11 Songs All About His Majesty, The King | Playlist

11 Songs All About His Majesty, The King features music courtesy of Anderson East, Migos, Panic! At the Disco, $uicideBoy$, and Tamela Mann.

To quote Simba from The Lion King, “Oh, I Just Can’t Wait to be King!” Hell yeah – well, they wouldn’t say ‘hell’ in a G-rated Walt Disney movie (save for The Hunchback of Notre Dame’s “Hellfire”)… Anyways, recapping some royal happenings on The Musical Hype, in February 2018, we presented a most royal playlist, 11 Truly Royal Songs.  That majestic list was comprised of songs with various royal titles such as king, queen, prince, princess, as well as the word royal itself.  At the end of November 2018, a new, more specific playlist, 11 Songs All About her Majesty, The Queen, focuses only on the queen.

Now, it’s only fitting that we flip the script, publishing 11 Songs All About His Majesty, The King. “11 Songs All About His Majesty, The King” features music courtesy of Anderson East (“King for a Day”),  Migos (“Crown the Kings”), Panic! At the Disco (“King of the Clouds”), $uicideBoys (“King Tulip”), and Tamela Mann (“Take Me To the King”).

1. Panic! At the Disco, “King of the Clouds”

Pray for the Wicked • Fueled by Ramen • 2018

“With these dreams, I inflate, painted skies in my brain / Every day, I’m Carl Sagan in space / To escape this old world, this old world.” Okay… sure. Living up and potentially exceeding your best work is an arduous task.  That’s the task that Brendon Urie and Panic! At the Disco had on their hands post- Death of a Bachelor (2016).  Surprisingly, the follow-up to Death of a Bachelor, Pray for the Wicked, arrived ‘sooner than later’ in 2018.  The album didn’t match the quality of Bachelor but yielded some more memorable moments for the alternative ‘band.’ What earns P!ATD a spot on 11 Songs All About His Majesty, The King? “King of the Clouds,” the ninth track from Pray for the Wicked.

“Some only live to die, I’m alive to fly higher / Than angels in outfields inside my mind.” Again, okay… right. “King of the Clouds” successfully fuses alt-pop with elements of throwback soul. Panic! At the Disco has always been eclectic, so it’s not surprising that “King of the Clouds” doesn’t have a concrete stylistic characterization. Short and sweet, the strings, organ, and that sweet falsetto by Brendon Urie are the biggest selling points.  The chorus is pretty royal to say the least.

“I’m the king of the clouds, of the clouds
I get lifted, I get lifted
I’m the king of the clouds, of the clouds
I get lifted, I get lifted.”

2. $uicideBoy$, “King Tulip”

I Want to Die in New Orleans • G*59 • 2018

“King Tulip” kicks off I Want to Die in New Orleans, the proper debut album by $uicideBoy$ (Scott Arceneaux, Jr. and Aristos Pertrou) with a bang.  This ‘bang’ is thanks in part to an intro by Max Beck (“How did these two motherfuckers, from New Orleans… How did they change music?”), not to mention biting rhymes from Petrou (Ruby da Cherry) and Arceneaux ($lick $loth aka $crim).

Ruby seems focused on his future demise. “My liver really startin’ to slack / And I can feel myself decayin’ from the cigarette packs,” he raps on the first verse.  He continues, “I haven’t thought of suicide since I was livin’ in the back of Blackout’s pad.”  $lick adds drug references to the mix on the second verse, opening with the lines, “Two cups and a bad bitch / Then I pop me a Xanax quick.” He goes on to say, “$lick love drugs over everything / Shoot the stars up in my veins, woah.” “King Tulip” concludes with one of many outros related to New Orleans.

3. Jay Rock, “King’s Dead”

Ft. Kendrick Lamar, Future & James Blake

Black Panther the Album Music from and Inspired By • Interscope • 2018

Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, and James Blake join forces for hard-nosed banger “King’s Dead,” the second single from Black Panther the Album Music from and Inspired By.  From the start, the beat is trunk-rattling. Kendrick Lamar drops a ferocious hook.  Jay Rock gets ‘first blood’ with the first verse, matching the toughness of the backdrop. Future follows, with a variation on the hook, assisted by Kendrick Lamar.

Future is a perfect fit – this sounds like his elite, outlandish hooks.

