K-Rino

K-Rino

K-Rino receiving the "Music Innovator Award"
Background information
Birth name Eric Kaiser
Also known as The Wizard, Killer Rhymes Intellectually Nullifying Opponents, The Time Traveler,
Born September 9, 1970
Origin South Park, Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper, lyricist
Years active 1983−present
Labels Black Book International (2003–present)
Electric City Records (1993–2003)
Associated acts South Park Coalition, Ganksta N-I-P, DJ Screw, Z-Ro, Trae Tha Truth, Canibus, Keyza Soze
Website www.southparkcoalition.net

Eric Kaiser (born September 9, 1970), better known by his stage name K-Rino, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He founded the South Park Coalition, and John Nova Lomax of the Houston Press described him as "the conscience of Houston rap, king of the Houston battle rappers," and a "true pioneer of Southern hip-hop."[1] K-Rino has released over 20 solo albums and still counting.

Biography

K-Rino grew up in South Park, a neighborhood in Houston, Texas. He began rapping in 1983 and by 1984 he was participating in rap battles and talent shows around the city of Houston. Two years later, he formed a group called Real Chill with two classmates, G.T. and Preppy J, and released a 12” single called “Rockin’It in 1987”. It was also in 1987 that he created the S.P.C. (South Park Coalition) which consisted of several rappers from the area, most of whom attended school with him.[2]

K-Rino says when he started out in the industry he was no different from most artists trying to get a record deal, but he says as his knowledge of how the industry works increased,it turned him off. He said the lack of creative control was the biggest turn off, he said "I don't like people telling me what I can or can't say..plus I like to own 100% of my work.." [3]

First solo album

In 1992, he and his father started a label called Electric City Records. In 1993, he released his debut solo album titled 'Stories from the Black Book'. He followed that with the album 'Danger Zone' in 1995.

Self titled album and label dispute

In 1997 K-Rino signed with Cerebral Records and began production on his 3rd album. Disputes over creative control led to an eventual split between him and the label. The album was released without K-Rino's cooperation and many of the songs were changed. Eventually, Cerebral Records agreed to let him out of the contract and allowed him to return to his Electric City label exclusively. The album was never given a name by K-Rino himself and Cerebral Records released it as a self-titled CD 'K-Rino (album)'.

Return to Electric City

In 1999, K-Rino released his 4th album 'No Mercy'.

2000s

In 2003, K-Rino started a new label called 'Black Book International'. As well as releasing K-Rino's solo albums, the label has also been responsible for releases by The 144 ELiTE, Rapper K., Sniper and Section A; all of which featured appearances from K-Rino.

In 2008 he released 4 albums, 3 of which were part of a 3 disc series entitled 'Triple Darkness'.

Later in the same year, he also featured on fellow Houston rapper Scarface's album "Emeritus" alongside Slim Thug, the album peaked at #24 on the Billboard 200.

2009 was the year his album 'Solitary Confinement' was recorded and released. This CD featured his song "Grand Deception", which amassed over 1 million views on YouTube. In an interview with Hands On Hip Hop, K-Rino said "Well I'm a believer in the teachings of the honorable Elijah Muhammad and I've learned so much under that body of knowledge and wisdom so I wanted to put a song together that covered a lot of falsehoods and unknown information that I was blessed to learn. When I say unknown I mean unknown to the average person in the street. Naturally, the people who perpetuate the lies know the truth but a lot of that B.S. has been passed over as facts for years... So "Grand Deception" was me just combining several categories of info in an attempt to expose the perpetrators of it." [3]

2010s

In 2010, K-Rino released his first double-disc album titled "Annihilation Of The Evil Machine".

In 2011, K-Rino released two more albums "Alien Baby", and "The Day Of The Storm".

"Deeper Elevation", and "80 Minute Eternity" were released in 2012.

In 2013, K-Rino suggested that he would release at least five albums in the upcoming year. By the end of the year however, he had released only three albums: "The Maven", "theRAPeutic" and "Plantation Rebellion" which were generally positively received.

On September 15, 2014 K-rino released his latest album "Deprogrammed" the album consists of 15 tracks. The release party was held on September 13 in Houston.

Speaking in an interview with Optimo Radio on July 22, 2014,[4] K-Rino admitted that towards the end of the previous year, 2013, and in the beginning of 2014, he decided to take a break from releasing albums in order to "recharge his batteries". Despite this he was still working with other artists on features. During the same interview K-Rino proclaimed that during his career he has been producing at least 2 albums a year and as a result of this, the aforementioned break was the longest period that he has gone without releasing an album for at least a decade.

In October 2014, K-Rino supported eMC (Masta Ace, Stricklin, Wordsworth & Punchline) on their tour throughout the United Kingdom, performing at three of their shows in Glasgow, Manchester and Nottingham.[5]

South Park Coalition

South Park Coalition (or S.P.C.) is a coalition of Houston hip hop rappers which K-Rino started in 1986, wanting to unite the talent in his South Park neighborhood and the city of Houston. As a whole, they have released a total of over 100 albums, and 2 group studio albums ("Personal Vendetta" in 2002 and "Packin Heat" in 2003).[6]

Many members of the SPC can be seen in the photography portfolio of New York photographer Peter Beste.[7]

Recognitions

The website 29-95 placed "Book Number 7" on their Favourite Houston Albums of the Decade article and wrote "Houston's greatest rap treasure is a guy who doesn't own a car (fancy or otherwise), doesn't wear jewelry and has never left the South Park neighborhood that is his home and his inspiration.[8]

In the same year, the song "Grand Deception" was listed on "Best HipHop Songs in 2009 – A Top 25 list" by Kevin Nottingham. It reached #12.[9]

In 2012, the album "Deeper Elevation" was a staple in the same website's "Top 10 Smaller/Slept-On Albums: 2012".[10]

In September 2013, K-Rino's latest album "TheRAPeutic" was published. Almost at the same time and surprising to the fans, "Plantation Rebellion" was published along with "TheRAPeutic".

