co-produced. The comp then finishes with “4 tha 3”, which is a dedication to  Meridian with a soulful beat.

Personally, I think it’s really smart that K.R.I.T.’s kicking off this new year by combining THRICE X, DOUBLE DOWN & TRIFECTA into 1. Mostly because hearing these cuts on their own (i.e. DOUBLE DOWN) were just alright & bringing them all together really makes them a lot more cohesive in my opinion. A couple features would’ve been nice too, but I think this is a nice short taste of something bigger to come as Krizzle’s lyricism is well thought out & the production is mostly on par with 4eva’s a Mighty Long Time.

Score: 3.5/5