King Louie

Biography

Louis King Johnson, Jr. (born December 27, 1987), better known by his stage name King Louie (or King L), is an American rapper. Spin magazine attributed King Louie as being one of the Chicago rappers who made Chicago the "hottest hip-hop" scene in 2012.

Early life

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.

Career

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 titled Boss Shit in September 2007, and the next year released his second mixtape Cloud 9 in December 2009.
However, his career was put on hold after he was hit by a car. He was hospitalized with both 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.
In 2012, during a trip to Los Angeles, California, Louie met and signed with Epic Records. While on his trip, Kanye West's record label GOOD Music released a remix of a song by Chicago hip-hop artist Chief Keef. During the release, West took time to mention numerous other up and coming artists, including Louie. King Louie was later quoted on MTV's Sucker Free program that he was shocked and not aware that West was a fan. He would later appear on West's Yeezus, performing a verse and the hook on the track "Send It Up". He was shot in the head in Chicago on December 23, 2015, and survived the shooting.