KB
Kevin Elijah Burgess, better
known by his stage name KB,
is an American Christian hip
hop artist from St. Petersburg,
Florida. He is the leader of
HGA, and was signed as a
solo artist to Reach Records
in 2010. He is also a member
of the Reach Records-based
hip-hop collective 116 Clique.
After releasing a mixtape in
2011 entitled Who Is KB?, his
debut album, Weight & Glory,
was released on July 17, 2012,
to critical acclaim.
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Early life
and DJ Official, and were
featured with Tedashii on the
track “Go” from DJ Official’s
album Entermission. KB was
invited onto the “Acquire the
Fire” tour by Lecrae, and was
asked to join the Reach Records team just a few months
later.
Signing with Reach Records
KB signed with Reach Records
in 2010, and appeared that
year on the album Rehab by
Lecrae. His mixtape Who is
KB? followed a year later, as
did appearances with Derek
Minor and Tedashii. Who is KB?
garnered 30,000 downloads
by the following year.His first
single, “Hello”, featured Suzy
Rock and was released in Oc-
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ICONIC MAGAZINE
Kevin Burgess was born in
St. Petersburg, Florida into a
military family. Shortly after
his birth his parents moved to
Southern Illinois where he was
raised for eight years. When
he was 8 years old, his parents
divorced and he moved back
with his mother to the southside of St. Petersburg, which
according to KB is “probably
one of the worst areas in the
state.” He did well in school
and at age 15 was offered an
opportunity to pursue college
through a program called
St. Petersburg Collegiate
High School.But despite this
opportunity, he struggled
with extreme depression and
experimented with various
drugs to try to relieve it. He
tober 2011In January 2012, a
second single, “Zone Out” featuring Chris Lee Cobbins, was
released. KB then made an
appearance with Andy Mineo
on the Trip Lee album The
Good Life. A third single by KB,
“Go Off”, featured Tedashii and
Andy Mineo, and was released
in June. The following month,
his debut album Weight &
Glory was released to critical
acclaim. On May 30, 2013,
Reach announced a four-part
project entitled “1st & 16th”.
This project would consist of
KB releasing a new song every
first and sixteenth of June and
July. On June 1, Part 1 HCB
Freestyle was released.
KB Rapper
began struggling at school
due to his problems with
his personal life, and even
contemplated suicide. During
this period of his life he met a
Christian named Jeremy who
introduced him to Christian
rap. Jeremy offered him a CD,
and KB says he was saved after
hearing the Gospel presentation on the recording.
Formation of HGA
After high school, KB enrolled
in Bible college and befriended a group of Christian
rappers and together they
formed a hip hop group called
HGA, short for His Glory Alone.
HGA eventually caught the
interest of Lecrae, Ben Washer,
KB resides in Tampa, FL with
his wife where he indulges
in crab legs, boxing, heading
up HGA, and serving at Living
Faith Bible Fellowship Church.
“Right now I am learning to
steward and shepherd my
platform as a rapper. “His idea
of success is wrapped up in
the act of obedience. He says
that “being faithful and obedient to what God has asked of
you whether in Beverly Hills or
Ethiopia” determines success.
KB hopes that his role on the
Reach Records team will be
that of a leading thinker. “I
want to be someone people
can look up to and trust as a
deliverer of truth. “If I can accomplish that, I will have been
successful.”
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