“Shoutout to Wiz, Im Taylor made”
Tunes, Kpdarula, Evolution (2019)
Kpdarula is a 24 year-old Norfolk, Virginia product, with strong influences from stoner rap artists like Wiz Khalifa. When KP first started rapping, the setting was the hotbox. The stakes were low - just some friends freestyling over beats while smoking. But as is the case with so many of our young kings and queens who start searching “type beats” on YouTube and find an effective outlet for expression, KP would eventually take that hotbox magic to the studio.
For an artist, it can be as difficult as it is rewarding to define the subgenre of your music. With hip-hop being a music genre still in its relative infancy (80s), hip-hop artists have the luxury of flexibility in playing with vocal elements and production techniques to pave their own sound and craft their own lanes.
In defining his subgenre as “hotbox music,” KP shows respect for the forces that introduced him to his talent and passion while committing to building on them. One of his biggest influences and earliest favorite projects was Wiz Khalifa’s 2010 mixtape “Kush and OJ.” KP’s sound is clearly highly original, but at the same time, one can’t help to hear that Wiz influence in his flow and delivery. With hotbox music, he also squares his sights on the target audience that would most appreciate his music: smoking enthusiasts.
Kpdarula is one of those rare talents that is lyrically gifted AND has a strong ‘music sense.’ He understands music from multiple perspectives, including how he fits into the hip-hop tradition at large, and how he himself might influence the next KP. Listen to some of my favorite Rula tracks and follow him on social media below. ALSO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR “Created Player,” KP’s next album dropping August 1. - Zen
Instagram: instagram.com/kpdarula
Follow the Author, Zen: instagram.com/winslowdonte
Follow Push(Soul): instagram.com/psoulcollective