King Los is maniacally focused on lyrical technique. Not only is the Bad Boy artist addicted to finding fresh ways to work words, but he habitually analyzes every great emcee’s stylistic approach. His patented “Pattern Rap” procedure was derived from Jadakiss’ verse on The Lox’s “Blood Pressure.”
“Remember when Jadakiss was like, ‘Got a chick named Superhead / She give super-head / Just moved in the buildin’ / Even gave the super head,’ King Los explained to DX during a recent recording session in Hollywood’s West-One Productions studio. “His whole thing was the way you can implement the repetitive nature of something. You can keep saying something and make it mean different things. I love the element of that in itself and I just thought it was clever but, I never been one to take from someone else, so I wanted to find a way that I could creatively capture that repetitive nature of saying something in different ways but not straight feel like I’m jackin’ something that someone else did very well, to maintain my integrity as an emcee.”
The 12-minute clip above is affectionately titled “18 Minutes Lost” because at one point during the session, we left the room and came back in to find Los in the middle of a mesmerizing freestyle only to find out after that he started flowing 18 minutes before we started recording. Only those still in the studio know what jewels went missing, but the roaming stanzas included are drenched in Pattern Rap. Most notably: “Wait for it / Wait for it / Run Forest / Ball like Wake Forest / If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around does it make a sound? I bet it makes a sound I bet that muthafucka / Wake forest.” Seriously, homie is ill.
King Los continues: “It took me like a couple of months and I was just thinking of ways that I could do this shit and I was like, ‘What if I actually did the same thing but with a series of words?’ For instance I would say two to three different words and then repeat those things two to three different times, different ways but in patterns. I was like, ‘That’s totally different and it’s way harder.’
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“When I listened to Canibus, ‘I can run at top speeds without bending my knees,’ and all that shit, I would want to say things that was astronomical to me like, ‘How do you run at top speeds without bending you knees? This isn’t even possible so how do you think it if it’s not possible?’ We have to start thinking impossibly—that has to be your standard.”
Los’ lyrical prowess is well known throughout Rap circles. Kendrick Lamar credited him with having the best “Control” response, for example. The only remaining challenge is for him to prove that he can create incredible songs which is the critique the Bad Boy artist receives most frequently. Whether he can in the modern music industry remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: King Los is carrying the right perspective. Thinking impossibly is the only standard.
