Kevin Burgess, now better known by his stage name KB, is a rapper. His latest EP 100 debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Christian Album Chart, #4 on Billboard’s Rap Chart and respectfully at #22 on Billboard’s coveted Top 200 Album Chart. He’s won a Dove Award (Nominated twice), been a Recording Academy featured artist on Grammy.com and has received critical acclaim from his peers and media such as Billboard Magazine and The Blaze. He’s toured nationally with Tenth Avenue North and is scheduled to join Trip Lee for the upcoming “Rise Tour.” But like so many musicians that came before him, KB, the rapper, almost never happened.

At birth, the doctor didn’t think he’d ever be able to talk or even speak clearly. Fortunately, KB was able to overcome this ailment, but hip-hop was frowned upon in his household, forcing the youngster to seek a safer instrument for musical expression. “I grew up in a structured military family. In my house, you couldn’t listen to hip-hop,” KB explains. “I used to hide in a closet and listen to it on my Walkman.” KB hails from Tampa, FL by way of an Air Force base close to East St. Louis. Along the way, KB, thirsting for an outlet for his love of music with a desperate need for expression, picked up the trumpet. Fast forward to the present and KB has already released a mixtape, a widely successful debut album and is working on his second hip-hop studio album. And in what was once considered the disfavored music of his childhood, KB has discovered redemption.