Kiiba

In the current climate of today’s music of virality and overnight sensations, Kiiba’s story and music speaks as its own homegrown entity, which is a force to be reckoned with. Born Robert Crayton in 2000, Kiiba’s introduction to hip-hop started while he was in the womb, with his father previously being a Freestyle Friday champion on BET’s 106 &amp; Park and his uncle was in a local Miami group known as <a href="spotify:artist:4bh0r5D3FFdgRPe4yWm49q" data-name="3re tha Hardaway">3re tha Hardaway</a>, having previously worked with DJ Khaled before his heyday. He came up with North Carolina mainstays like <a href="spotify:artist:7wd0vIHoctqtFpoxRM6Qx0" data-name="Sinimatics">Sinimatics</a> , <a href="spotify:artist:7wD5hPxq12rywKxCUBDxnD" data-name="Lil Kawaii">Lil Kawaii</a> , and Jay forming the visionary collective Dreamers Slept On, with him being the youngest member. Kiiba would go on to release a mixtape entitled Maverick Nightz and a handful of singles throughout 2018-2022, laying out the constantly growing foundation of his sound : dark, grungy, and psychedelic production mixed with incisive lyrics that blends in the worlds of the introspective and melodic. This would earn him comparisons to the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:2YZyLoL8N0Wb9xBt1NhZWg" data-name="Kendrick Lamar">Kendrick Lamar</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6aaMZ3fcfLv4tEbmY7bjRM" data-name="Isaiah Rashad">Isaiah Rashad</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4mwdnO2jZrMmMVrjcHsZBv" data-name="Kenny Mason">Kenny Mason</a>, establishing himself as a standout amongst Carolina’s scene of up-and-coming acts. He’s currently preparing his debut album Saturn, scheduled to release in October 2025.