“Fuck his baby mama tryna sneak diss
I took her to my penthouse, then I freaked it
I haven’t made my mind up, should I keep it?
I got big dog status, it ain’t no secret.”

The bridge, mostly performed by Future, is bizarre, including the famous lyric, “Slob on [me] knob.” Later, James Blake initiates the second part of the song, in all his enigmatic, electronic excellence.  Lamar then proceeds to go H.A.M. on the second verse of the song.  The beat and overall sound remains hard-hitting.

“Red light, green light, red light, green light...
Fast cars, fast money, fast life, fast broads
Egotistic, goin’ ballistic, why God?”

“King’s Dead” originally appeared on 11 Truly Royal Songs.

4. Anderson East, “King for a Day”

Encore • Elektra • 2018

“…But we both been through what we’ve both been through / There’s no reason not to cross that line / We all need somebody from time to time.” “King for a Day” is a mid-tempo ballad from that oozes with soul.  Think of this as a combination of rock, southern soul, and fittingly, blue-eyed soul. Singer/songwriter Anderson East sounds beastly on this gem from his sophomore album, Encore, exhibiting ample soul and grittiness. While the vocals are the crowning achievement, there are a number of parts that make “King for a Day” a gem.

The songwriting is sincere, capped off by a memorable chorus.

“And even if your heart can’t look my way
Even if our love can’t stay together
I’d rather be king for a day, than a fool forever
King for a day, than a fool forever
Yes, I would
Yes, I would.”

The production is old-school, without sounding anachronistic, incorporating horns, organs, and real drums. “King for a Day” originally appeared on 11 Truly Royal Songs.

5. Mat Kearney, “Kings & Queens”

CRAZYTALK • Tomorrow Music • 2018

“We don’t need no bankroll to make us feel alive / We don’t need no Benzo, to feel like we can ride / Richer than Solomon with you by my side / We’ll be kings and queens in our own mind.” Singer/songwriter Mat Kearney ‘brings the heat’ on “Kings & Queens,” the third song from his under-appreciated 2018 album, CRAZYTALK.  On the thoughtful, well-written and well-produced song, Kearney delivers rich, nuanced, and passionate vocals.  Listening to him sing, the authenticity and investment to his love is easily perceptible.

The aforementioned chorus continues as follows:

“We don’t need no jet plane to feel like we can fly
We don’t need no gold chain just to watch it shine
24 karat lives, we don’t got the time
We’ll be kings and queens in our own mind.”

6. Migos, “Crown the Kings”

Culture II • Quality Control Music / Motown / Capitol • 2018

“I got every drug that start with a letter / Chickens is tender / With her she said I’m ‘like Soulja Boy the way you tell ‘em.” Wow! Once upon a time, rappers were totally obsessed with being gods.  It’s true – god status was unavoidable in the genre for a period of time, much like the infamous ‘molly’ trend.  Perhaps MCs moved away from false idolatry and decided to settle on being crowned kings as opposed to elevating themselves on a more blasphemous pedestal.  Migos, keeping the ‘culture’ alive and well, seek to be crowned on the 13^th track from 2018’s exhaustive Culture II, “Crown the Kings.”

In the context of Culture II, “Crown the Kings” gets lost in the mix thanks to more notable records such as “Walk It Talk It,” “Stir Fry” and “MotorSport”. That said, “Crown the Kings” isn’t a bad record, finding Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff continuing to flex because, well, they’re kings.  The production is sleek – smooth, yet assertive enough to support totally cocky and confident rhymes from Migos.  On the chorus, performed by Quavo, he keeps things simple – straight to the point. #King Shit

“Fuck it, crown the kings
We’re living the dream
Crown the kings
Living the dreams.”

7. Taylor Swift, “King of My Heart”

Reputation • Big Machine • 2017

“Salute to me, I’m your American Queen / And you move to me like a Motown beat / And we rule the kingdom inside my room.” Within the track listing of Taylor Swift’s album Reputation, “King of My Heart” follows the optimistic “Getaway Car.”  Fittingly, the exuberance continues on “King of My Heart,” which is set in good ole, happy, major. Notably, the heart-centric record doesn’t spoil Swift’s ‘reputation’ like some of the darker, more polarizing numbers – “Look What You Made Me Do”.

On “King of My Heart” she asserts, “Your love is a secret I’m hoping, dreaming, dying to keep.” Selling points include harmonized vocals as well as the overall vocal production. There also the chorus, as seen below.

