Hip-hop meets poetry on King Fatai’s new album

King Fatai is an up-and-coming hip-hop artist currently living in Moosic who just released full-length album, “It Was All Worth It,” on Sunday, June 7.

King Fatai started as a poet and, over time, morphed his art into original music. Although he says he’s still a poet at heart, Fatai now considers himself a songwriter. He believes the heartfelt nature of poetry makes you a different kind of artist.

“I would say it goes together. A lot of the music I’m writing is poetry translated into music,” explained King Fatai.

King Fatai is a Nigerian American artist, poet, writer, author, and entrepreneur who played basketball his whole life. It was his pursuit of the sport that led him to poetry. King Fatai comes from Jersey City, NJ and first came out here to play basketball while attending Penn State University, where his love for writing really kicked off.

“— I would write, and I would perform my poetry and it just came naturally. I always knew I would do music eventually, but I wanted to write first,” said King Fatai.

After college, Fatai went back to New Jersey for a time, but made his way back to NEPA for his son. Eventually, a close friend who would become the producer of one of King Fatai’s projects, Anthony Ruiz, bought his poetry book and suddenly everything began to come together.

Although King Fatai did have a debut release in 2020 (“Victory Thon”) out on Spotify, he considers “It Was All Worth It” to be his real first album.

He said, comparing his work from 2020 to 2024. “That was me on the journey — this was me understanding the journey, mastering the journey. I’ve learned how to be unapologetically me. That’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned, to trust myself even if the world is against me.”

“A lot of this stuff was just me putting my heart out there. It was me coming into my own, the chronicles of my journey and becoming an artist I can be proud of. If you have a story, people can relate to you,” said King Fatai.

There’s so many hot tracks on this well-rounded release, even a Gospel song in “Heaven or Hell.” Personally, King Fatai can’t wait for people to hear the introduction song, “No Pressure,” which sets a powerful, inspirational precedent for the content communicated on this album. He says this is the song that explains exactly how he got where he is today – letting go of that pressure.

“Even when I’m under pressure, there’s no pressure. I’m going to find a way to balance the hardships and the pressures,” said King Fatai.

“It Was All Worth It” is full of bangers ready to play at your next late-night party or lake day or Sunday hang, but they’re also motivational. Each song has a purpose — and you can dance to it too.

“Redemption” is another important track on the 14-track release. This is the true story of King Fatai’s life, growing up and going after his basketball dreams. Dealing with his mother’s addiction and a difficult home life, basketball became a solace. King Fatai will always have a passion for basketball, and he has that same passion for the arts.

On “Redemption,” he also touches on the great coaches he’s had over his life who encouraged him to chase his goals. King Fatai grew up in a tough city, but stayed focused despite the challenging world around him.

“This is what it’s like to be that young Black man,” said King Fatai. “There’s a story there behind it and the visuals are going to be more powerful because I can really explain.”

Using his poetic hip-hop voice, King Fatai elevates his story on this album and observes all the threads that led him to where he is today. These songs are about dedication, motivation, and perseverance. They’re also his chance to share what he’s learned with others who can relate.

“What I learned on the journey is to be faithful, to be committed,” said King Fatai. “Don’t fear the unknown. The magic is in the unknown”

King Fatai is proud of the man and artist he’s become. He’s also grateful to his team and the collaborations on the album including Sellz and I Am Change. “When you have the right people around you, it continues to be a blessing,” he said.

He and his team all pushed each other to make “It Was All Worth It” the best it could be. They were in it together, literally working hard in the basement to master their craft. He’s also thankful for his friends, family, and everyone in his life for supporting his projects.

“Don’t be afraid to take chances. Don’t be afraid to be yourself and don’t be afraid to lose people along the way because it’s inevitable. You must be yourself; you can’t worry if others like you. You must like what you do first,” said King Fatai. “First, you start with you.”

Part of King Fatai’s message in this album is not to worry about what everyone else is doing and focus on yourself. As the butterfly well knows, the journey isn’t always pretty — but if you embrace who you are, you can become the fully-realized version of yourself.

“I told myself I’m going to fly, even if people believe I can’t. The world is going to know King Fatai and I’m going to do it the right way so at the end of the day, I can be proud,” he said.

King Fatai recently performed a Juneteenth Show at Wilkes-Barre’s MLK Park and looks forward to performing more shows in the Northeast region, as well as continuing to give back to the community — something he feels strongly about. He also plans to release more visuals and videos for his music, so stay tuned with everything this creative hip-hop artist has planned to follow his big summer album debut.

— See, readers? The NEPA music scene isn’t all tribute acts (not that there’s anything wrong with that). It’s important to know that this area is home to a variety of talented musicians across all genres who make high-quality original music. I can’t get enough of these well-produced songs that come packed with a vital message.

“I know sometimes when people hear hip-hop or rap it puts a bad taste in their mouth, but even the rockers would enjoy my sound. It’s authentic, it’s original, something anybody could listen to,” said King Fatai. “We need to bring that good original stuff.”

From an early age, King Fatai said he learned to pursue your passions and to be authentic about it.

“If it’s something that you love — it’s always worth it,” said King Fatai. “Keep moving forward, don’t let nobody stop you, it will all be worth it.”

Let King Fatai’s new album “It Was All Worth It” inspire your summer. Listen to the brand new release on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and most other listening platforms and keep an eye on this rising poetic artist in the local music scene.