STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Kxng Crooked on Living Healthy and Alcoholism in Hip Hop

The Slaughterhouse MC will be performing at the BET Music Matters showcase at A3C.

The phrase “party like a rock star” may have been coined in the rock n’ roll era, but it’s pretty clear (especially if you watch the videos) that hip hop perfected it. Kxng Crooked (formerly known as Crooked I) has experienced his fair share of debauchery and liver-terrorism thanks to years of touring, but now the Long Beach rapper says he’s trading in the Jameson for Jamba Juice.

“I started the diet about two months ago. Less alcohol, more kale juice,” Crooked told BET.com, noting that the plan is still a work in progress. “When I’m home and just working, everything is chill. I’m good. When I go on that road, the energy and the crowd and all that s**t, I still always wanna have a couple shots of Jameson before I get on stage. I’m a Libra, so I’ve always been with the scales. I do some f**ked up s**t and some good to balance it out."

The Shady Records rapper said he decided to tone down his lifestyle after seeing what the vices of life did to his friends. 

“I got a lot of homeboys that died too early,” Crooked pointed out. "I drink way less than I used to. I probably won’t have another drink until New Year's. I’ll just do healthy s**t, maybe eat junk food on the weekends. I really like to keep myself a little bit balanced out.”

Crooked looks to spread the word about alcohol and overall health awareness this weekend when he blesses the BET Music Matters stage at A3C.

“I’ll be doing the BET Music Matters Stage and I want to kind of spread the word about alcohol awareness,” said the Slaughterhouse MC. "That’s something that needs to be talked about a little more from the hip hop community."

Crooked, who is also working with Slaughterhouse on the next album, says his new project with Statik Selektah will be an iconoclast of production and lyrical stylings. 

“Being from the West Coast growing up watching Tha Dogg Pound in the studio create music, everything was a lot of keyboards, a lot of strings, a lot of melodies, a lot of chord progressions," he said. "On the East, it’s more boom bap, a lot more sample driven. We’re mixing the West Coast flow with the East Coast boom bap. I never really had a chance to do a whole project like that, so when Statik reached out and said let’s do something, I was like, 'This is going to be fantastic.'”

If you're in Atlanta for the A3C music festival, make sure you check out Kxng Crooked and all the artists who will be rocking the Music Matters stage tonight.

BET.com is your No. 1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. 

(Photo: John Ricard / BET)

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.