Hailing from Inland Empire, KINGMOSTWANTED is making strides towards becoming the next artist to blow out of the West Coast. Although he’s just reached the tail-end of his teenage years, KING has already lived twice. A second chance at life provided him with the opportunity to learn from past mistakes, something that KING doesn’t take for granted. “Life is better without the cops on you and shit,” he shares.

Following his release from juvenile, KING started to pay more attention to the subject matter within his rhyming capabilities. His inception in rap is best described as a moment of innocent discovery, propelled by a willingness to escape. “I really was just sitting in juvenile hall trying to find my voice.” From the runaway success of “In My City,” to his latest album, Time For The Throne, King’s rise to acclaim is a byproduct of his ability to create relatable music.

“I just describe it as a cool vibe,” KING says on his new project. He covers every feeling imaginable, rapping about gang culture and prescription drugs with freeform lyricism. Sonically, the 19-year-old rapper has found himself – for now. He’s still learning, though, mastering the in-studio practices of a seasoned composer one day at a time. But more importantly, King is having fun being creative.

KING’s success as an artist was sparked by a viral moment created on TikTok. And yet, he hasn’t let virality cloud his judgement. Now, he’s more intentional in his efforts to exhibit a holistic type of growth, trying not to overthink the process. KING is not extra’d out anymore, though. He has something to lose.

Is your real name King? 

Well yeah, that’s my last name. 

How did the MostWanted part come into play? 

When I first started freestyling on the gram (Instagram), I wasn’t dropping songs or anything like that. I put my first single out under the name BigMoneyKing. After my third drop, somebody hit me – but I already knew because I was listening to SOB (Strictly Only Brothers) and nem – I forgot who it was because it was a long time ago, but someone out that area had a whole team called BigMoney and they were already popping off. I couldn’t even try to carry that name off so I was just thinking of something different that nobody had. When I was living in Victorville, everybody was talking about how they the most hated and shit. I’m not the most hated, I’m the most wanted: the cops want me, cause I was in and out of jail and shit. I had a lot of bitches, so the bitches want me, the money want me. I was on some most wanted shit. 

There was a period of time in life when you were battling the legal system as a juvenile. Would King – the rapper – exist today without his constant run-ins with law enforcement? 

Nah, because that stuff happening to me got me to stop talking about whatever on the beat. You always hear Meek Mill and everybody rapping about the adult system and shit. With juvenile, it’s not that bad, but it’s fucked up ‘cause it’s a setup, so I started rapping about that and that taught me how to put feelings into my music. I could rap about shit that people can relate to. I don’t have to keep rapping about whatever just ‘cause it rhymes together or sounds good. 

Last year, during your interview with NoJumper, you made reference to a security guard that influenced you to pursue a career in rap. 

Your homies not gon’ really put shit on you if you’re not already doing it. Just ‘cause I was freestyling, they not gon’ come and tell me to really pursue this (rap). The guard came up to me and said that. 

When you look back at that moment, are you more appreciative of the fact that it actually happened?

Now, it’s funny. But then, in my head, I was like shut the fuck up (laughs). Now, I look at it like that was a touching moment for me because that’s when I started really thinking about it. I had nights where I would think damn, my shit really that cool? 

Talk to me about finding your voice as an artist in jail. I even hear that you made the beat to “In My City” inside, too. 

It was different for me because I was just starting to master my own flow. I really was just sitting in juvenile hall trying to find my voice. I tried some different shit and showed the whole pod just to see what they think. I would be in there making the beat on my chest. That’s how I made “Different Varieties,” too. 

Was rapping your mental escape from reality behind the wall? 

Yeah, ‘cause the thing with me is that I get bored fast. I wasn’t smoking or none of that shit then. Everybody had their own trials they were going through: niggas were fiening and shit. I ain’t have none of that going on. When I started rapping in there, I came out with a journal full of songs that I never recorded or plan to release ‘cause I knew those two (“In My City” and “Different Varieties”) were the ones I was going to stick with. I wrote them to keep my process going and help master my flow. I wrote over 60-70 songs in those 45 days.

At 19-years-old, how confident are you in saying that you’ve mastered your flow already? There’s so much life ahead of you. 

I know this because when I go to the studio, I hear the beat and it’s already in my head. I already know what I’m going to say, I already know what I wanna do. Maybe I’ll venture out and try some different shit, too, just to see what that’s like. But yeah, my flow is mastered. 

The success of your “In My City” track brought a lot of attention (good and bad) to your movement. On the upside, you had a viral moment that enhanced your rap career, but you were also subjected to intense restrictions as a probationer because of what was allegedly displayed in the music video. How does it feel to be on the other side of things now that your past is behind you?

It feels good, especially with probation being behind me. It’s such a setup. I didn’t finish it “successfully.” I got locked up at 18 in juvenile hall and I took what’s called a terminal (I think). Life is better without the cops on you and shit, though.

Can you describe your style of rap? 

I don’t know. I just describe it as a cool vibe. With my last project, Time For the Throne, every feeling is there: I got pain songs, I got love songs, I got turnt up songs, songs that you can feel, allat.

I feel like you create what I’d consider in-the-moment music. The content you put out is fueled by how you feel the second you step into the booth. 

Every time. If I’m not feeling a turnt up song, I’m not doing a turnt up song. Exactly what’s going on is exactly how I’m feeling. 

But if you’re not in the mood to create music, does that ever conflict with predetermined release dates set by your label? 

I never have a problem with a release date. Everything with the project I have out right now, I still have 100 unreleased songs. Time For the Throne, I had most of those songs done already. Some of them were new, some of them were singles, and some of them I thought I’d never drop. When I go to the studio, I can have fun with it [music] because I have a choice. If I need to drop a turn up song, I got that already. 

At first listen, your music puts me in the headspace of a GTA character that’s cruising to the tune of Radio Los Santos. If “The Dino” or Victorville was featured in the gaming series, what would a mission look like?

That’s what I aim for (laughs). But shit, Ion play GTA like that. I know they be jacking cars and shit, so if it was in the town, there would be some shooting, all types of shit. I’ve seen funny videos on TikTok about the stripclub, so that’d be hard. 

Can you recall the first time you experimented with prescription drugs? 

I was with my mans and we were going to the studio. One of the homies sent it to me and I was like, ‘What is this?’ He was letting me know and I wanted to try it. I went to the studio and that was the best night of my life, bro. I can’t cap, I went into the studio, I took it, and at first I didn’t feel it. I didn’t know what was going on. Five minutes later, I felt a wave of energy shock through me. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on. The music was playing and I was just loving it, bro. I even peaked that night. A peak is when it feels like you’re about to die because you don’t know what’s going on because you have so much energy. I was speaking to it (ecstasy), telling it to take control because I knew what was going on. After that, I started controlling the ecstasy. At first, I couldn’t see my phone, letters were all over the place, I was typing real fast. After that, I made some good ass music. 

It’s crazy to think that you’ve survived a near-death experience, and now you’re a dad. How has fatherhood changed your outlook on life?

I’m not as extra’d out anymore. I think about the situation before I do something now. Before, if I did think about it, then I wouldn’t care about the outcome. Now, I do give a fuck because I gotta be there for my son.