HNHH: How you doin’, Crook?

KXNG Crooked: What’s goin’ on, brother? You good?

Last we spoke, you and Joell had just dropped off H.A.R.D. Now you came through and dropped Flag not too long ago. Despite everything that has gone on this year, it has been a pretty solid year for you musically. 

Yes, sir.

How have these unique circumstances of 2020 and the challenges presented throughout, from coronavirus to the protests in the United States, impacted your creative process on a musical level — if at all?

Life gives us so many things to talk about in the booth, you know what I mean? You can never run out of material if you just pay attention to life. And some people always say “Hey man, how do you keep doing it after 20+?” I even hear other rappers being asked this question. “How do you keep coming up with material and things of that nature?” But if you just pay attention to life, there’s an unlimited amount of material. COVID made us all adjust our game, you know what I mean? I was strong on the Crook’s Corner. I was on my content game, you know. And then social distancing said “Hey, you gotta hold up buddy!”

So, I’m fresh off an Eminem interview about to roll into a Kool G Rap interview, and I had to shut down because of COVID.  I had to adjust. So in that perspective, yes, it did affect me, but as far as creatively, I just never let nothing stop me because where I come from, if you stop, you might not make it. So you gotta keep grinding, you gotta keep working, you gotta keep going no matter what. And you gotta always think outside of your environment because your environment might be hostile but you gotta think outside of it. You gotta have bigger dreams than what’s going on. So my whole thing was “Aight, cool, this is bad, this is fucked up.” You know, it’s a lot of people hurting. I’mma do what I can to help people and I’mma keep on creating, ’cause nothing’s gone stop me, not even COVID, you feel me?

Definitely. As per usual with your material, there’s some pretty great writing and penmanship found throughout. I was just wondering in terms of all of the verses you’ve done this year, did you have one in particular that was one you feel would be submitted to the Verse of the Year competition?

Yo, dawg. So my fans told me — and they said it was cool for me to call them “fans”[Laughs]– They told me that I did 30 something features, indie features this year. 35, 36, probably more. But there are a lot of standout verses out there from me. Em, “I Will” on Music To Be Murdered By. That right there, I feel that’s the bar of the year. I feel like the Abraham Lincoln bar, “Ay bruh, I go ham for dead presidents. John Wilkes, that’s who I’m in the booth like.” The whole scheme, I just feel like nobody really tied all of that together as well. There’s been some lines about that, but I feel like that was the best that has been tied together.

Let me tell you, some of my punchlines and metaphors and similes, sometimes somebody builds on it and they make it better. I am like, “Why didn’t I think about that?” But on this particular one, I think that’s the bar of the year, the “Ay bruh, I go ham,” that’s the bar of the year. Verse of the year contender, ’cause there’s a lot of dope ass verses out there, you know what I’m sayin’, from a lot of titans and some Jedis came out to play this year. We got blessed. I would say the Russ joint ain’t too shabby. You know, the joint with Russ, the “Stockholm Syndrome” joint. What else, dawg? I rap with a lot of people this year. I got one with Sa Roc, but it hasn’t dropped yet. That verse is crazy. I’ma go with the Russ right now as a contender. But I got some things that are still coming that, oh my God bro. I need everyone to hurry and send their features back so I can drop.

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