Baller Turned Rapper: Kahlil Simplis is Nipsey’s heart, Drake’s drive
Me E-Woods, I feel a responsibility to share with readers, who is that future hotness, right? This time I’m sharing about a game changer in the rap game, Kahlil Simplis, former prep star baller.
K used to ball up dudes at The Drew League as well. Why didn’t he pursue a hoop path? He had basketball injuries which required multiple surgeries.
Now his music dream burns just as white hot, but don’t get it twisted, my man K, he got hoop skills and kills on the court with 187 intensity. But K-Simplis just commits double homicide in the studio. Click the link at the bottom, feel his song Tide, or Chosen, play in your ear, you’ll see what I mean.
I’ll let Kahlil speak on it, “I feel alive when performing, taking a piece of my heart and infusing it into the music. I’m trying to become one with the beat, sharing that ‘pop’ that gets folks going. I love people, I appreciate that people support me and Chosen Family Records. Supporters are fam to me.”
That’s Deep. Kahlil takes his influences from rappers that inspired his generation like Drake, Travis Scott, Lil Wayne. He aspires to achieve that level of melody, delivery, and realness. K grinds to step it up and be like that.
Me, E-Woods, I watch The Breakfast Club show in the morning and I can see Kahlil hitting that spot in a couple years. I’ve predicted dozens of youngins that made it to the L. What helps me visualize who will make it?
It takes a person that carries themselves with humility yet they’re confident, have talent yet their aspiration is off the charts. That separates the ordinary from extraordinary.
Kahlil, who grew up in LA, said something to me recently that made me believe in him, “My motivations aren’t the same as anybody else. Until you walk in my shoes, don’t tell me you can relate to me. And with that being said, if your energy is deterring mine, you gon feel me! It’s time to level up and change situations for real.”
#Kahlil got drive
Kahlil is in his early 20’s, has a nice IG following because he’s effortless. @kahlilsimplis
He still has a passion for hoop though and it keeps his rap game icy.
Example, I’ve seen Kahlil help train NBA Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. I’ve seen him help motivate upcoming hoop stars like Skyy Clark on top of a crazy recording and performing schedule.
Ball and rap, they’re not exclusive and separate, his heart pumps hard for everything he grinds for.
What impresses E-Woods a lot about Kahlil? It’s the dope company he keeps. His manager Dylan Joseph is a fly dude that is helping incubate some deep deep level ish to come from their record label Chosen Family Records.
Reader prolly saying, E-Woods, what you know about dope rappers, that you say? I say, my man Big Chuck of Death Row told me how he and Tupac would grind in the 90’s. Kahlil and Dylan, they grinding now to leave their DNA on the music game, trying to be transcendent with a mentality that says “Make it big, or die trying.”
I feel Kahlil and Dylan are real to themselves, in the same way Anderson .Paac is real - he went to the school I was teaching at in Oxnard as a youngin’.
Kahlil is early in his career, getting past his own Breezy Lovejoy stage as Anderson .Paac did. Building momentum, clear skies, the outer atmosphere are the limit for Kahlil and Dylan.
You see, E-Woods, I sense Kahlil has this crazy awesome destiny to achieve in life. I remember Kahlil’s dad Olin, dopest hoop trainer, telling me how he accidentally rolled over on Kahlil as a tiny baby in bed, and about praying to God to save his life at the hospital. I can’t help but think that sometimes we get a 2nd chance at life to leave our mark. How many of us go all out to pursue our passion? I know Kahlil and Dylan are, that’s what it’s all about. 100.
Have you ever seen the photo of rapper Tupac wearing that blue dazzle Duke jersey, white #5, he’s beaming this mad strong vibe? I had 2 exact Duke jersey replicas made for Skyy and Kahlil. They both rep Pac’s legacy of trying to be the best at what they do. What bigger compliment can I offer? None.
Kahlil and Dylan have great chemistry together. They goofy, professional, locked in like the Beastie Boys were. They invited me to attend their record release and we drove 3 hours round trip and it was so worth it, took my whole fam, packed the car with friends.
As I chilled at the release party with the Chosen Family Records folks, meeting the label’s other rapper ACE, they reminded me of when my former player Darius Logan, who played on our SLAM AAU team in 05’. Talented at hoop as he was, Darius instead pursued the music game and formed D & D with his lil bro. They earned an Emmy nomination.
Give Kahlil and his crew a couple years, I’d bet my last dollar they find success like that, at that level fosho.
Why haven’t these guys signed on to a major record label you may wonder? You know how pop super star Taylor Swift is pissed at herself that she doesn’t own her own music? Well, Kahlil and Dylan want to keep their album masters and be the ultimate masters of their own destiny.
Feel Dylan’s love for the rap game in his words. He told me, “ACELUNE and Darian Bryant are the other two partners of the label. Ace is an artist as well and produces most of Kahlil’s tracks. We feed off each other’s energy.
“This is what we were put on the earth to do, make beats, get out inspiring lyrics that inform our upbringing, do justice to what we see in the world. We’re working hard to be elite in our field. Our record label is creating our own path. If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.”
Why you say Kahlil has Nipsey’s heart in title E-Woods?
I’ve seen Dylan and Kahlil do tireless outreach on Skid Row. They are about social justice, just down with helping people. That’s why Kahlil and Dylan are hard as hell to me, they’ve seen how hell ravages people on the streets. Blowing notes into a microphone, they make you feel something about the world no doubt!
Hear Kahlil speak into existence their dreams, tell why he’s grindin’, “My whole life I have this light inside me, trying to get it out because I want to share it with people. All I ask from people is to be real with me, we can share this light together.
“My grandmother Darlene came from Belize and worked hard to achieve her dream. Be about something, that’s why I rap, bust out these lyrics, give my life to it. I try to light up the microphone, set the studio on fire, get peoples’ ears burning, sharing that passion, that is my mission.”
Peep Kahlil Simplis and Dylan Joseph out for yourself, your ears might just start burning up as well.
https://youtu.be/v6QYxnNvoDs
