Inland Empire rapper KingMostWanted is coming for the throne on his latest project Time For The Throne. At only 19, King’s become a hometown hero and gone viral on Tik Tok several times with hits like “In My City” which generated over 15 million cumulative streams and over 1 million Tik Tok creations. The 8PETOWN & Vydia artist puts on for his city and has even collaborated with West Coast artists like AZ Chike, label mate MCM Raymond & KayDaBandit on his latest project. Time For The Throne delivers the hard hitting bangers that King is known for while also showing fans another side of him with emotional tracks like “Couple Questions” & “Always Right.” King recently visited New York for the first time and we had a chance to sit down with him to discuss his latest project, his musical journey, viral fame & opening up in his music. Find out more in our exclusive interview below.
The Knockturnal: How long have you been making music?
KINGMOSTWANTED: I’ve been making music for 2.5 – 3 years.
The Knockturnal: At what age did you start experimenting with music?
KINGMOSTWANTED: When I was 12/13 years old.
The Knockturnal: So who would you say around you kind of encouraged you to try your hand at rapping?
KINGMOSTWANTED: One of the female workers at the juvenile home.
The Knockturnal: Can you elaborate on that a little more?
KINGMOSTWANTED: I was in a juvenile home, rapping with one of the homies and we were talking sh**, and after she came up to me when she was putting me in my room, she was like, ‘hey king you was talking nonsense but like you know how to put the words together and you know how to rhyme well and it was nonsense but that came together really well, you should really try it out, you might be good at it.’ Ever since that I never wrote real songs or recorded anything but I started doing freestyles at school and on the gram.
The Knockturnal: At what point would you say you started actually taking music seriously? As a career?
KINGMOSTWANTED: I started taking music seriously right before I started blowing up so like 16 but like when I first turned 16 in January.
The Knockturnal: How did it feel to get discovered at 17 and start blowing up at such a young age?
KINGMOSTWANTED: It felt good, it felt crazy. It was like d*** this sh** Is happening. I was like this is happening sooner than I thought though, I knew it was going to come but it happened sooner than I thought and faster.
The Knockturnal: Leading up to your later teen years, before you were 16/17, did you have that goal in mind to be an artist?
KINGMOSTWANTED: Not at first, I was just trying to perfect it and find my flow but I was just like I’m going to put music out just for fun. Let the homies hear my sh** and then where I was living at in Victorville when I put my first song out that sh** was doing good Victorville wise. It was everywhere in Victorville.
The Knockturnal: What have been the 3 biggest highlights of your careers so far?
KINGMOSTWANTED: I would have to say when I dropped in my city and it started going viral before I even knew what Tik Tok was or anything it was already going viral. My second would be when I dropped “High Power” and it started going viral even though it got taken down due to clearances that sh** was hitting like a mill a day. And then my third highlight I do not know if it has to relate to fame and music and stuff but when I signed my 3rd or 4th deal for my album and we went to Vegas.
The Knockturnal: How does it feel to go viral? You’ve gone viral around 5 times. Do you feel like it’s a right of passage for artists today?
KINGMOSTWANTED: It felt good, it is one thing to go viral but like you can go viral in a bad way and all my virals have been good as fu**, like oh sh** they fu** with me, from like out of state they are tapping in. Even when I was on the East Coast beat saying I was a “West Side baby,” they were not mad at me because I honestly didn’t even know if they were from the East Coast. The right of passage, I don’t know because I have a couple of homies that are not viral and they have the right of passage, but I guess it just depends where you’re from because certain cities, even in Cali and sh** you do need the right of passage.
The Knockturnal: What was it like working with AZ Chike, Bino?
KINGMOSTWANTED: It was fun, it was a good experience and we went viral so I showed out, we both did.
The Knockturnal: What was it like working DJ Five Venoms?
KINGMOSTWANTED: Working with DJ Five Venoms, that was a different experience, the first like different thing I did with music. I like how he did his thing on the tracks and didn’t even tell me he was doing that I thought he was just hosting it. He did his sh** though.
The Knockturnal: Can you tell me about your latest project?
KINGMOSTWANTED: The title of my album is Time For The Throne. When they listen to it they are going to understand because I really put a lot into that album. One of my favorite songs off of it I would have to say, I always switch it up in every interview so like right now I am going to have to say, “couple questions” that’s one of my favorites. That song is my favorite, because I was taking drugs and getting high and I was like, ‘man I want a different type of high, I want a love high again.’
The Knockturnal: There are some records on the project like “Couple Questions” & “Always Right” that are more emotional how does it feel to tap into your emotions a little bit for this project?
KINGMOSTWANTED: It feels good because I wasn’t like that at first. I didn’t think I could do it, I would always make songs and I would just be like I want to talk about this but I don’t think they are going to hear me and I did it but that’s why I am really proud of this album because I got every feeling and vibe on there.
The Knockturnal: What else can fans expect from you?
KINGMOSTWANTED: They can expect the deluxe from me.
The Knockturnal: Can you tell us about upcoming visuals? I got a sneak peak of “Hood Star Celebrity,” can you talk about working on that video?
KINGMOSTWANTED: “Hood Star Celebrity,” I was in the studio with Uce, I have a couple of songs with him, a bunch of them actually and he showed me the beat, I don’t know if he showed me or produced it in front of me he does both. I was just in the studio and I always talk about how I want them to remember me even if it does stop like I just want to be remembered, like make my mark. That’s basically what I was talking about but I also was like but I don’t just want to talk about that I want to talk my sh** too.
The Knockturnal: Who would you like to collaborate with?
KINGMOSTWANTED: I get asked this a lot, I really don’t listen to a lot of people that would be accessible right now. I listen to Billie Eilish but just whoever my team brings to me, or my manager and show me or tell me who they think I would sound good with, I would check them out and listen to their music and if we can make it happen, let’s do it.
The Knockturnal: What are some of your favorite tv shows?
KINGMOSTWANTED: My favorite tv shows, it would have to season 2 of Narcos: Mexico, BMF for sure, that just came out but I f*** with it heavy. Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, and all the spin offs to Vampire Diaries, Originals, Legacies, I watch it all.
