Kingpen Slim Discusses ‘Beam Me Up 2′ Collabos and More

Rapper Kingpen Slim is gearing up for the release of 'Beam Me Up 2,' the follow-up to his 2009 mixtape project, 'Beam Me Up.' Before the effort drops on August 31, get familiar with the D.C. area emcee if his music seems foreign. Listen to stand-out records like 'Powder 4 The Babies' or the DJ J Buttah-produced song 'Gone.' He may come from the same locale that birthed such talents as Wale, but the 27-year-old lyricist sounds nothing like the 'More About Nothing' creator. His syrupy drawl allows for rhymes to sink into listener's heads. Kingpen's not churning out speedy lyrics; his delivery commands that every bar be digested by hungry rap fans.

Here, Kingpen steps away from placing the final touches on his new mixtape to discuss some of the stars behind it, which include the likes of Jim Jones and the aforementioned Wale. The rhyme slinger reveals what's to be expected from the featured songs, his reception from fans overseas and the source of his inspiration.

The BoomBox: How was it growing up in D.C.?

KingPen Slim: It was cool, man. I grew up the son of West Indian immigrants in the northwest section of the city, so I got to blend in with a lot of different cultures. Back then, D.C. really had a unique way about itself as a city. I got to soak all that up. One of the reasons why I don't really sound too much like anybody is because of that right there.

The BoomBox: What artist or song made you pick up a mic?



KingPen Slim: Damn, you taking me back. Not sure of the exact song and artist off the top of my head, but I remember being real young, battling my man Brandon in front of his father on their porch, and winning some food stamps that I used to go buy ice cream sandwiches [laughs]. True story. In my neighborhood there was an older dude by the name B Luv who I used to look up to, he was rapping in this go-go band and had lyrics, style, charisma. He influenced me heavy, along with Los from Backyard Band.



The BoomBox: Who'd you work with on 'Beam Me Up 2'?



KingPen Slim: We got J Buttah, who did the majority of the production as well as structuring of the album. Mark Henry got some joints on there as well. Team Demo, Trilogy and Cash Flow did a joint a piece on there as well, so shouts out to all them too.



The BoomBox: What are we to expect on this new project?



KingPen Slim: Big records man, big records. It's got that victory feel to it! A couple of big features as well. Sonically, it's on par with anything out right now. No two records have the same message. I talk about a wide range of things.



The BoomBox: Tell us about those big features.

KingPen Slim: All the features came about naturally either through relationships Stew, Buttah or myself had, or dudes we ended up connecting with along the way. Jim Jones, Malice, Wale, Median, Kevin Ross, etc. They all looked out. I gotta couple more features, but I'm a keep that under wraps until we drop! But it's definitely gonna be an event you won't wanna miss.

The BoomBox: Obviously, you have a buzz stateside. How are you being received overseas?



KingPen Slim: Some cats out in Europe made a dance routine to 'Powder for the Babies' [off 'The Beam Up'] and we've been getting interview and feature requests from all over the world, so that's been dope.

The BoomBox: Your style of rhyming is witty and sharp. Where do you get your ideas from?



KingPin Slim: They come from real life experiences either present, past or future. I always tell people I rap about what I've done, what I'm doing or what I'm 'bout to do, so it's all authentic.