King Rawllie is an independent Hip-Hop artist, born and raised in Tacoma, on September 5th 1987, at St. Joseph hospital in Tacoma Washington.
Rawllie was raised by his mother, Roslynn, and is the oldest of 4 children. Music became his outlet for stress at an early age when, due to a decline in his mother’s health, he inherited the responsibility of adulthood. By his teenage years, Rawllie was the provider and caretaker of his family.
“I gave up playing basketball to make time to work and take care of the home.”
It started with the line “It aint hard to tell.” Recalls Rawllie, “[Nas’] video came on and those words grabbed my attention.” The lyrics to the song reflected his own life, and he began to pay closer attention to the importance of words.
He started writing poetry about his life, his prayers, his hopes; He wrote about things he wanted to change. These poems started to transform into songs with the influence of his peers.
At the time Rawllie started to get into freestyling with his brothers, and developing his flow, he was faced with another life challenge. He was homeless. He took to the streets, doing whatever he could to get by until 2007, when he moved in with his cousin Oscar.
“Oscar made beats. We ended up sitting around and freestyling every day. It was hard for me to talk about myself and how I felt. Freestyling about it distressed me. And I liked it.” Says Rawllie.
Rawllie recorded his first song titled “Ballin’ Baby” in 2008. Encouraged by the experience, he wrote and recorded more songs with the intention to continue to advance with his craft. He performed at local events and in 2011 was introduced to Tacoma recording label, Platinum Reign. Rawllie opened for rapper YG in Tacoma, and Seattle along-side Tacoma artist 50 Cow. He received advice from YG’s manager that inspired him to be more involved when it came to managing his own success.
Rawllie recalls praying to God for guidance in 2012. “I had hit rock bottom. I had nothing and nowhere to go and the only thing that provided any kind of relief was music. I could sit there, write and keep myself focused on the possibilities. I felt like God had closed every other door, so that I would clearly see my future in music.” His mother’s health prompted the rekindling of their relationship and he moved in to take care of her. This same year Rawllie met Milly Kartia and together they pushed, and encouraged one another to make their dream become a reality. Vowing to get out of the struggle.
For the next two years Rawllie, and Milly learned to produce their own beats, and engineer their music. This determination and desire to improve, not only with his music but in life, prompted the beginning of the lifestyle he describes as “The crash life”.
“Living the crash life means to live life ‘all gas no brakes’. Whatever you want, you go for it without hesitation. Raw and gnarly.”
The combination of raw and gnarly coined the term “Rawllie”, a phrase he and Milly would say before shows, and soon after he took it as his name. It was his mother’s faith and reminder to follow as a child of God, and to look to himself and see a king. This brought him to be identified as the artist King Rawllie.
2014 Rawllie accompanied Milly to meet with producer Skipp, of Nuq and Skip, and artist PMZ about the possibility of working together. “It was a Saturday when we had our first meeting. The vibe was amazing and we looked at each other, and had this bright idea to join forces and start a super team. He loaded us up with a bunch of beats and that following Saturday I had three songs ready to go. The Saturday after that, I had four. And it’s been going like that ever since.”
Today King Rawllie is an artist of Sunset Capitol, an entertainment label, also located in Tacoma, WA.
When asked what motivates him to pursue music, Rawllie states; “It’s by the grace of God that my mother is still alive today. She was given 9 months to live 10 years ago. Any day can be her last, and that’s what inspires me to keep going. I want to show my son that with hard work and ambition he can do anything and become his own success. I don’t want them to struggle. I can’t stop. I got a family to feed and a mother to heal and that’s where I’m at with that.”
*What are you doing now?
Right now I’m working on the business side of music. I’ve got the music, now I’m handling all the paperwork, press kits etc..
*What’s next?
What will be coming soon is the release of my first official single “Make it Work.” and my mixtape, “KampFakeWood” to be released early September.
*Any shows coming up in August?
August 15 I’ll be performing at the Music Fest at The Town on 6th ave in Tacoma.
*Who have you worked with?
Lil rip and 50 cow. Also, look out for collaborations with Milly Kartia, PMZ and Ohjmarie from Sunset Capitol.
King Rawllie