In 2013, hip-hop producing legend DJ Premier voted the song "Antagonistic Radio" as the #12 hip-hop song of the year.[11]

Influence

In 2006, K-Rino was interviewed by HipHop4Eva where he described his favourite artists growing up: "It started out being singers like Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, then as Hip Hop came to birth, my early influences were Run-DMC, T-La Rock, Sugar Hill Gang, KRS-One to name a few. Sam Cooke is also a major influence, along with Dolemite."[12]

In the same interview K describes the importance of storyteling in not just his rhymes but in hip hop generally:

Storytelling is a lost art in rap. Not many do it anymore. Storytelling is a testament to a writer's creativity, all great writers have a great imagination. So you have to be able to create a plot that people can visualize. With a movie, you can see whats going on but when you can make someone see what you're saying as you're saying it, then thats a special talent. The knowledge comes from my roots in Hip Hop. In the beginning there were songs like "The Message", "The Breaks", then Public Enemy, KRS, X-Clan...those groups raised social consciousness in rap and thats the era i came up in, so naturally i understand the obligation to teach in my music, words are powerful and the things you say carry weight. I had to evolve and im still growing to where i dont get too wild anymore because i've corrupted enough minds.

In 2010, he further expanded on his favourite hip hop artists - in a candid interview with Rapbzdury - labelling Kool G Rap as one of the "top 5 best MCs EVER".[13]

In an interview with Houston Press in 2013, K-Rino listed five of his favourite albums as Stevie Wonder's "Songs In The Key Of Life", Sam Cooke's "Greatest Hits", Prince's "Sign O' The Times", T La Rock's "Lyrical King (From The Boogie Down Bronx)" and Boogie Down Productions' "Criminal Minded".[14]

Discography

EPs

Albums

Collaboration/Compilation albums

Singles

Appearances on other artists projects

References

  1. ↑ Lomax, John Nova. "Mouth of the South." Houston Press. Thursday September 13, 2007. 1. Retrieved on April 4, 2010.
  2. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/artist/K-Rino
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "K-Rino Provides A Dosage Of Realness....", 2013.
  4. ↑ https://soundcloud.com/optimo-radio/live-from-the-underground-k-rino-7-22-14
  5. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/events/682123715205229/
  6. ↑ allmusic ((( South Park Coalition > Discography > Main Albums )))
  7. ↑ Peter Beste . com
  8. ↑ http://blog.chron.com/29-95/2009/12/29-95s-favorite-houston-albums-of-the-decade/
  9. ↑ http://www.rap-n-blues.com/best-hiphop-songs-in-2009-a-top-25-list-by-kevin-nottingham/
  10. ↑ http://www.kevinnottingham.com/2013/01/03/top-10-smallerslept-on-albums-2012/
  11. ↑ http://www.djpremierblog.com/2014/01/04/dj-premiers-top-20-hip-hop-songs-of-2013/
  12. ↑ http://www.rapworlds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72511
  13. ↑ http://rapbzdury.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/mini-interwiew-with-great-k-rino.html
  14. ↑ http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2013/03/k-rino_rocks_off_100.php
  15. ↑ Stories from the Black Book (1993) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  16. ↑ K-Rino album (1998) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  17. ↑ No Mercy (1999) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  18. ↑ The Hit List (2004) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  19. ↑ Fear No Evil (2004) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  20. ↑ Worst Rapper Alive (2005) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  21. ↑ Time Traveler (2006) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  22. ↑ Book Number 7 (2007) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  23. ↑ Triple Darkness Vol.1: Wreck Time (2008) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  24. ↑ Triple Darkness Vol.2: The Lyrics (2008) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  25. ↑ Triple Darkness Vol.3 (2008) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  26. ↑ The Blood Doctrine (2008) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  27. ↑ Solitary Confinement (2009) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  28. ↑ Annihilation Of The Evil Machine (2010) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  29. ↑ Alien Baby (2011) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  30. ↑ The Day Of The Storm (2011) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  31. ↑ Deeper Elevation (2012) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  32. ↑ 80 Minute Eternity (2012) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  33. ↑ The Maven (2013) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-03-29.
  34. ↑ TheRAPeutic (2013) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  35. ↑ Plantation Rebellion (2013) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  36. ↑ Deprogrammed (2014) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  37. ↑ Personal Vendetta (S.P.C.) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  38. ↑ Ten Year Run (1993-2003) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  39. ↑ Packin’ Heat (S.P.C.) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  40. ↑ Family Bizness (S.P.C. Compilation) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  41. ↑ The Majority Report (K-Rino, Murdoq & Lil' Lo) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  42. ↑ The Head Hunters (S.P.C. Compilation) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  43. ↑ The Other Side (Compilation) (2008) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  44. ↑ Speed Of Thought (Compilation) (2009) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  45. ↑ The Skills Collection (Compilation) (2013) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  46. ↑ Skillz Collection Vol. 2 (Compilation) (2014) ITunes Store, Retrieved 2014-06-20.

External links