By Matt Sonzala
Hip Hop, like high school, can be cliquish. And quite often, if you are not down with the right clique, you don’t get the same attention as those who are. You have to work harder to be seen and somehow shine above the rest.
In Houston, the two main cliques are the Swisha House and the Screwed Up Click. Both are comprised of rap game veterans who’s affiliations with the best known DJ’s to ever come from the city – DJ Screw and Michael Watts – have helped to catapult their status. And both cliques also sound eerily similar. The Houston sound is hot as fire right now, but with so many artists saying the same things in the same way, can it last forever? Who will change the game?
Representing from the cities South East side, an area not too well known for producing rappers. But he has every right to say it, for as long as people like Paul Wall, Chamillionaire and Slim Thug have been grinding, Kiotti has been right there showing another side of his city.
Alone in the game, Kiotti is a one man wrecking crew. He’s known as one of the top battle MC’s in the world from his early work on stage wrecking every competition he could enter. But don’t look at him as just the typical battle MC, Kiotti has some mean songwriting skills as well - and some real history to back up the realities in his lyrics.
Kiotti was born in Memphis, Tennessee and when he was 4 his father was killed in cold blood, stabbed in the heart 19 times. He and his mother relocated to Houston soon there after, and the youngster began a new life. However, once his mother remarried, things started taking a turn for the worst. His new stepfather would beat him regularly. “I damn near didn’t miss getting a whoopin’ every day from the 1st to the 6th grade.” Kiotti remembers, “A lot of people don’t know I was abused as a kid.”
That hardship might be what gave Kiotti the backbone to be the man and artist he is today. While his stepfather ruled with the whip, his mother ruled with the Bible, even going so far as to restrict the type of music he could listen to.
In his early days, the rapper we know as Kiotti was known as Lil Baller, a name he took from his first group the Livin’ in Luxury Ballers. His self-titled debut album was released on local label, Mad Vibes in 2001 and showcased a young fire starter that was sure to be the next voice to emerge from Houston. While promoting his album, Kiotti hit every stage he could, battling all foes and backing down for no one.
This lead him to the infamous Source Magazine Battle of 2001, where he came in first out of 250 participants in the Houston competition, which in turn brought him to New York to compete with the big boys. “When we went to New York,” he remembers, “I got into the battle before the final and I lost my voice. I just didn’t know any better. I come from Houston and I get to New York and it’s October. It’s freezing cold, I didn’t bring a jacket and I ended up losing my voice before the battle even started. But I made it through three rounds.” And his buzz really began to build.
In the summer on 2003 he was a part of one of the biggest singles in Houston at that time, “The Hooka” featured Kiotti, MC Qua, Nuwine and AJ and quickly became an integral part of any Houston dance floor or mix show. It was the biggest independent single of 2003 and helped to bring all eyes on Kiotti, and Houston.
In 2004 Kiotti released a CD of his latest group, “The Bebe Kids”, called The Streets is Talking, thru local label Attitude Records. The label was a joint venture between himself and some partners, and the disc was well received in the Houston streets.
But all of the events up until this point were just not enough for Kiotti. Speak to him today and he almost disavows his past work stating that he just didn’t know the game well enough back then and today he is ready to start fresh.
A chance meeting at a talent show with a key A&R, and a management deal with Latium Records (home to Chamillioniare, Pitbull, Play N Skillz and more) led him to his current home, Asylum Records, the label currently repping the new sound of Houston like no other.
“There was a talent show here and I hosted it.” He explains his gradual transformation from independent to major artist. “They had a representative come down here named Selim Boaub, who was at Def Jam at the time. He later moved over to Asylum and got a situation and called me to do business. I pride myself in taking care of business.”
Between 2006-2007, Kiotti’s grind intensified. He has been on over 200 mixtapes. As well as being a voice of the streets, he tried his hand at a new task. Radio. Currently he has the night show at Houston’s Party Station, Party 93.3. (REALITY RADIO) As well as the local show on Sunday. “ You can say history is repeating itself.” Says Kiotti. “Ludacris had great success making the transition from radio to music to movies. I just had to put my own twist to it. I’ll take music, then radio, then movies. As long as the story ends the same, I’m good!”
Currently, Kiotti owns his own record label. (YOUNG INK). His new tv show, “THE DROP SPOT”, is slated to air in March on NBC.
