King Louie (rapper)

Louis King Johnson Jr., better known by his stage name King L or King Louie (born December 27, 1987) is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He was signed to the record label October Very Own Epic Records.Spin Magazine attributed King Louie as being one of the Chicago rappers who made Chicago the "hottest hip-hop" scene in 2012.

Life and music career

King Louie was born Louis King Johnson Jr. in the Eastside of Chicago, Illinois on December 27, 1987. He attended Hyde Park Academy High School for a while before graduating from alternative school. After attending high school, King Louie began building a following through one-on-one mixtapes. He would hand out CDs at bus stops and parties. King Louie released his debut mixtape entitled Boss Shit in September 2007, and the next year released his second mixtape Cloud 9 on December 2009.

However, his career was put on hold after he was hit by a car. He was hospitalized with both of his legs broken with various other injuries and had to learn to walk again after his injuries were healed. He later returned to music, releasing a series of mixtapes that he made available online. Songs from his releases received regular air time, including his song "Too Cool" which was placed in regular rotation at WGCI-FM. To promote his mixtapes, King Louie launched a series of music videos on YouTube. His first video was for the song I'm Arrogant which was the lead track from his 2010 mixtape Man Up, Band Up. He released additional music videos and quickly grew a large following. It was his promotional methods on YouTube that helped him be one of the newer Chicago rappers to get noticed nationally.