King Harlem – Street Korner Muzik
King Harlem takes near-death experience and parlays it into message for people living street life
King Harlem has a lot of memories of his time on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland â not the least of which is the two-day period during which he lost his brother to a shooting, and then was shot himself nine times and nearly lost his own life. His road to recovery â which includes the amputation of one leg and having to re-learn how to walk â has been a long one. The lessons heâs learned along the way are profound and ones that he hopes to be able to share with other young people living the street life. Those words of wisdom are paired perfectly with a unique sound and style on his most recent single âStreet Kroner Muzik.â
The song was born from a recent moment with a friend with whom he reunited after many years apart. Theyâd grown up on the streets together, and they decided to meet up to catch up on one of the street corners that held special significance for them. While standing on that corner, sharing memories and remembering friends and brothers theyâd lost over the years, the truths of their past lives began to cut to the core. King Harlem said he realized how blessed he was to still be alive, and that flash of inspiration led to his latest single.
âIâve been doing music for a while but I never really was serious with it until maybe five years ago after a lot of things happened in my life,â he said. I was really in the street life so I wasnât focused on music. You canât be focused on too many things when youâre living that kind of life. Then I got shot nine times and died twice. They told my mom I had died, but I made it through. The doctor told me Iâd never walk again, and a lot of people gave up on me. But one of my friends â the same friend who used to rap with me back in the day and was creating beats â just kept coming to me faithfully. I told him I donât really rap anymore but he just kept giving me beats. Between that and this desire to prove people wrong about not walking anymore, it put the energy back in me. It wasnât easy but Iâm able to walk now and Iâve been trying to tell people that they can change through my music. When I was living on the streets, I thought the only way I would die would be young on the streets like my brother, or from old age or disease. But when I was in the hospital, so many people were going through so many things â a lot of them worse than being shot. I got to understand how big life is. We have to cherish it. And hopefully when our time is up, God will forgive us for everything we did. I just want to be ready when itâs that time.â
Growing up in Baltimore where Hip Hop culture is a heavy influence on young people, King Harlem found a natural talent for Rap. At one point he was signed to an independent label. Today, he hopes to become one of the voices that help associate Baltimore with a signature sound, like many other cities across the U.S. He said his talent means a lot to him because of his ability to change the game for people who listen to what he has to share.Â
âI believe I have a lot in my head, and I want to share that with the world,â he said. âThrough Rap, I hope to inspire my audience so they know where Iâm coming from. Iâm a soul survivor and I like to be honest and tell about my life. I can only give my life and everything Iâve been through, and just keep it as real as possible. And at the end of the day, I just want my music to be known for being authentic and for having a sound that people will come to call that âBaltimore sound.â I want to create something that can be groundbreaking and associated with Baltimore. But ultimately, I just want to be authentic.â
To listen to King Harlemâs music or to follow him on social media, visit:
https://twitter.com/barclayent
https://www.instagram.com/king_harlem_shakur/
âStreet Korner Muzikâ
https://tidal.com/track/134716447
https://open.spotify.com/album/70wm3zKxceZSU58tEDN1TI?si=gHvriUnKTXe9J8ArB7roAA
â1.O.A.kâ
https://tidal.com/track/114250240
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