The west coast is an area known for its huge contribution to hip hop. California has become somewhat of the “godfather” for rap music. However, the state of Utah is growing quickly in the hip hop community. One of the artists making real noise in Utah is Kni9htl!fe. Born James Stuart Knight, Kni9htl!fe is a singer, songwriter, record producer & rapper. Knight was born in Layton, Utah in 1993 to Sherri Jo Holmes, & Ralph Stuart Knight.
At the age of 7, Knight was taken from his family, and placed into foster care. He was moved through multiple different foster homes before his therapist explain to him at the age of 9, that he needed an outlet for his emotions and she suggested poetry. Shortly after this, he was placed in his home city Layton, Utah, with two loving foster parents Don and Wendy Hayes. It was with Don and Wendy where Knight thrived.
After years of learning how to express himself through poetry, he decided to use his creative skills to do other things. At the age of 16 he began producing beats in his high school library. After two years of focusing on production, he had gained a lot of attention for his unique beats. Instead of selling his most sought after productions he instead recorded his first ever song “Help Out”. This song gained Knight thousands of streams on MySpace in the first hours of it’s release. This earned him a recording contract with Kim K Jones & Pride Music Management.
He went on to record his demo with Midnight Record Productions with Kent Rigby, the recording arts Director for The Utah Arts Alliance in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, life threw another curveball at young Knight. Knight did two years in the Utah state prison where he perfected his craft even more. Upon release Knight went straight from prison to the legendary Counterpoint Studios where he recorded his debut single Typhoon with Joseph Hernandez the famed audio engineer for Utahs very own Fox 13 news.
While still on parole Kni9htl!fe made his highest accomplishment with his music thus far. His single Typhoon went on to peak at number one in South Africa on the iTunes Hip Hop Charts and it charted 32 overall (all genres). Knight is truly an example of what staying dedicated can do for you, he went from jail bars to the ITunes Charts in less than a year! It is clear that Kni9htl!fe has a message for the world and he will stop at nothing to get it out! Follow Kni9htl!fe on Instagram at @jayy_9ht.
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kni9htl-fe/1522556966
https://open.spotify.com/user/3135pbywgjq26qoarp753hi4gis4?si=3u8LLNnESmOl1PjmrNjF4g
