King Los Imprints His Significance In The Game On “God, Money, War”

Written by Mike T.

If you aren’t familiar with King Los yet, let this be your final warning. God, Money, War is a declaration of superiority by the Baltimore native, Bad Boy Records artist, King Los.

Los has been actively creating and releasing music for several years, but it seems that this album will be the one that reveals him to the large majority of hip-hop/rap listeners. God, Money, War is dense, inspiring, and self-motivating. In this project, King Los touches on the constant struggle of growing up in the slums of Maryland and how he overcame the impossible to become a successful, self-made, rap artist. This may seem like a common theme to hip-hop albums nowadays, but Los executes this concept uniquely by splitting the material into three sub-themes, therefore producing an enjoyable listening experience.

God, Money, War begins with light piano and spacey vocal samples on the song War. On this track, King Los specifies the war he focuses on throughout the entire piece of work saying its, “Not the war with the bombs and the helicopters swarming, but the war for your soul, that’s what everyone’s ignoring”. It also becomes apparent quickly that Los isn’t necessarily speaking only to people in the hood, he just wants to make it clear that everywhere in life there are battles that individuals will inevitably have to face. He also speaks on the certainty of death saying, “Life is suicide”, and speaking upon the “Do or die” mindset and how it can be applied to everyday.

If you’ve seen any interviews with King Los, you immediately realize this guy can spit. For real though, it’s some never ending flows that are all cohesive, and much more than just rhyming words together. Watching these freestyles could make one wonder if this free flow could translate to an even crazier written flow. Well, if you do find yourself asking this question, listen to Ghetto Boy on God, Money, War. Dude snaps.

The song starts with a beat-box-like drum sample thing then just goes IN. King Los starts his first verse stating his upper echelon mind set saying he’s, “The equalizer, bitch I’m deeper, wiser, handsome, smarter”, and backs this statement throughout the rest of the song bringing a continuous delivery with intricate wordplay and verse structure. On the chorus, Los goes back and forth with a vocalist singing the phrase “the ghetto”, saying things like “why is it so hard to make an honest dollar in the ghetto” and “damn lil boy how’d you make it out of the ghetto”.

King Los continues God, Money, War with valuable songs like God, Money, War, saying he felt “Stuck on corners and lost in circles,” or on Black Blood saying “They took my pops when I was 16, they took my innocence away from me.” These lyrics may represent a darker side of life, but God, Money, War maintains a theme of being optimistic and thankful for the small things in life. This is especially apparent in songs like Glory To The Lord and Little Black Boy.

King Los continues the appreciation of all things on the song Balance Is Good. He details the perspective of understanding that life isn’t perfect and never will be, but still recognizing a plethora of things to be happy about in the world we live in, saying “The world isn’t fair, but a challenge is great, it’s bitter and sweet, just balance the hate”. Los also brings positivity and happiness in club bangers like Blame It On The Money (Add this to your party playlist ASAP!!!) and Can’t Fade Us.

God, Money, War is a valid argument by King Los that he is one of the hardest lyricists in the game right now. Nearly every track is a display of meaningful, thought-out, and intellectual verses that does in fact contain longevity for the listener. The only thing that this album lacks is a hit. Not a bullshit radio hit either, something more with a catchy hook that will attract the masses so he can then reveal his lyrical ability to the masses. By no means does this discredit all of the music on God, Money, War, however. This may just be the last ingredient added to the batch that will skyrocket King Los’ career, cause the dude has “it.”

Give this album a listen, you won’t regret it. Like Los said, “I hope you cowards can dig it, I’m heir to the throne.”