“And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for
King of my heart, body, and soul, ooh whoa
And all at once, you’re all I want, I’ll never let you go
King of my heart, body, and soul, ooh whoa.”

“King of My Heart” originally appeared on 11 Truly Royal Songs, as well as 13 Songs That Address Matters of the Heart.

8. Kendrick Lamar, “King Kunta”

To Pimp a Butterfly • Interscope • 2015

“I made it past 25 and there I was / A little nappy headed nigga with the world behind him.”  On “King Kunta,” Grammy-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar references none other than Kunte Kinte, a slave who is best remembered as the basis of Roots.  If “Wesley’s Theory,” the preceding track from To Pimp a Butterfly was a bit less accessible (initially), “King Kunta” is easier to follow and more straightforward. Lamar isn’t only referencing the slave (“Now I run the game got the whole world talkin’, King Kunta / Everybody wanna cut the legs off him, Kunta”).  In the aforementioned excerpt, he’s also references his own ascent in fame and overall notoriety.

9. Big K.R.I.T., “King of The South”

Cadillactica • Def Jam • 2014

“Titans collide, only Zeus could survive / If not me bitch, who the fuck you gone call?” “King of The South” is a dynamic cut from Cadillactica, the second major-label album from Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T.  And yes, it should be noted that K.R.I.T.’s “King of the South” arrived after T.I. proclaimed himself “King of the South” years earlier… Anyways, “King of the South” is led by infectious lyrics: “Grew up on the country side of town…king of the south, king of the south, king of the south.” A home run by all means, Big K.R.I.T. is on autopilot without question.

He slaughters his rhymes with incredible agility, as any king, even a makeshift one from the south, should.

“Born and raised where the rebel flag hang from the slaves
Grew up where y’all niggas won’t go
Rep that, rep that shit like I own it
I did it big for my fam and my homies
I got the biggest house on my block, foreign with the drop.”

10. Kid Cudi, “King Wizard”

Indicud • Republic • 2013

“You doubt him, don’t know a damn thing about him / What is hip hop without him, y’all n*ggas just really don’t know… / I gave the world my heart and they gave the kids insight.” Hmm, very reflective to say the least.  Kid Cudi has always been one hella interesting dude –understatement.  ‘Left-field’ and ‘left of center,’ the alternative rapper definitely seems to be on his own planet, wherever that may be. “King Wizard” is a fitting addition to this ‘kingly’ playlist, appearing on the rapper’s third studio album, Indicud (2013).

Notably, “King Wizard” arrived in advance of Indicud. Here, the rapper never fronts, as he asserts on the ‘crowning’ hook:

“I can’t decide
What if life’s a lie?
I push the lames aside
They’ll learn
I can never front, know why?
It’s not my style, no lie
Fuck all the talk
In time, they’ll burn...
They’ll never take me alive
King Wizard!”

Throw in electric piano, and a talk box, and you have quite the bizarre masterpiece.  Hey, this production fits his idiosyncratic style perfectly.

11. Tamela Mann, “Take Me to the King”

Best Days • Tillymann Inc. • 2012

“Truth is I’m weak / No strength to fight / No tears to cry / Even if I tried / But still my soul / Refuses to die / One touch will change my life.” For gospel singer Tamela Mann, she’s not referring to any monarch, nor her husband, David Mann (Note: They released a joint album in 2018, Us Against the World).  No, on her 2012 contemporary gospel hit “Take Me to the King,” Mann is referencing none other than ‘The Most High,’ best known and G-O-D.  Penned by gospel’s most ubiquitous and highly-decorated hitmaker, Kirk Franklin, Mann sings about the awesomeness of God.  Basically, she looks to God to restore her, despite the adversities facing her in ‘this thing called life.’

The chorus is the crème de la crème of this incredibly uplifting record.

“Take me to the king
I don’t have much to bring
My heart’s torn in pieces
It’s my offering
Lay me at the throne
Leave me there alone
To gaze upon your glory
And sing to you this song
Please take me to the king.”

[Photo Credits: 300 Entertainment, Big Machine, Capitol, Def Jam, Elektra, Fueled by Ramen, G*59, Interscope, Motown, Pexels, Pixabay, Republic, Tillymann Inc., Tomorrow Music]